thanks v. much, we have previously tried taking thousands of snaps hoping one would be good often failing. Will try harder now with your on line tutorial.

No problem folks,

Although I sound like a cynical, obnoxious tw@t (which I am obviously :) ) I'm not in the flesh and am happy to help where I can so either phone or email and I'll help where I can.

Gc

Looks like I'm at Brands now so if anyone's around I'll be there Sat pm and all day Sunday milling around the JHP garage with a beer in my palm (for the 1st time in 4 years and boy am I looking forward to it)

Thanks Guy.

Much too valuable a post now for 'Idle Chat' so I'll move it into the Your Photos Forum I think and stick it there :D

Frank

WHat a co-incidence: posted at 9:04 lol

Guess I'll have to update it at 9:44 (feeble SS joke, I guess)

Guy, you are a star!

John

Hi Guy, thanks very much for the tips I am sure they will be really useful.
Might also be at Brands Sat, looking at the forcast I think they will need a snowplough for Sunday.

Gordon

Many thanks indeed Guy. I read through that last night, and I am one of the guilty ones that thinks if I fire off as many as I can one of them will be a good one. So many times last night whilst reading your guide I said AHHH so thats how you do it or so thats what that setting ment. The main intresting part for me was to get a clear shot of the rider with a blurred background. I have been trying for ages with out success. Now thanks to your guide I can see why.

Thx again

Craig

I'm not taking cameras to Brands so will be plugging my Motorsport Photography Learning Business (LOL :) )

Even though it's skim of the surface detail that I've put in those 'lessons', there's still a lot to think about. You'll start to see why after photographing a race, I couldn't tell you who's won. That's how I knew I'd been doing my job "properly". If I was concentrating on all the different aspects of the photography (which there are loads of eventualities to consider with bike racing), I didn't have time to register who's leading etc.

My advice on the lessons is to take one and digest and put into practice the info before moving on to the next one otherwise you'll be out with your camera and brain and they'll both be more like a rubik cube than useful tools.. as they'll be bamboozled with stuff.

So to recap........

Bike's coming towards you at 160mph sideways.

Shutter priority or Aperture?
Is there enough light, do I need to change the ISO?
Do I rely on the camera or should I go Manual and overide everything?
RAW or Jpeg?
Where am I going to put the sideways bike in the viewfinder?
Do I need to change the focus zone?
What's that in the back of the shot.....Shlt......it's a yellow ambulance, I don't want that?
Where do I lock on, I need that logo on his visor pin-sharp?
........Cr@p... it's starting to rain

Sound of brain exploding...............

Guy that explains why my photos are **** then I don't think any of those things I just click the button!

Holy Moley if I could do all that in a half hour that would be going it some for me. :lol: :lol:

Some of that Craig is down to your budget. To get the best sharp bike/fuzzy background shots you need an f2.8 lens. Most tracks have huge run-off so you're a fair way from the subject when you hit the shutter so that's why you see pro's at football, motorsports etc with what are commonly called "Bazookas", 400mm fixed length f2.8 lenses (like I have). To buy new they're in the £5000-£7000 range. You have to change you're mindset when using one cos you can't zoom in or out like you can with a small zoom. You have to be far more precise with your compositions.

Adding teleconverters extends the 'reach' of your lens but you lose f-stops (i.e. your f-numbers go up/higher) which as my guide states increases the depth of field which limits how much 'losing' of cluttered backgrounds you can do.

So for example, this shot of Haga, taken at the exit of Surtees at brands in '04 was with my £700 Nikkor AFS 300mm f4 lens



Yet this shot of Tommy Hill taken at the BSB Round 1 last year from exactly the same spot illustrates the benefits of a 400mm f2.8. You have far more 'reach' (the subject is closer in) and I've completely thrown out the cluttered background to the extent that you can't recognise what's there unlike the Haga shot. This puts far more emphasis and focus on the rider, pose, action which is where you want the viewer to be looking.





HTH

Gc