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