Automotive Photography

Automotive Photography

In the process of preparing for my recent appearance on the Podcast with The Photowalk Guys, I prepared some notes to help a person learn or improve their photography of cars and motorsport- something I have the pleasure of doing plenty of through this page. 

I've given some advice on what gear to use, basic camera setup and some more advanced tips to help you progress your work. I've aimed this at both racing and static car shows separately, as these are both very different beasts to tackle but are both skills you may need at an event. I hope that sharing my own knowledge and experience that I've picked as I learn, helps you to get more from your own Automotive Photography!

The Basics:

• What you should bring to an event: 
• Comfy walking shoes- you will be on your feet all day!
• Weather appropriate clothes- race tracks tend to sit at the extreme ends of the weather spectrum. 
• Back-up batteries and memory cards- dont let a full card or flat battery cut your day short- don't be suprised to shoot 1000+ images in a day!
• A monopod can be useful, particularly if you have a heavy telephoto lens
• A polariser- I will talk more about this below, most automotive photographers wont leave home without one
• A backpack- you will be doing lots of walking and shooting, keep your arms and hands free to shoot!

• Choice of lenses to use is personal, I swear by a 70-200mm f/2.8 for racing, with a 1.7x Teleconvertor to extend the focal length when needed; and a 50mm f/1.4 for static displays as well as my 16-35mm f/4 to mix it up in either situation.

• Know your gear. Read the manual. Read it again. Then chuck it out and experiment! 

Shooting motorsport:

• Capturing racing is all about shutter speed control- decide whether you'd like to capture a frozen image of the action at speed, using a fast shutter speed (1/1000sec or faster) or capture the sense of speed by having a blurred photo using a lower speed (1/125sec or less).

• I recommend starting in Shutter Priority mode and experimenting with the effects of high and low speed shooting. Check the LCD preview of your photos carefully to see the effects, and if you particularly like a setting you may wish to 'lock' it in by switching to full Manual mode and dialing it in- but don't forget to keep checking that the settings are still working- the light never stops changing and your settings will need to be adjusted to suit.

• All other exposure settings should be a bi-product of achieving the required shutter speed, and by this I mainly refer to your aperture and ISO settings. In particular- don't be afraid to wind the camera's ISO settings up to a high setting for faster exposures- ISO1000 may be required in lower light to keep getting sharp shots. I find many photographers are very shy with raising their ISO as they are scared of noise in their images but I think they would be pleasantly surprised with the ISO performance of most modern DSLR's!

• Understand your auto-focus on the camera and lens:
• On-Camera: Most DSLR's have a variety of focusing modes- I use 3D matrix mode with continuous auto-focus activated so that the camera can maintain focus on a moving car and 'track' the car as it passes me. For static photos (and just about everything else) I use spot focus for maximum accuracy.
• Lens: Many telephoto lenses have a focus limit switch to limit how close the lens can focus- if activated with will help you camera focus on an approaching car more quickly by not having to 'hunt' as far for something to focus on. 

• Most telephoto lenses have an Optical stabiliser (VR, IS, OS etc) which is in essence, a spinning gyroscope that steadies a lens's internal glass to help keep hand-held photos steady and free from shake and blur. This is your best friend for high speed photos, as when racked out to 200mm focal length or higher, even the slightest movement of your hand will move the field of view significantly. Some high end lenses have an active and passive mode- try each to see which works best for you.

• Metering can be tricky particularly in high-glare situations at many race tracks- this is something you will need to assess on the day- in bright daylight situations you may find the camera will want to under-expose your images to create what it believes is a balanced image- you can counteract this using the E+/E- adjustments. For motorsport I generally use Centre-weighted metering, as I find that this mode isn't as easily 'distracted' by bright reflections off shiny cars, however if the light becomes more difficult you may wish to try using Spot metering, to ensure the camera is taking its reading from the desired part of your frame.

• Shooting Static displays:

• I prefer to use a 'Prime' lens for shooting static displays. However, be careful with your use of the the lenses largest apertures- while it will create beautiful Bokeh (blurring of objects in the background), be sure to make sure your subject is in focus front to back, this may be hard to pick at first glance at your LCD so check carefully. As a rule, I will generally wind my f/1.4 lens back up to to around f/2.8 or even higher, to avoid the risk of shooting a car and only to find that the only bit of the car that is in focus is the front bumper!

• When it comes to focusing, I use Spot focusing mode for maximum accuracy and I find it best to always focus on a car's headlights, just like you would on a person's eyes in a portrait.

• When composing an image of your subject car, experiment with different angles and views of the car, all shapes will have a different 'best angle' from which they can be viewed.  I find you can't go wrong shooting the cars front or rear three-quarter angle at the car's 'waist' height. Also try being closer or further away and zooming- you may be surprised how this changes the appearance of the car, despite having the car filling up the same area of your frame.

