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I had my first go at photographing motor sport on the weekend. The karts at Southern Tasmanian Kart Club's track at Orielton, near Hobart. Photographing cars coming at you fast is a bit of a challenge. I'm learning and enjoying, so that's what's important to me.

Here are a couple I like. All shots taken with D200 and either 80-200 f2.8 or 80-400VR.




Others are here:

http://www.johndarguephotography.com/gallery/1653370

Cheers
John

Top shots John . I like the look on the kids face in the first one . Intense . CC. Bit shallower depth of field would be great in this shot ,the background is a bit busy . But its still a cool shot all the same .

Nice catches John, especially the second

Definately got his racing eyes on (a-la Peter Brock)!

well captured

How did you find the D200's focusing? Looks like it works well.

Well captured well done.

Jeff

They are excellent, love the view of kid's face expressions

For picture #2 were you lying on the floor...I just love the perspective. The DoF on that shot is spot on.

Well done John, These are nice shots and well it is hard to make a go kart look good really unless they are on there side or something but as long as you had fun is what matters.
cheers

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys. I got to admit that these are the best 2 out of about 2000. Not a big keeper rate.

I started shooting at about 1/1000 sec to freeze the action but later in the day I was down to 1/250 sec due to the light dropping off and it was still freezing the action. But I was shooting in the slow corners. What sort of shutter speeds do you guys normally use for motor sport? Even at iso 400, I was only getting f5.6 at these slow shutter speeds.

Being so close to the corners at f4.5-f5.6, I was getting a very shallow dof with the 200 and 400 mm lenses. Some shots I got had the front of kart in but back of kart out of focus. Drifter, to soften that background on the first shot I'd have to do it in PP.

Sheepie, the D200 was focussing fine. Not too sure why you asked, maybe because some of the shots are a bit on the soft side. With both the 80-200 and 80-400 being a bit slow to focus, I was using AF-ON for pre focusing on a point on the track and then waiting til the kart got to the right spot. I found that on 5fps only 1 or 2 shots were sharp in a sequence of 5 or 6, even with the karts in the slow corners. Next time I go, I'll still use AF-ON to pre focus, but use single shot mode to select my shot rather than uzi mode and hope.

I found that only about 20% of the drivers had clear visors. These were the ones I was concentrating on as I was really going for the eye shots. But some of the reflections in the other shots were interesting, showing the apex of the corner etc.

Ozczecho, in that 2nd shot I was using the 80-400 at 400mm and I was about 10m from the corner down a bank. That gave the impression I was lying on the ground. I definately wouldn't lie on the ground with those karts coming at me, just in case I needed to get away fast.

One other thing, this was my first time using a monopod and I found it very useful. Certainly stopped the camera and lens waving around and absolutely essential if you are going to pre focus. The monopod was borrowed, thanks O1, so more lust coming I'm afraid.

Cheers
John

Beautifully clear shots John. I liked the gallery shots too. The D200 is working for you well.

Cheers Peter

that second shot rocks, great DOF

excellent shots john. i'll have to head out to wingham kart track sometime.
cheers pa

#2 for me. A great shot showing the intensity of concentration. The focal point and DOF combine well to make this happen. I also liked a couple of others in the gallery. The shot of the driver on a left corner getting the back wheel off the ground - action.

Cheers,

Thanks for all the comments guys. You've inspired me to work out how I can go out and do better.
Cheers
John

Excellent shots there, John

Glad the D200 is getting a workout!

Cheers

Michael

cant wait ill my d200 arrives

Some good shots there, #2 is my fav.

I've been out shooting karts a few times and i find using manual focus and picking a section of track is the best way. Of course the d200 may be faster than the d70, but i find on the fast sections it just cant keep up.

Prob heading out this weekend as brother in law gets delivery of his rotax crg kart, and his gf works at a kartshop.