Motorsport photography in low light?
 

Heres a little quandry I find myself at the moment:

Im attending some Rallys over the winter months and, being britain and winter, we're expecting poor weather; either wet and cold OR overcast, cold & foggy as it has been in Leeds for the past couple of days.

Here lies my problem:

Im not so bothered about the rain aspect, but if it is overcast, grey & or foggy, whats the best way to shoot motorsport in these conditions??

Obviously, when shooting static objects, we can slow the shutter speed down, but when you're trying to catch fast paced action and keep it sharp...whats the best way to go forward???????

Thanks in advance

~S~

Close enough for flash?

Not really, not onboard flash anyway!

Its going to be a bit away, not mega distance but 200-300mm will be used

Only way out is to jack up your ISO. I guess you will be using shutter priority in these situations. if you are panning, then i have a feeling that anything in the region of 1/100 to 1/120th of a second would be suffice. I think you will be able to achieve these speeds with a decent lens.

Another option is to position yourself at the slower section of the circuit where the cars are expected to be slow. This will help in freezing action at lower shutter speeds.

regards
tifosi.

I agree with Tifosi, High ISO and choose a slow part of the circuit, but you really need an f2.8 or better lens as well. If there are no flash restrictions (ie no danger of blinding drivers) - an off camera remote flash on a tripod may help as well.

Vibration Reduction lens? or short focal length and be close to the action providing it's safe.

VR/IS will make a difference at slow shutter speed, however SD wants to freeze action which will require high shutter speed. So IMHO as Andy suggested, he needs a fast lens more than a VR/IS.


Regards
tifosi.

Fastest lens in use on the day (if Im opperating at anywhere near 1-300) will be F4 Im affraid

Unless we end up getting realy close to the action, then I can use the 50mm F1.8

I have a feeling that 300 F4 will be sufficient to freeze action, using very high shutter speed is also not usually suggested as a little blur here and there implying motion appeals better than a stand still photograph.

regards
tifosi.

I agree that a lot blur add to the motion and I usually do capture the speed through panning shots in mid exposure shots like this one:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...Picture280.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...Picture156.jpg

However, occasionally, I like to freeze everything when shooting motorsport, to really capture the car and the moment...call me akward, but its true :D

Greenbunion's suggestion of flash isn't to be disregarded. Buying a big flashgun will be a lot cheaper than buying a 300mm f/2.8 lens, and you can use it for so much more than motorsport too.

Tifosi, the kind of conditions SDPhotography is talking about are really very gloomy indeed. Getting a fast enough shutter speed with a 300mm f/4 lens at ISO 1600 may still be challenging in Northern England in the winter.

Besides, isn't the Sigma 70-300 wide open at f/5.6 at the long end of its zoom?

Duncan

i was talking about something like this.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b5...r/IMG_8629.jpg

Im no disregarding the suggestion of getting a large flashgun (Im hoping to buy a 580EX in the new year) but for the moment, I have no finances other than to get me to the event and will be either using the 70-300 of mine, the 50mm of mine (if close enough) or a couple of Mr Woollesons lenses as he will be with me (this is the usual thing) which means either the Sigma 100-300 EX F4 (HEAVVVVYYYY but awesome!) or the 70-200F4L as I dont think I'll be close enough to experiment with the 10-20mm again :lol:

Buying another lens or Flashgun is out for the moment as the next bunch of cash that comes in, needs to go into car tax & some small repairs before I can even think about buying anything to do with photography :)


I do like panning shots occasionally, but with rally I tend to find that full freeze shots work well

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ure179copy.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ure005copy.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...8465bwcopy.jpg

yelvertoft, agree with you 100%, i have no clue of how gloomy it would be. i was just imagining how a gloomy overcast day would be here and was doling out my suggestions.:D

i am sure you guys will have a better understanding of the situation.

regards
krishna.

Any chance of a convertor on your 50mm 1.8? It will get you close for a small loss of aperture.

If Jason isnt using it, then its a possibility

I suppose it all depends on how close we are to the action!!! You never know, we might get lucky and have a lovely bright day :lol:

What about trying slow sync flash?....
It's a good way to get some background detail in with a slow shutter speed, and pick out and freeze some detail in the speeding car. the flash doesn't have to be massively powerful.
I've not used it in motorsports, but I found it works well with action
...or has that been suggested and I missed it?

y'know, I might try that regardless of the weather conditions...see how it works out

Thanks man

No problem.
It's always worth a try for something different.
Been an age since I used the technique. Can remember doing some shots for an ice hockey team with some mixed results. Rear curtain sync found on most SLR's these days makes a big difference. Would thoroughly recomend using it to catch the blur at the right time ....got a great shot of the puk spinning in the air.....
Would have added it on here a while ago, but can't for the life of me remember where the negs are! :(