Been playing around with RC Photography, What do you think?

[rcTom]

Hey,

My name is Tom, i'm from the USA (Central Pennsylvania to be a little more exact). I'm a photographer who is also into RC's, so it came natural for me to try photographing RC's while at the track. A local racer told me about this site and the amazing photography that was on it, and WOW he was right.

I have to say, taking pictures of these small very fast moving objects is tough, alot tougher then i expected.
My main gear is; Canon 40D, 70-200 F2.8 IS and 24-70 F2.8

Here is a gallery the first time i tried it.
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/pitstop/

And here is the second time.
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/

I think i got a few great shots, but they just dont stand out like some of the photos ive seen here. I notice at first i was shooting with a very fast shutter speed, in hope to not havea blurry car (since its moving so fast) but then i realized i didnt like the "froozen" wheels and i wanted the car to have more movement. So ive since then started using a slower shutter speed. Ive also been playing around with close up panning, ive gotten some pretty sweet shots. Anyway, take a look and tell me what you think. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

PS: My RC's are Mod B44 and Mod RC8E. 8-)

[Alfonzo]

Welcome Tom!.

You've got some good photo's there. Try speaking to Jimmy 'Mr Oople' who put this warped website together - he's the photomeister and I'm sure he'll be happy to talk cameras and stuff with you, although I think he's busy covering the Euro championships for a few days now.

[rcTom]

Awesome, i look forward to his reply. 8-)

[colmo]

I'm not a pro, so apologies if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs....

I think you've pretty much identified the issue as shutter speed - it's a tough one to get right; too fast, and the images are too static, too slow, and your hit-rate plummets.

I found when shooting the Irish GP (touring cars, so very fast indeed!) that pre-focus was mandatory - I tended to get more shots of the top drivers' cars because they stuck more closely to the racing line, upon which I was focused and waiting!

Panning is a must, and I even did a bit of zoom-panning, to give it a name - start wide, then zoom in as you pan to crop as close as possible.

One thing I found very successful was finding a chicane, to capture multi-car shots as they rounded the second bend (with the chasing cars in the background). As it was also an accident black-spot, I got some crash photos I was delighted with too!

[rcTom]

Yea, focusing is another tough thing, my lenses are considered pretty quick but its still tough. Ive been focusing in the general area that i plan on taking the picture, so its close. Then i take the shot of the car. It seems to have been working for me.

Ive seen some people use flash also, i might try this and see what the results are. Haha i can setup a speedlite off camera and try some cool stuff too. I dont know.

Feel free to CC (constructive critique) my photos.

Here's a few of my fav's: (dont mind the watermark)

1
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/pitstop/bin/images/medium/psh_024.jpg
2
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/pitstop/bin/images/medium/psh_033.jpg
3
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/bin/images/medium/Richfield2_05.jpg
4
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/bin/images/medium/Richfield2_08.jpg
5
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/bin/images/medium/Richfield2_47.jpg
6
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/bin/images/medium/Richfield2_53.jpg
7
http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/richfield/bin/images/medium/Richfield2_62.jpg

[ben]

The one of the truggy with the pebbles flying up is brilliant!

Good work!

[ashleyb4]

there all awsome.

A

[rcTom]

Heres a gallery from this past Saturday. 1/8th scale track.

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/

[mole2k]

Some great shots there!

[rcTom]

Thanks.

Here's a few as a preview. (dont mind the boarder/watermarks, thats for/from the gallery).


http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_026.jpg

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_079.jpg

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_107.jpg

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_095.jpg

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_110.jpg

http://www.tomjanz.com/Images/xrc/bin/images/large/XRC_108.jpg

[Cooper]

Hi Tom,


Some are brilliant some are random and some are not sharp, you probably know yourself which photo belongs to the categories.
It's all about
1: having talent (you have it)
2: proper material (you have it)
3: doing it alot (you're working on it)
4: being critic for yourself (you'll do it automatically when you have to go over a billion zillion photo's after every meeting) Only keep the coolest or photo's from cars of people who asked you to photograph their cars.

