Hi all
I thought I’d have lots of camera practice done by now but really I’ve been so focused on finding the software I can get my head around and am finally settling into Gimp after much much practice.
I’ve also been hyper focused on combining Gimp with my chosen material to laser images onto and how palette variations and contrast quality in different lighting situations to present work, will factor in.
So there is a motorcycle road racing event coming up next month at a village nearby that I have chosen as my first day out with the Nikon d610-50mm, 1.8G and its all about getting images to laser onto slate.
I have an idea to contact the organisers and ask if there’s and special access to areas that might be out of bounds for the general public so I can get up close to the machines and crew…I’m not so interested in trying to capture high speed moments around the course.
I’m sure many of you have experience in the real world of pro-photography, outside events etc etc and I’m wondering if you might share some tips on going about a successful days shooting with the info above taken into consideration.
I doubt you need a tripod during the daylight hours to photograph motorbikes. I would suggest setting the camera to exposure bracketing of +/- 1 EV since I suspect you are shooting JPGs to edit in GIMP. Of course set the JPG quality to the highest quality. If you are shooting RAW then GIMP may not be the best editor for you to use. Darktable is my preferred editor but many FOSS users like Rawtherapee or ART. However, I suspect GIMP suits your very specific needs for laser images so I am not suggesting a change from GIMP.
I’ve been occasionally bolloxed by the most mundane things. Once, I grabbed the wrong battery in my charging sequence and I got to the tour with no good batteries.
A few lens cleaners in your pocket, not great to have to clean your lens with your shirttail.
Decide on your camera settings before you reach the venue. If you’re shooting static subjects in daylight it’s pretty straightforward, but dim light or fast motion require some thought.
At an event I’ll shoot a white card in the light of the scene, a new shot every time light changes. Learned not to count on a neutral patch fortuitously occurring in at least one image with which to do white balance.
Hi Glen. I would have thought this unnecessary in normal daylight conditions which is what I presume for this shoot. I would agree for artificial lighting that this might be a good idea.
Can beat that. Went to the opening ceremony for Para-Olympic Games in Sydney and took the camera bag with all the stuff I wanted to leave at home. My actually camera was sitting on the dining room table at home. Hmmm
Generally ok, but daylight can be vexing in the high dynamic range of in-the-sun highlights and shade. A flash might come in handy even in such conditions, fill in the shadows.
Imo there are a few things important for any kind of photography.
Have fun, don’t forget about this I sometimes do.
Know what your gear is capable of like how far you can push the iso it’s often quite far and other things related to that ofc you don’t have to know everything but imo enough so you can trust it to produce the results you want.
Try looking for interesting compositions
It’s often useful to tell a kind of story of the event that can be for example opening, some races, crowd shots and the end.
I’m prone to the sort of screw-ups that others have mentioned here, so I’ve started using a checklist, which I update every time some new mishap occurs. It’s my way of trying make sure all my mistakes are new and not repeats.
Don’t forget the non-photographic items, like sunscreen, insect repellent, food, drinks and electrolytes.
I agree take shots that tell a story. It’s often easy to get obsessed with just shooting one thing then your shots are quite boring when you get home. People often want shots taken at different scales and times so take something that shows the location, the venue, people arriving, the machines before the race, some close up details of the bikes can make nice compositions if you can get close to them before they start. Include the crowd and perhaps one interesting person watching if they are happy to be photographed.