Fast Moving objects

[zee]

Hi guys, wondered if anyone can help?

I'm off to phillip island for the Moto GP soon and cant wait to get some great stills of the bikes. However I have some questions as I've never shot fast moving anythings before.

What sort of shutter speeds are good for shots of bikes on the track? I realise fast, but how fast?

One shot I'm after is to get the bike with a blured background for the impression of speed. Any tips on achieving this result? I dont have a good computer operating system yet, so it will have to be in camera.

and if anyone knows the track, what are some good locations for shots?

Thanks for anyhelp anyone can give.

[ricktas]

the effect is created by 'panning'. ie, following your subject and pressing the shutter while continuing to follow the subject.

The shutter speed needs to be fast enough to get a good exposure, but slow enough to capture the blurry background.

Depending on how good you are at panning you can do shutter speeds of 1/100 th 1/50th second. It also depends on how bright a day it is, overcast is good for slower shutter speeds.

My suggestion would be get out to a local street and practice your panning on cards going past. It is a learned skill and the practice will be well worth it. You can also experiment with shutter speeds till you acheive the results you want.

[zee]

Thanks Rick,

that info should help a heap!! unfortunatly I wont get a chance to practice till I get there, but there will be 3 days of bikes on the track so I should get plenty of practice while I'm there.

Thanks again!

[I @ M]

Practice heaps as Rick suggested before the main races zee, the end of the front straight, the first corner on the track, offers some good cornering shots if you can get a spot on the fence.

[zee]

Thanks Andrew,

I reckon I might need to by another memory card before I go over, because I think I'll be taking a lot of photos!!! there are heaps of practice sessions and races before the big race on sunday, I'll get in heaps of practice!!

and thanks for the tip about the track!! that will come in handy!!

[reaction]

I did some go-cart pics at 1/250-320 which gave a sharp cart and blurred back.
With the extra speed of a real GP I'd go higher.

[kiwi]

the best shots though are with the slowest shutter speed you can manage to blur the backdrop and the tires - as said before start at say 1/200s and then go lower

Best advise re panning is acquire early, move with the car, take the shot and most importantly follow through

[atky]

Bikes don't need very slow shutter speeds to get good motion blur I find You can get good results at speeds as fast as 1/360 but if you go real slow the results can be very good but expect a low keeper rate.
I've posted a couple of examples First at 1/250 second at 1/50 both taken as described by Kiwi and after lots of practise.

[kiwi]

#2 is the bees knees Steve.