The difference between a random picture and a cool picture will be in the details :)
Dirt flying is cool, cars crashing is cool, more than just 1 car on a photo is cool.
It has become "easy" for me to just shoot a car when it hits a corner. It is alot nicer to have that same car with the one following him in the background :).

One thing is important, try to have fun! You will never get any money for it, just give people a nice remembering of their raceday.

My pic's are here: www.rc-offroad.be
going from my dad's 300D standard lens to a 450D to a 40D with 70-200 L f4 lens

I've just did the Euro's for the french/international website 'PetitRC' and those pic's are here: http://www.petitrc.com/_forumphp//showthread.php?t=45535


Good luck !

[Panzer]

hi...

nice pics, Tom ;)

useful advice and cool pics, Cooper.... thanks :thumbsup::thumbsup:


My pics are here: www.panzergrafix.com

[rcTom]

Hi Tom,


Some are brilliant some are random and some are not sharp, you probably know yourself which photo belongs to the categories.
It's all about
1: having talent (you have it)
2: proper material (you have it)
3: doing it alot (you're working on it)
4: being critic for yourself (you'll do it automatically when you have to go over a billion zillion photo's after every meeting) Only keep the coolest or photo's from cars of people who asked you to photograph their cars.

The difference between a random picture and a cool picture will be in the details :)
Dirt flying is cool, cars crashing is cool, more than just 1 car on a photo is cool.
It has become "easy" for me to just shoot a car when it hits a corner. It is alot nicer to have that same car with the one following him in the background :).

One thing is important, try to have fun! You will never get any money for it, just give people a nice remembering of their raceday.

My pic's are here: www.rc-offroad.be (http://www.rc-offroad.be)
going from my dad's 300D standard lens to a 450D to a 40D with 70-200 L f4 lens

I've just did the Euro's for the french/international website 'PetitRC' and those pic's are here: http://www.petitrc.com/_forumphp//showthread.php?t=45535


Good luck !
I really really appreciate all the advice, i totally agree with everything you said.

Yea, i agree the corner shots getting a little boring. Jumps are ok but like the corner shots, it gets boring. Crashes and battles is what i really want to work on. Crashes and battles are less predictable then corners and jumps?
So whats your technique? Just push the shutter and hope it focuses quick enough to capture the action?

For corners and jumps, i usually pre-focus in the area i plan on shooting and when the car is near i complete the focus on it.
I still get alot of out of focus cars... but i guess that happens alot in this type of photography. HAHA

Thanks so much!!!!

Panzer: really digging your photos, thanks for the compliment.

[Cooper]

I follow the car with Ai Servo and I trigger when in I believe it's the right time. Like this you can wait for the perfect moment and shoot.

With slow camera's you need to focus on a corner and wait untill the car passes your focuspoint.

I also play with focus points on my 40D like if I have the leading car on the right side and the one following on the left, I quickly put the right focusing point on so the first car is in focus and not the second (or the ground).

I also experiment with light measuring methods and sometimes (mostly jumps) I manually set the aperture and shutter speed.

I also prefer to photograph good racers that hold their line instead of people driving all over the place :D

another tip: open your eye that is not in the viewfinder to locate the car that is about to pass the area you are shooting (a couple of corners mosty) or to locate a battle between a couple of cars that is important to have on camera.

[telboy]

I'm not getting the website, or the pics come up. :(

[Gibsy]

I'm not getting the website, or the pics come up. :(

same

[telboy]

Ooh, can get them now. :)

[rcTom]

I follow the car with Ai Servo and I trigger when in I believe it's the right time. Like this you can wait for the perfect moment and shoot.

With slow camera's you need to focus on a corner and wait untill the car passes your focuspoint.

I also play with focus points on my 40D like if I have the leading car on the right side and the one following on the left, I quickly put the right focusing point on so the first car is in focus and not the second (or the ground).

I also experiment with light measuring methods and sometimes (mostly jumps) I manually set the aperture and shutter speed.

