My first action shoot: Formula drift, Singapore.

[synn]

Hey all,

This is my first attempt at an action shoot. Till now, I've always been into photographing still life and little else. As I attempted some panning shots at the Drift, I realized that this was a whole different ballgame. To be on the safer side, I used Aperture priority and shot within the comfort zone of high shutterspeeds, but perhaps, I should have been a bit more adventurous. Well, there's always a next time, eh?

Here are some of the shots I managed to get. C&C welcome. Show no mercy! :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3615/3700432000_f4c74d87e1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3700900468_ce82612349.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2425/3700900890_e5b50d9268.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/3700091201_3faae278da.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3700902110_e7485a5dc1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/3700902808_e5f5e70920.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/3700092955_8aa26d4c85.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeepmurali/)

[KrishnenduKes]

Photo Critique Approved

Be prepared to be assaulted. Barring the usual underexposed shots bit. I would say framing as well...

[rio008]

i liked the first and last one.
the event took place @ evening time ?
underexposed is the problem. which lens did you use ?
Over all good try :)

[synn]

Thanks, guys.

This is how the pics came out of the camera, with no processing.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd9/first_synn/DSC_0309-1.jpg

The gloomy, high-contrast look you see in the first post is my own doing. I felt that it gave the pics a more "Motion picture" feel.

[rio008]

i think the standing position of the photographer is aslo a key for a good sports photography.
in your case the 80cm high road barriers interrupting your shots.
from the other side of the track with a zoom lens like 55-200mm might helped you to clicks some COMPLETE cars drifting @ tracks.

BTW. which lens did you use and why you choose aperture priority to shoot ?

[KrishnenduKes]

The gloomy, high-contrast look you see in the first post is my own doing. I felt that it gave the pics a more "Motion picture" feel.

Then I like the PP that you have done.

I notice that you pushed your ISO to 800. Did you try panning any of the shots. could have turned out interesting with the rubber burning white smoke emanating behind! :)


in your case the 80cm high road barriers interrupting your shots.


The barriers have surely created a problem. I would have liked you to get lower read ground level or much higher level perspectives. Like from a helicopter.

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

i always wanted to see a drift event.GRID has some awesome drifting sections.

1st one has come out awesome.(atleast to me).the only suggestion that i will give is to reduce the vignetting.the smoke behind is also a part of the shot.dont make the vignetting zero but lighten up the smoke behind.some part of it.

the 2nd one seems incomplete.first was better.

3rd one has gone dark for me.

4th has gone darker than the 3rd.so obviously you can improve on the 3rd.

5th is good,but then again dark.

6th and 7th are good.

ill go for visual to show what i want to say.hope you dont mind.

for the barriers that are coming in the photo,crop will do nice.like the one below.

http://i32.tinypic.com/wc1gcw.jpg

same concept here.
http://i32.tinypic.com/20frfqv.jpg

now when i said that smoke is part of the photo i meant somewhat like that.when you compare your shot with this one,you will see that the wheel part and the smoke part at the rear is kinda subdued.just painted them to a suitable level.thats my personal perspective.cause always in my mind drift and smoke go together.

please pardon the watermark.didnt kept the metadata and copyright function off during the editing.

if you have problems of others editing your photos without permission please do tell.that will keep things clear.

well thats my suggestion/critique/addition whatever you say.

overall the event that you have covered has come out real good.but the photos themselves have juice.keep fiddling with them.

anvancy

[powerslave]

Synn: Too much vignetting man.

[synn]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Rio: I used the AF Nikkor 70-300 for the shots. For some reason, the security didn't allow more people to go to the other side, so I had to make do with the barricade side. :(

I used Aperture priority because I hadn't really done too many panning shots before and wanted to get more hits than misses with the session. Next time around, I'm definitely gonna use shutter priority.

Ken: I did try panning, but the high shutter speeds pretty much negated the blurry "Panning lines". I'd have loved to shoot from above ground level too, but that area was limited to team members.

Anvancy: Great suggestions there W.R.T. Framing. They have really made the pics come alive! :)

Manas: Point taken. I'm gonna fiddle around a bit more in Lightroom now.

[rio008]

You can add some panning effects using motion blur option in PS.
will give some good effect to you photos.
Something like this
392

[Xavier]

Some pretty cool shots there Synn. :)
I agree with Manas on the vignetting thing.