Manitou Handlers October 5, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes, Shoot Trips.Tags: F1
add a comment
With all the potential crushed steel and accidents that could happen on race day, you need something small, mobile and fast to remove things off the tracks in a moment’s notice. And I guess it was the first time I see such a one on the island.
Or is the customized crane hander used to allow drivers to be lifted out of an inferno blaze in a flash?
Singapore F1 Was Fun! October 4, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes, Shoot Trips.Tags: F1
add a comment
Review – my first F1 shoot was enjoyable and very casual, with results I am quite pleased, being a super amateur and all. The Nikon system makes dummies like me shoot with surprisingly crisp subjects despite the speed the objects were traveling in. That’s superb. I guess it was my first panning exercise with a DSLR!
So, if you ask me, I would probably attend the 2010’s F1 next September, and this time round will attempt to shoot beyond the fences!
Keep it Spining! September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
To see the full effect of the wheel spin, I decided to lower the shuttle speed down to 1/640 second, and it works like a charm!
Most of them Did Nothing! September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
Good money, good beer, little work involved…at least when there’s no accident. It’s kinda relaxing for most as they put on the cap of a spectator.
Pan on the Spot! September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
My very first panning exercise with a camera and high-speed cars…well, turn out quite well as I pre-focus and shoot all through the net barricades! At 1/1000 second, I could still achieve some wheel spins but the composition is way below average in my opinion…
Oops! And if you set a shutter speed beyond the speed of the cars, you get stationary parked cars images instead (like the one above)!
Every Tom, Dick and Harry Was There! September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
A very serious looking marshal who seems to fit the role of a WWF wrestler…
Being the first time in an F1 race, I adopted a shoot and tell approach as I know nuts about the driver, team or sponsors they bear…
Practice Makes Perfect September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
A day of practice for the F1 drivers as the crowds slowly flooded the venue. I was there from the late afternoon while getting familiarize with the surrounding and where I can access with my day pass.
The Night it turns to Day September 28, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Editor Notes.Tags: F1
add a comment
Some pre-race shots I took before the actual race day began. The track was so brightly lit that it resembles a daylight condition for the drivers on those barricaded stretch of roads. Check my actual D300s gallery for high resolution shots!
Dog Tired from the F1 Shoot September 26, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Shoot Trips.Tags: F1
add a comment
Pardon me as I now have to sort out so many shots in the memory cards! Messy, messy, and more mess.
Will get back to all when I wind down in Macau…or on the plane.
F1 Grand Prix Shooting Tips – Summary Notes September 1, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Oei in Shoot Trips.Tags: F1
add a comment
Here’s some first-pass notes I gathered on the net to do this right
- Set ISO to 400 and the shutter speed above 1/500 sec. That should freeze the action for you if that is the effect that you are going for
- Forget the polarizer (add it for flare reduction from body paint?)
- Need to work on learning to pan with the cars
- Use a single focus point (the centre one is a good idea – although an off-centre one can be useful depending on your angle). Use AI servo AF, choose a high contrast area somewhere on the front of the car as your focus target and track the cars for half a second with that area under the focus point before releasing the shutter. Put the camera in shutter priority mode and set your shutter speed to no faster then 1/320th of a second otherwise you will have a lot of “cars parked on the circuit” pictures. The most common mistake for motorsport photographers is to set their shutter speeds too high – you want to retain some sense of motion. Use an aperture of around f/8 and then set the ISO to something that gets you a decent exposure
- Get there early
- Be really friendly and a little pushy, you may get a few shots from a prime location.
- 1/320, F8, ISO 200, 300mm (good guide; again depending where you are wrt the cars)
- The trick to racing shots is to be able to pan well for the duration of the shutter. Practice that skill every day for the next two weeks somewhere that there’s a highway and your chance of great shots go up significantly
- Look at the very excellent Sigma 100-300mm. f/4.0 EX HSM
- If you find the fence is in the way, drop your shutter to 1/80 and as long as your panning is good, you’ll blur out the chain fencing, then all you need to worry about is the horizontal wires (pretty easy to clone out)
- More to come…
An avid photographer who shoots with both his Nikon D90 and Nikon D300s camera like crazy and blog it on the World Wide Web. The Nikon D300s Lab will feature project-oriented shoot trips which can include real-life commercial projects undertaken by Lawrence Oei in his spare weekends. 
Nikon D300s Lab 