took some photos, tell me what you think























the rest are at:
http://www.pbase.com/mizouse/formula_d_long_beach

 

I think the first one is great, though you could have used a pair of these



Overall I think you did a pretty good job following the cars, though I don't, I've never taken my camera to a motorsports even. Looks like fun.

 

hahah i know, those darn fences, i knew someone that mightve been able to get me a press pass but couldnt

 

Could you fill us in on your specs?

and what lens and speeds you were using =P?
tripod ?

 

the exif info should be there

but all of the panning shots were handheld w/ my 70-300 IS lens at around 1/60th to 1/100th

i had a tripod with me but didn't use it, the model/car pictures were almost all taken with my 18-55 kit lens and the built in flash was used 100% of the time

 

Yeah, too bad about the chain link, but nice job on the panning!

 

Ah i see it all, thanks i'm using the same camera, but i'm still only just starting, not to mention trying to pick up another lens.

 

 

Nice photos Mizouse. Too bad about the fences. They would have turned out even better. The second photo from the top would have been perfect if you could have made it tighter and got the car earlier in the turn to make some space between it and the top of the fence. You were probably maxed out on your lens. Did you put the IS on number 2 for panning? That's what 2 is for, right? I tried doing some panning this afternoon of cars passing by on the highway behind my house. I have the same lens. It's pretty fun trying to capture the cars. I didn't save any though. I was just fooling around.

BTW, I like the model shots. Do you just walk up to them and say you want to take a picture? I've never been to one of these events. It would be good to know if I ever do go to one.

 

ohh no i wasnt maxed out on my lens i couldve zoomed in tighter, but didnt think of doing that until later.

and yea i set the IS mode to 2, although in some of the panning shots it was left at 1 so i dont think it really helps all that much.

and as for the models, yea i would just come up to the booth they were at and ask if i could take their photo. it was funny thou some of them were thanking me for taking their picture as if i was a famous photographer or something

anyways im going to figure out how much the super photo ticket is for the toyota grand prix of long beach this coming saturday, cause it lets me get closer to the track and unobstructed views of the track. should be sweet as long as its not too expensive

 

why? It's not going to do any good from the distance you were at with the drifting shots.

 

Nice shots Miz. They show noticable improvement. You did pretty good with the panning, though, you may have tried a slightly faster shutter to "freeze" the car. It's a trade off between stopping the car and blurring the background, so the faster shutter may not have improved the shots.

Keep shooting and keep posting.

 

I think he was referring to the shots with the kit lens.

Miz, on the portraits, try and use a larger aperature to get the background bokeh. It may not have been possible with the overcast skies.

 

ohh yea i was talking about the car shots and pictures of models is when i used flash 100% of the time

the drifting ones i definitely turned it off

 

i dont think it was also possible with the lens i had, also since i was using the flash it would limit me to 1/200th or faster shutter so i could only adjust aperature or iso

 

The thrifty fifty would have been put to good with the models but I guess since the flash was limiting you from going to a faster shutter speed, a lower aperature would not help you out.

 

The lower aperature would allow him to use a faster shutter speed without the flash. It seems like the lighting was pretty flat, so the flash doesn't seem "necessary" to reduce shadows.

 

Yeah but I don't really know what the lighting were so I assumed he needed to lift some shadows out of the models faces or maybe he was softening their face up a bit. It also seems like they are under a tent so that might be casting shadows on their faces. Otherwise, I would agree that he could have done away with the flash.

 

I don't live too far from Long Beach and know the skies were pretty overcast this past weekend. Also, if you look beyond the flashes effective range, the people seem to be fairly well/evenly lit under the tent.

Plus, many of his shots were at ISO 400. Switching to ISO 100 would have countered at least some of that.

Does the exif data ignore the built-in flash? All of the pictures I looked as said that no flash was used. He was in shutter priority, so it appears he set the shutter to 1/200 for the flash.

 

yea i dont know why it says no flash was used, but it was used, in almost all of the pictures of the models and cars

and yes i needed to use the flash for the models because there was too much shadow despite being overcast and they were under tents, i took a test shot at around 11am/noon w/o a flash and the shadow was pretty bad

but yea i definately need more practice

 

We all could use more practice, but that's a good thing.

Like I said previously, you are already showing much improvement and your shots actually came out pretty well.

 

Your flash shots came out pretty good. I wish mine came out as good. I have no problems with bouncing the flash but shooting directly and mixing it with ambient light is tricky. I need lots of practice as well.

 

HAHA! i was suppose to enter my car in that show!
i didnt get to go cause my homie that i was gonna follow over there got into a car accident. but i did see that u took a pic of my homies Trueno that says I'm Killing It!

good job on the pics tho!.. ill see if i can enter my ride in a future show