Fontana - Motorcycle Racing

[maczippy]

Hey peeps!

I was shooting at Fontana this weekend, so here are a couple of shots for now...

http://www.automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/duhamel_fontana1.jpg

::

http://www.automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/mladin_fontana1.jpg

Andrew :)

[bfjr]

Very nice. Magazine perfect :thumb
I look like that when I go ride, I just don't ride like that :wow :D

[coldclimb]

Man, I love that first pic. That's getting seriously low. Awesome stuff!

[maczippy]

Thank you!

one more...
http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/yates_fontana1.jpg

[maczippy]

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/hodgson_fontana1.jpg

Andrew :)

[ian408]

Super Pookie,

Being and old guy myself, I love seeing Miguel Duhamel in front :D

These shots seem a little OE. Were you shooting mid day for these?
The Aaron Yates shot looks better.

Ian

[maczippy]

Super Pookie,

Being and old guy myself, I love seeing Miguel Duhamel in front :D

These shots seem a little OE. Were you shooting mid day for these?
The Aaron Yates shot looks better.

Ian Yeah, Duhamel's a nice guy!

I think it could be your monitor...They look fine on my end... (both laptop and desktop - spidered) so it's possible due to monitor variance that there might be some percieved brightness shift..

The Duhamel shot was at the end of the day with low sun, the others are race day with some in front of a corner and the other behind, so there's a slight light change due to direction.

These are just a few I can share due to others being chosen for publication..

Andrew :)

[Deacon]

Mac could you pass on settings you were using on the camera, also how the focus was being done, manual or auto etc. I am trying to get better at action shots and need a little advice.

Deacon

http://Deacon.smugmug.com/photos/21045440-L.jpg

http://Deacon.smugmug.com/photos/21059716-L.jpg

http://Deacon.smugmug.com/photos/21045016-L.jpg

[SusanB]

Wonderful captures. They have me on the edge of my seat hoping that the rider doesn't hurt his knee:huh Super on all of the technical stuff too:D :thumb

Susan

[ian408]

Yeah, Duhamel's a nice guy!

I think it could be your monitor...
Indeed it was. My bad. I've been having power problems lately. A shim
and a tune--ready to go!

Ian

[Nir]

Andrew,

You keep amazing me again and again ... fantastic!

[CMaster]

I gotta say Andrew, I find myself coming back and looking at these pictures. They're absolutely incredible! I've checked the other ones on your site and I'm so very impressed by all of them. There are so many good ones on your site. I'm humbled your work :): Excellent stuff :thumb

[RocketMan]

Nice shots! I just went to a local event begining of last month (April) mostly weekend motorcycle racers, not nearly as fast as those guys. The new D70 was great shooting them in back curves, but compared to these, well, it inspires me to take more and hopefully get better.

Again wonderful shots, thanks for the inspiration!

RM

[maczippy]

Indeed it was. My bad. I've been having power problems lately. A shim
and a tune--ready to go!

Ian
No worries!! I'd rather have some mention it than not, but I thought/knew they were okay hence my surprise, but I am human too you know!!

Andrew :)

[maczippy]

Mac could you pass on settings you were using on the camera, also how the focus was being done, manual or auto etc. I am trying to get better at action shots and need a little advice.

Deacon
The shots of the Beemers are nice, but IMO your shutter speed is a little too high as you're stopping motion with the tyre tread being visible, and you always want to try and give the impression of motion with bikes/cars etc.

So tell me what your setting were (I'm guess you shutter was around 1/1000 or so perhaps).

There's really no hard and fast setting that works (I feel). Sometimes I use aperture priority and go roughly f7.1-f11 which depending on light/iso settings and so forth will give you roughly around 1/400.

Here's another one for you...

[maczippy]

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/hodgson_fontana2.jpg

1DMK2, 300f2.8+1.4TC. All of these were shot at ISO100.

Andrew :)

[RocketMan]

Ok, what the heck, not as clear as the other in here, but hey 6 megapixals is what I got and I couldn't get quite as close to the turns as I'd have liked ...

out of 130 shot heres the three best on my first shoot with the D70
http://roadrunes.com/images2/summit-point/r-1.jpg
was kinda tickled that you can see his dark glasses in this this first one

setting up for the next turn here
http://roadrunes.com/images2/summit-point/r-2.jpg

and finally one a very tight pack coming round the "S" too bad the tires in the barrier were so high.
http://roadrunes.com/images2/summit-point/r-3.jpg

all shot with 300mm zoom around 1/1000 f5.6 200 ASA

RM

[maczippy]

RM - you always want to try and capture faces/hands (I feel) and so it's cool that you can see his face and it looks like you have the timing there, but they look a tad OOF.