• Circular Polarising Filters (CPL) can help reflections off glass and metal which can distract from the beauty of your subject car. What I am about to say may be a little controversial but I don't like the effect- I like reflections in a car's body work, so long as they are simple and neat. Trying to make this work for you can be part of the challenge for this sort of photography.

• It can be tough to get a shot of a car in a show without a dozen people milling around the car. Be patient! As tempting as it may be to snap a dozen shots in 20 secs and then move to the next car, slow down! Find the angle you want and wait patiently, eventually there will be a moments gap or if you're lucky people might see that you are waiting and step back for a moment. Alternatively, if it's dark enough you may be able to set up a tripod and use a slow shutter speed to have the people blur out of the image all together.

Panning:

• Panning is an art- if you can master it in one outing, I take my hat off to you. For the rest of us, lots of practice is the only way to learn the skill.

• Shutterspeed must be quite slow. How slow will depend on how fast your subject is moving relative to your camera and the background, which in turn can be effected by focal length. Generally, less than 1/100 sec will but 1/20 sec is the limit for a sharp shot unless you have very very steady hands.

• Consider composition and the relationship of your lens to the car before you start. If the car is moving on more than one plane around your lens, in most cases this will mean the car might also be drawing closer to you as it goes by- the the car will blur at the edges as well and may ‘bend’ as well however this look can still be effective.

• Try different focal lengths to see what works for you- 70-120mm gives me the best results. A wide angle can bevery dramatic as the car is small- lots of blur around it but tracking the car evenly becomes much harder. Longer focal lengths will produce even larger amounts of blur, but also make it harder to keep your camera steady,

• Turn off VR. Turn off IS. Turn off OS. Whatever your camera calls it- turn off the lens stabiliser- it’s undoing everything you are trying to do!

• Practice the motion of panning- follow the car in a smooth sweeping arc as it passes- pick the car up as far away as possible and follow it until its out of sight. Press the shutter release after you have already started tracking the car and continue to track after the shutter closes. This should result in the smoothest results with no sudden movements to ruin your image.

• Try using a monopod. Some people, swear by them however I'm not one of them! 

Tips for Better Motorsport Photos:

• Enjoy the race or event! Passion for your subject will produce more exciting images than skill or equipment alone ever will. Don't forget to actually watch the race!

• Understand what you are shooting- if you don’t regularly follow your chosen event then do some homework the night before, talk to people at the track, ask a car’s owner to tell you about it- they usually can’t wait to tell you more than you ever wanted to know. 

• Get inspired- my favourite source of inspiration is SPEEDHUNTERS!  Larry Chen and Dino are my heroes. This page is one the things that inspired me to start shooting and also to begin blogging what I had shot.

• Watch what the pro’s do. Try to copy and learn, or completely disregard and try something unique. Rules are meant to be broken- be yourself!

• Media Passes will give you access to some great places at the track, with clear uninterrupted views of the action. However these are hard to obtain, so don't be put off if you can't get a hold of one- usually you must be shooting for a publication of some kind- printed or digital, in order to get this sort of treatment.  I believe that more often than not, most epic and creative images come from the ‘punters side’ of the fence anyhow, so don't get too hung up on this.

• Likewise, don’t be put off by the amount of expensive gear you will see at the track. For reasons unknown, there is an unfeasible amount of very expensive gear lining the fences at many race events, but don't be intimidated- every one started somewhere and experience has shown me that old adage “all the gear, no idea” is particularly true at race events.

• For interesting compositions, try shooting through objects or people to help frame your subject. Try using telephoto for photos you may have otherwise shot close up.

• I like to have people in my shots, interacting with the subject or just to add scale.

• Shoot from an ultra low angle and put sky behind the car to get a ‘clean look’.  This can lend a car a feeling of intimidation.

• Consider what is in the background- cluttered backgrounds one simple difference that can separate a professional grade image from an amateur one. Use short depth of field to further 'clean' the background if a cluttered background is unavoidable.  It is often said that photography is "the art of knowing what to leave out".

• Always pay attention to what the light is doing, for example a car with sun behind it will be very hard to expose due to the contrast. On the flip side a car with sun directly on it will look flat. Diagonals are much easier to work with.

• Use a single prime lens for an entire event, such as 50mm can be a great way to force yourself to compose your photos very carefully.

• If shooting with a wide angle lens, use it sparingly- massive wide views often have large areas of uninteresting open space. Unless your intention is to have your subject as a small part of a large frame, this is generally boring to look at as a viewer.

• I genuinely get an adrenaline rush shooting an exciting event and I enjoy the feeling of capturing moments, hoping to potray the feelings I experience in that moment but don't forget to stop and breathe every so often!

• Be safe! Motorsport can be dangerous. Crashes do happen and photographers get hurt. Always be aware of whats going on around you and be prepared to move quickly. Car shows can be just as dangerous- don’t move about whilst looking through the camera!