One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is how to take better track photographs. I'm always happy to try and help, but don't claim to be a photography expert and what I do has been learnt from trial and error over a few years, but I thought I'd combine some of the PMs and emails I've written into some sort of guide that will hopefully be useful. There are some very good photographers in the MLR and if anyone has any further advice, please feel free to chip in.
First of all, some basics......
Equipment
What makes taking pictures of cars on track difficult is the speed they move at, the limited time you have to take a picture and the distance they are away from you. These problems limit the amount of cameras that are suited to the job. Small, pocket cameras tend to have a very short zooms and are slow to react when asked to take the photograph meaning that often a car is distant in the picture or not in the picture at all. Plus cameras like this don't always give you the manual control you need and use poorer quality lenses and sensors that compromise the picture quality.
SLR cameras with a good lens are the ideal solution to the problems of track photography, but they can be very expensive. 'Prosumer' level cameras with fairly large, but fixed lenses fill the gap between compact cameras and SLR's and many of these can cope with most of the demands of track photography at a more modest cost.
My experience largely stems from Canon SLR cameras so this guide will focus on them, but a lot of this is general information.
There is now a great deal of SLR camera choice with camera bodies starting at reasonable prices and rising into the realms of the professional photographer only.
Every SLR camera shares a number of essential features such as almost no delay when taking a picture, a selection of manual modes and the ability to use different lenses, but there are features that can vary with some SLR's. These are the main issues to consider when looking for an SLR:
The second thing to look for in a lens is optical as well as overall quality. A lens with high optical quality will produce sharper and better looking pictures than one with poorer optical quality. A higher quality lens will also tend to have better and fast auto focusing facilities and some will even have image stabilisation facilities which I've found work very well.
Unfortunately, high quality lenses with large zooms cost £££'s, usually around £1,000 upwards. However, good results can still be obtained with lenses costing from £100 upwards and makes such as Sigma and Tamron often offer better value for money than the camera manufacturers own lenses, but the general rule of thumb is the more money you spend the better the results will be.
The third thing to consider in a lens is its speed or maximum aperture. I won't dwell too much on this as the fastest lenses are definitely the tool of professionals, sometimes costing into the tens of thousands of pounds. The speed of more reasonably priced zoom lenses doesn't change that much, but generally look for a lens with as low an f-number as possible. The f-number is usually quoted in the lens model number as something like f/4.5-5.6. In the case because this is a zoom lens, the f-number is quoted as between 4.5 and 5.6 with 4.5 at the shortest zoom and 5.6 at the maximum zoom.
Once you've got a suitable camera and lens, there are some other pieces of equipment that can also help improve your pictures:
Tripod or Monopod. Essential pieces of kit for making sure images are as sharp as possible. They are also useful for holding heavy SLR's and lenses if you're taking pictures from the same spot for a while as SLR's do get heavy if you're hand holding. Try and get a substantial tripod or monopod as it's a worthwhile investment.
Battery holder and grip. I find that adding a battery holder/grip under the camera vastly improves the stability of the camera in your hands which in turn leads to much sharper pictures.
Lens hood. A plastic hood fitted to the front of the lens to help stop nasty sun flares spoiling your picture.
Camera and lens rain cover. We live in the UK, will get used a lot.
Composition
The key to any good photograph is its composition and it's something that constantly needs to be thought about. Even if you've got the best camera and lens in the world, you're never going to take the best picture if you don't consider what you want happening in the picture unless you are very lucky.
First of all begin by deciding on the type of picture you want to take be it a head on super sharp picture, a dramatic cornering picture, a dynamic side on panning picture or even something more artistic.
Once decided, consider the other factors that will enhance the picture such as where to stand to capture the most lean in a corner or where cars are likely to lift a wheel or kick up a loose surface.
It's also worth considering what is in the background. A nice back drop can make all the difference and some tracks are much better than others in this respect. Tracks like Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and Spa in Belgium are all well known for the picturesque photographs taken there.
One popular technique to improve the composition of a picture to make it look a bit more dramatic and stand out from how a normal picture would look is to lean the camera slightly one way or the other. It's not an effect everyone likes, but as long as it's not used too much (easy to do) with too much angle it can enhance a picture. It's worth experimenting with all the same.
Once you've decided on the picture to take, just concentrate on that one shot. Don't worry about trying to capture a car at various points as it moves through a corner and onto a straight for example. You'll find you will not do any of your pictures justice that way. Concentrate on one shot at a time and when you feel you've taken enough pictures of cars with that shot, then move on to next and consider the composition of that one.
First of all, some basics......