What are you shooting at for these?

Andrew :)

[gsgary]

Great shots what position did Hodgson finish ?
Regads
Gary

[mercphoto]

Ok, what the heck, not as clear as the other in here, but hey 6 megapixals is what I got and I couldn't get quite as close to the turns as I'd have liked ...

all shot with 300mm zoom around 1/1000 f5.6 200 ASA

I agree with Andy that they look somewhat OOF, or soft. At 1/1000 second shutter they should be pretty sharp. Judging by the motion blur in the first shot, however, I doubt your shutter was actually that fast. If you were panning, it could simply be an issue of not tracking the subject very accurately. Just takes practice.

[Deacon]

Thanks for the comments, I was shooting Shutter priority and high speed from 1/2000 to 1/6400 and the f stop ranged from 2.8 to roughly 5.6. Some of my shots I pick a point and focus on that length, some I tried with single auto focus and some with continuous focus. I am the least pleased with the continuous focus as they always seem a bit OOF.

Deacon

http://Deacon.smugmug.com/photos/21049489-L.jpg


The shots of the Beemers are nice, but IMO your shutter speed is a little too high as you're stopping motion with the tyre tread being visible, and you always want to try and give the impression of motion with bikes/cars etc.

So tell me what your setting were (I'm guess you shutter was around 1/1000 or so perhaps).

There's really no hard and fast setting that works (I feel). Sometimes I use aperture priority and go roughly f7.1-f11 which depending on light/iso settings and so forth will give you roughly around 1/400.

Here's another one for you...

[RocketMan]

I agree with Andy that they look somewhat OOF, or soft. At 1/1000 second shutter they should be pretty sharp. Judging by the motion blur in the first shot, however, I doubt your shutter was actually that fast. If you were panning, it could simply be an issue of not tracking the subject very accurately. Just takes practice.yeah, i just checked the data from those shots the first two were at /500 the last 1/1000 iso was auto not locked at 100 as I thought. First time doing fast action with this camera, still so much to learn!:D Used to do this with my old Nikon F years ago with steader hands and totally manual everything. I think too that I had the auto focus set so it locked when shutter button was pressed half-way have to try with continous mode or just go manual next time. Also discovered that the 70-300 lens I have is not a DX lens so at maximum focus its a tad blurred, have to bring it back just a hair even when shooting stuff beyond max focal range, found this when shooting the moon recently. Still all in all not bad for my first go with a camera I've had less than a month.
Thanks for the tips!

RM

[RocketMan]

Thanks for the comments, I was shooting Shutter priority and high speed from 1/2000 to 1/6400 and the f stop ranged from 2.8 to roughly 5.6. Some of my shots I pick a point and focus on that length, some I tried with single auto focus and some with continuous focus. I am the least pleased with the continuous focus as they always seem a bit OOF.

Deacon

http://deacon.smugmug.com/photos/21049489-L.jpgMmmm, beemers, nice bikes though these are bit to new fangled for my tastes:rofl
I take it this was a track day somewhere?

RM 'still back in the stone age of motorcycles' ( I ride a 73 R60/5 and 78 R100/7, the last being my "new" bike!):D

[maczippy]

couple more?

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/meiring_fontana1.jpg

[maczippy]

and...

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/disalvo_fontana1.jpg

[SusanB]

couple more?

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/meiring_fontana1.jpg
This shot is just wonderful! :clap :clap :clap :clap Love the colors, focus and composition. What a wall hanger!:thumb

Susan

[ian408]

Zippy. you are such a tease! I love looking at your stuff!

Thanks so much for sharing!

Ian

[maczippy]

You're welcome Ian!

Just to let everyone know I have udpated my site with a few images from Fontana that I haven't sent to publishers (they're mine, all mine I say!!)

http://automotophoto.com/af1/fontana/matt_m_fontana1.jpg

Andrew :)

[bfjr]

A thought just came to me :scratch

Hey Mr. Zippy like I said in earlier post, "look like that, don't ride like that", could you maybe see your way clear to follow me down the 405, as I boot/scoot to work. I'm sure with your exp/talent you could make me look real good. I have no good shots of me anywhere except this little tease:

http://bfjr.smugmug.com/photos/17268598-M.jpg

thats me in there, honest :lol4 :lol4
Oh wait you charge real $ for your work, oh well neeeeevvvvvvrrrrrrrr miiiiiiiinnnnnd :lol4

Outstanding work you do :thumb