I also prefer to photograph good racers that hold their line instead of people driving all over the place :D

another tip: open your eye that is not in the viewfinder to locate the car that is about to pass the area you are shooting (a couple of corners mosty) or to locate a battle between a couple of cars that is important to have on camera.
I pretty much tried a bunch of different techniques to see what works best.

I have recently been using AI Servo, Aperture priority and trying to maintain a shutter speed of around 1/500.

I found my self doing the eye open thing alot this past Saturday, it helped alot ha. I laughed when you said that as a tip because i thought it was funny when i was doing it.

Gosh, i cant wait to go to the track again. I want to take more pictures!!!

Every try using a speedlight on camera?

I went to a night event at a outdoor track and lighting was little to none (just enough for the racers to see the track). And so i setup a studio strobe off camera with a portable battery pack. Hahaha it was funny but didnt work out to well. I might try it again some other time but i didnt like it.

[Cooper]

hmmmm I don't like flash....

maybe indoors but then you'll irritate the racers ;)

[AaronM]

Tom - You can shoot with a flash. Just use common sense and do not shoot it towards the driver. We all shoot with flash at the major events. I shot with flash 2 weeks back and didn't get one complaint. I just use my SB-800 and shoot it on manual... I do shoot it remote with Pocket Wizards sometimes. When I finally get some nice strobes for studio work they wont come near the track...

Here is a cool shot I got last time out. The track had deteriorated quite a bit and it was near impossible to get it right every time. Talking former World Champions having problems with it. No one likes pics of their cars like this but I made sure to get one of a buddy. Nice reminder of the event for him.

http://mathiasonphoto.smugmug.com/photos/617494386_QK5vY-O.jpg

[Cooper]

Aaron,

Maybe a cool photo but the car isn't exactly sharp... personally I would delete it :/.

Why do you guys use flash? To compensate with the sun?
I never use it for cars, same as Jimmy.

[rcTom]

Aaron,

Maybe a cool photo but the car isn't exactly sharp... personally I would delete it :/.

Why do you guys use flash? To compensate with the sun?
I never use it for cars, same as Jimmy.
Ive seen pictures of people taking pictures and i seen speedlights on there camera. I was wondering the same thing. Maybe for some fill, if its harsh out?

I've never tried it during the day, but i did try it at the one night event i went to.

A speedlights flash duration is super short (at lower settings). So it could help to "Freeze" the subject. idk..

[AaronM]

Aaron,

Maybe a cool photo but the car isn't exactly sharp... personally I would delete it :/.

Why do you guys use flash? To compensate with the sun?
I never use it for cars, same as Jimmy.

Cooper - FYI I didn't want it frozen. I wanted it to show what the car went through when it impacted. Shows the shock of the impact going through the car.... I could have froze it but then it just looks like a car suspended in air.... Here are a few more I took. Different tracks.. Trying to get a cool shot with the light in one and just a standard shot in the other.

I only use the flash when there is hardly any light. No need to use it during the day.

http://mathiasonphoto.smugmug.com/photos/557768657_yDtdU-O-1.jpg

http://mathiasonphoto.smugmug.com/photos/617473712_Q3yrJ-O.jpg

[rcTom]

That first shot, was with the strobe right?

When you do use a off camera strobe, where do you put it. I put mine about 2-3 feet to my side and just hated the outcome.

[Cooper]

Cooper - FYI I didn't want it frozen. I wanted it to show what the car went through when it impacted. Shows the shock of the impact going through the car.... I could have froze it but then it just looks like a car suspended in air.... Here are a few more I took. Different tracks.. Trying to get a cool shot with the light in one and just a standard shot in the other.

I only use the flash when there is hardly any light. No need to use it during the day.

http://mathiasonphoto.smugmug.com/photos/557768657_yDtdU-O-1.jpg

http://mathiasonphoto.smugmug.com/photos/617473712_Q3yrJ-O.jpg


Oh ok :)

Thanks for the explanation.