Equipment
What makes taking pictures of cars on track difficult is the speed they move at, the limited time you have to take a picture and the distance they are away from you. These problems limit the amount of cameras that are suited to the job. Small, pocket cameras tend to have a very short zooms and are slow to react when asked to take the photograph meaning that often a car is distant in the picture or not in the picture at all. Plus cameras like this don't always give you the manual control you need and use poorer quality lenses and sensors that compromise the picture quality.
SLR cameras with a good lens are the ideal solution to the problems of track photography, but they can be very expensive. 'Prosumer' level cameras with fairly large, but fixed lenses fill the gap between compact cameras and SLR's and many of these can cope with most of the demands of track photography at a more modest cost.
My experience largely stems from Canon SLR cameras so this guide will focus on them, but a lot of this is general information.
There is now a great deal of SLR camera choice with camera bodies starting at reasonable prices and rising into the realms of the professional photographer only.
Every SLR camera shares a number of essential features such as almost no delay when taking a picture, a selection of manual modes and the ability to use different lenses, but there are features that can vary with some SLR's. These are the main issues to consider when looking for an SLR:
- Auto focus modes. For track work you need an auto focus mode that can be set to track an object as it moves rather than just set an initial focus.
- Metering. All SLR's have inbuilt light metering they use when determining various settings when you take a photo even in most of the manual modes. There are usually a number of metering modes to choose from. For car photography you normally need to use centre weighted or even spot metering so make sure these are supported.
- Fast continuous shooting. Many track photos are taken using continuous shooting, where you hold the shutter release button and the camera takes as many pictures as it can one after the other as quickly as it can. The faster and higher amount of pictures the cameras will take the better. This can vary a lot between the cheapest and most expensive SLR's.
The second thing to look for in a lens is optical as well as overall quality. A lens with high optical quality will produce sharper and better looking pictures than one with poorer optical quality. A higher quality lens will also tend to have better and fast auto focusing facilities and some will even have image stabilisation facilities which I've found work very well.
Unfortunately, high quality lenses with large zooms cost £££'s, usually around £1,000 upwards. However, good results can still be obtained with lenses costing from £100 upwards and makes such as Sigma and Tamron often offer better value for money than the camera manufacturers own lenses, but the general rule of thumb is the more money you spend the better the results will be.
The third thing to consider in a lens is its speed or maximum aperture. I won't dwell too much on this as the fastest lenses are definitely the tool of professionals, sometimes costing into the tens of thousands of pounds. The speed of more reasonably priced zoom lenses doesn't change that much, but generally look for a lens with as low an f-number as possible. The f-number is usually quoted in the lens model number as something like f/4.5-5.6. In the case because this is a zoom lens, the f-number is quoted as between 4.5 and 5.6 with 4.5 at the shortest zoom and 5.6 at the maximum zoom.
Once you've got a suitable camera and lens, there are some other pieces of equipment that can also help improve your pictures:
Tripod or Monopod. Essential pieces of kit for making sure images are as sharp as possible. They are also useful for holding heavy SLR's and lenses if you're taking pictures from the same spot for a while as SLR's do get heavy if you're hand holding. Try and get a substantial tripod or monopod as it's a worthwhile investment.
Battery holder and grip. I find that adding a battery holder/grip under the camera vastly improves the stability of the camera in your hands which in turn leads to much sharper pictures.
Lens hood. A plastic hood fitted to the front of the lens to help stop nasty sun flares spoiling your picture.
Camera and lens rain cover. We live in the UK, will get used a lot.
Composition
The key to any good photograph is its composition and it's something that constantly needs to be thought about. Even if you've got the best camera and lens in the world, you're never going to take the best picture if you don't consider what you want happening in the picture unless you are very lucky.
First of all begin by deciding on the type of picture you want to take be it a head on super sharp picture, a dramatic cornering picture, a dynamic side on panning picture or even something more artistic.
Once decided, consider the other factors that will enhance the picture such as where to stand to capture the most lean in a corner or where cars are likely to lift a wheel or kick up a loose surface.
It's also worth considering what is in the background. A nice back drop can make all the difference and some tracks are much better than others in this respect. Tracks like Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and Spa in Belgium are all well known for the picturesque photographs taken there.
One popular technique to improve the composition of a picture to make it look a bit more dramatic and stand out from how a normal picture would look is to lean the camera slightly one way or the other. It's not an effect everyone likes, but as long as it's not used too much (easy to do) with too much angle it can enhance a picture. It's worth experimenting with all the same.
Once you've decided on the picture to take, just concentrate on that one shot. Don't worry about trying to capture a car at various points as it moves through a corner and onto a straight for example. You'll find you will not do any of your pictures justice that way. Concentrate on one shot at a time and when you feel you've taken enough pictures of cars with that shot, then move on to next and consider the composition of that one.