Any tips for autocross shooting?

[LeVeL]

Heading to an old airfield (Devens, in case you know it) for an SVT Cobra club autocross. The course will almost definately be pretty long so I will only be able to shoot one corner at a time, or maybe along a straightaway. Any tips?

btw, here's a couple of shots from the last autocross I went to at the same location to give you an idea of where I'll be standing. These were taken with a p&s but this saturday I'll be using an 18-55mm IS lens.

1) You can stand pretty close to the corner here and because its so tight 3-wheel action is very common. You can see the edge of the pavement in the bottom right-hand corner - thats how close you can stand.


2) The STi just came out of a fast corner onto a straight-away that goes right past where I was standing. I'm thinking of practicing panning here.



Any general advice for shooting at an autocross will be appreciated!

[P5138]

If you can find a lense with more zoom, get it.

I was at a rallyX last week and all of my shots had to be cropped heavily to get something good out of them. I am using an 18-55 lense as well. I had to be within, around, 15-20 feet of the cars to get good shots with the limits I had. And even then, the zoom wasn't enough.

I'd also say that the Exposure priority and Aperture priority modes are a life-saver. If there are any clouds moving across the sky, the lighting could change very quickly, and those modes allow you to have the camera handle most of that.

Also, a polarized lense is very helpful. Allows you to see through the glass on the cars and gives some colors a nice boost of saturation. It does slow down your shutter, though. However, it does protect your lense from debris too, so it's just safer to have it on.

Other than that: A good hat. I don't burn very easily, but I got burned on my face shooting out on the track. Plus, if the sun is out, it can get to be very bright, and sunglasses don't work very well when you have to use the eyepiece.

Hope that helps...

[LeVeL]

Ok, PROBLEM. The weather forecast is predicting rain. What can I do about my camera so I can keep shooting even in the rain, besides just trying to hold an umbrella? Maybe I can get my spotter to hold it for me... Any other ideas???

[damnhawk]

kata makes a weather bag for dSLR's ive used mine in a rather wicked thunder storm and it was fine.

[rootrider]

you need a longer lens. IMO 100 - 300mm is much more ideal. I've used my 80-200 exclusively so far. I haven't had a chance to use the 300mm or the 1.4x TC yet. I'm usually at 200mm and have to crop some to get the shot I want.

Aperture isn't so important when shooting longer shots like pans of cars. When shooting at shutter priority (a requirement, most of the time) the aperture will usually be in between f/11 & f/22.. though I've had it as low as f/5.6 or so when it's cloudy and later in the day.

I try to keep my pans (for the higher speed sections) at around 1/60th - 1/80th. I often quickly change the shutter to around 1/100th - 1/120th if I want to freeze the action more, like if they're sliding or turning toward me. Again.. use shutter priority.

Continuous focus and high speed shooting is rather necessary. I tend to set the camera so I choose which focus point to focus on, but allow the camera to focus dynamically using the other parts of the image. Of course it helps if your camera has good tracking as well.

Using a polarizer is definitely a must if you want to see the driver through the window, especially when they're coming at you.



















These were all taken with a d70 and using the Nikon 80-200 2.8 AF D two-ring, using the 77mm B+W F-Pro CP

[Cosworth]

Pretty much echoing what Silverstar has said, I had the unfortunate luck to shoot a Classic Car show with track action exclusively on a 24-105. Best bet is to try get on the inside of an apex, don't ever stand on the outside of a corner for obvious reasons. Listen to any safety marshalls or event officials. Don't lie down unless it's safe to do so, always be ready to run and have an escape route ready.

For shots, try get low if you can, get your hands on circ-pol, they're pretty much essential for MS photography. As far as weather proofing your camera, don't be all posh, take a refuse sack and cut a hole in it, use an elastic band to tie it to the edge of the lense

[LeVeL]

Thanks for the tips! I made 578 shots today, almost all at 55mm, almost all panning. It was my first ever try at this technique and I think it went well. 1/60 shots came out great, and I've also got some decent slower ones, down to 1/30 (1/25 was 100% crap lol). I need to sort through these and upload them... should be done some time during this coming week.
Having never shot ms with a DSLR before and having never tried panning with any camera before, I think the shots came out alright. Overall, fantastic day, the best autocross I've been to - for various reasons, one of them being that I got to ride along in a Viper (violent assault on all senses, I must say).

[LeVeL]

Most of the pics are ready but I want to get everyone's opinion first. These are my first panning shots; they got a lot clearer as the day progressed.







This one is less blurry... although I dont think the first three are bad.



Comments please!

[donthomaso]

like the last one the most because its has the most look of fast motion..

have you tried to crop more? the cars are soo small

[LeVeL]

Originally Posted by donthomaso

have you tried to crop more? the cars are soo small

Yeah, I thought of that late last night so Im cropping them by 50% now.

[LeVeL]

Pics are up!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/getleveled/

comments please!

[rootrider]

not bad for your first time. You definitely need to work on getting them sharper though

[Solberg]

I am too late, but it may help you in the future or some others.

Cosworths advice about getting on the inside of an apex is very good advice but I would like to add to this. Wear a high visibility jacket. I am not a health and safety nut. But, this is for your own good. I also thought it was a load of crap, until I got a ride in a Evo 9. I was shooting a autocross event and assumed the drivers could easily see me. However, at the end of the day, I got a ride in a seriously quick Evo 9 and I couldn't notice a damn thing I was scared shitless. And that was on what the driver called a lap that wasn't even full attack. From then on I always wear a vest.