Drift car panning?

[Free]

Howdy all,

I was excited to get to my state drift series on the weekend and after a lot of "research" on flickr trying to work out what the best angles were going to be was a bit peeved when I got there and only had a couple places spectators could get shots from All were either too far away for my 55-200mm or behind the cars going into turn one. Next time I'm going to take a reflective vest and try to talk my way into the photog area in the middle of the track.

Anyway, I did work on my panning while I was there and got some alright shots of the back of the cars. Here's one I'm not too sure of...



I've dropped the shutter priority down to 1/60 and put the focus on the Nissan logo, but because the rest of the car moving at a different speed everything else has a fair wack of motion blur on it.

Just wondering what ya'll think?

Is it too much blur on the rest of the car? Or do you think it show's the movement of the car well?

XCIF is:
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f/20
Focal length: 155mm

Cheers
Free

[candleman]

its cool, but it looks like the front end is spinning out, rather than the back end..
so it kinda looks to me like he's reversing and spinning around in a 180.

i would have made sure the back end was blurred and the front was in focus.. like this shot of mine at RallyNZ

but, theres not much you could have done as you already said you couldnt get to any good spots.


as for your exif.
i'd drop to ISO 100 and open the aperture a stop

[sk66]

Personally, I think it' too much blur. You got the part of the car I care the least about. I think it' fairly impressive panning at 1/60 and 155mm, but a faster shutter speed would have helped..

[Free]

Cheers, pretty much what I was thinking, the 1/80th pans look a lot crisper.

You nailed it exactly Candleman, my plan was to get front 3/4's as they came through a set of S bends! But not being able to get to the spot really put a damper on the day

Nevermind though, I was chatting to a photog and he said all I need is a hi-vis vest and to fill out a waiver and I can get in the middle!

Next time the pics will be much better!

Cheers
Free

[BigVinnie]

Some places also require a spotter. Being chased down by a car you don't see is not fun.

Cars are not a specialty, I just go and shoot for a couple of friends for fun. The shot below is 1/125th shutter speed. The faster the cars are going the faster shutter you can use.

[Free]

No spotter required here, the photogs are still behind a sand trap and tyre wall (or on top at times) and drifting is a very slow speed motor sport, to be honest I think they were a lot safer than where I was standing in the crowd!

Here's another from the sideline, this time at 1/125, f/7, iso 200 & 120mm...



Cheers
Free

[Sime]

Sorta related - I was looking at this guy, Antonio, he's on the tv show we make (day job) coming up soon'ish - but I think in this short clip there's a couple of shots of him actually panning whilst shooting drift - gives you an idea of how fast he pans, I have a set of his prints at work - I'll grab some exif, and post it if he's cool with that (tomorrow) if you like...

Antonio Alvendia Formula Drift Photographer video | Mobil 1The Grid

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