H2O Rocket

[cndstrong]

I took this picture at a recent Drag Boat Racing event. I posted it in SYS section but got no comments, so I thought I would post it here and ask for you all to give me some advise. It looks to me like the photos are out of focus/blurred but I don't know if this is just a result of the distance I had to shoot from, the lack of a longer lens, ISO, exposure, dirty lens, etc. I am posting the original photo as shot with no post processing done and a post processed version with the EXIF data. Any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.





Exposure: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 150 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Did not fire

Thank you for looking!

[kuvahmagh]

Based on your cropped shot it looks like you are pretty much hitting the limit of your lens/sensor combination.

I am not sure what the rest of the course looks like ahead of this but if it were me and it were fairly open I would try and take the shot as it was running parallel to me, slow down the shutter and pan with it, if you can get enough practice and push it low enough you will be able to completely blur the background which will give you much more options when it comes to cropping since I assume you cropped the way you did to avoid the other person taking a shot and his jeep. I would then try to crop it so that the boat was actually to the left half of the frame and 'give him somewhere to go' while still keeping some of the water jet behind him. I know its not always possible but it would be what I would be looking for if I showed up there.

[cndstrong]

Ok so I guess I didn't follow all the rules in my original post. My appologies.

Kuvahmagh...I couldn't agree more that I was maxing out the capabilities of my equipment. One of these day I will be able to afford the longer lens. As for the rest of your comments, unfortunatly the public area for this event was rather limited and was directly accross the lake from a very large "score board" as well as the large brightly colored bouys that mark the race course. By the time the boats were parrallel to me they were finished with their runs. Yes, I cropped the the photo the way I did to crop out the other photographer. As for the panning option, it is not something I have tried yet but have been thinking about until then here is my best effort at producing something like what you suggested through PP.



Your comments are very much appreciated and I will remember them the next time I have the opportunity to shoot this type of event.