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First off, thanks to Peter, Bill and Benjamin for giving me some really great advice!
Here are a few pictures that I took on Saturday at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. The day started off with pouring rain so I didn't think I was going to be able to even take my camera out of the bag but the rain stopped and the sun even came out for a little while.
All shots were taken with an EOS 50D & EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS
Here's what I got:
***EDIT***
Updated Pictures Posted Below
Sweet shots Mark.
Try bumping up the contrast and saturation in PS,it will make the pictures pop a little.
Pete
***EDIT***
Updated Pictures Posted Below
Great shots, Mark! Very nice panning shots.
With what Pete said - the contrast really helps them. It gives them a bit more energy.
Mark looks like you had good day.....some nice captures and looks like you had good access to the track.
But if I may add my perspective.....the first pic is a nice angle, good background but the wheels are stopped.
Pics 2-4 are cropped too tightly but still showing good motion.
IMHO, #5 is the winner, you've captured the motion w/your panning, left room showing the direction of the motion w/your cropping and kept the Porsche crisp.
As advised, a little touch up in PS will make 'em hop.
Did you try any pics below 1/100th? If so....plz post a couple so I may see the results. How many shots did you take?
Have fun in the darkroom.....
Bill
Very nice overall, great job.
The problem with the PS editing though is that you have blown up the highlights in the first picture - take a look at it.
Hmmm... have you just edited it? casue now they both look the same and I could swear the first one was better in terms of highlights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
Thanks Bill. It was definitely a great track for public access. I can't wait to go back when there are some pro's racing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
I agree. I really liked the perspective and how the car in the background was slightly out of focus. If could do it again though I would have shot it at a much slower shutter speed to add more of a feeling of motion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
Again, I agree with you. The ones that are cropped so tightly are where the
car was in the right part of the frame and I thought they looked better
cropped than having "no where to go".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
Thanks :) I really liked that one too. Considering this was my first attempt at both panning and shooting cars on a race track I was pretty pleased with what I came home with. I learned a ton too and really feel that next time I'll do much better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
I re-posted the pics with changes to both contrast & saturation. Any better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
Almost everything was at around 1/100 or 1/160 but I did get a good grab at 1/60. I'll post it below. Let me know what you think.
I took 296 pictures and narrowed that down to 35 exposures which I thought were worth keeping. I took forever to delete and process the RAW files!
f/16, 1/60, ISO 100, 100mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/2009_2D00_06_2D00_20_2D00_15_2D00_47_2D00_53.JPG[/img]
Yup....much better on the original photos.....bring the high lights back down a bit on the VW and Porsche.
The Mustang 77 looks a little soft and again the the highlights, e.g. rear triangle window, rear and front wheel well tops, are too harsh.
Looks like we could get some keepers at 1/60th w/some more practice though.....the panning motion looks good to me.
I found my shutter speeds of 100 to 160 were where most of my keepers came from also.
Well you shot about the same amount I did at LRP...but you definitely have gone thru them much quicker than I did.
Were you able to get into the paddock area?
Once again Mark, IMHO, excellent results, especially for your first try.
Regards
Bill
Bill,
I think we can definitely get some keepers at 1/60...especially with some more practice :) I did a little more PP to "try" to fix the blown highlights. PP is not my forte though so I can't promise it will be too much better. Any tips or suggestions are very much appreciated by the way.
I was able to get into the Paddock area. The place was a ghost town due to the inclement weather and I guess also because it was just a Club racing event so it was just amateurs.
Thanks again for your kind words and helpful suggestions!
1) f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 640, 400mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/1.JPG[/img]
2) f/11, 1/100, ISO 100, 190mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/2.JPG[/img]
3) f/11, 1/100, ISO 100, 190mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/3.JPG[/img]
4) f/11, 1/100, ISO 100, 190mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/5.JPG[/img]
5) f/16, 1/100, ISO 100, 100mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/6.JPG[/img]
6) f/16, 1/60, ISO 100, 100mm
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.26.13/4.JPG[/img]