5 Tips for Taking Motor Racing Pictures.

Professional MOTOCROSS spread to America from Europe in the late 1960s and evolved into a booming new motor sport during the 1970s. As a 20 something then, I first tried my hand at competition with only moderate success.

Then, realizing that I was never meant to become America's first motocross
world champion, I settled into my role of photographer and accepted the
joyful task of recording the images of the professional athletes who were
far more qualified.

As the sport was new, so was the art of photographing it. There were no
books or magazine articles on the subject, but my hands-on racing experience
provided the insight necessary to find and capture images that would grace
the pages of the weekly newspaper Cycle News from 1974-1981 before I
moved on to become the founding editor of Dirt Rider magazine in 1982.
Now in like to share some of that knowledge with you.

TIP 1: The More, The Hairier.
Funnel 40 testosterone powered riders from a broad elbow-to-elbow starting line into a hairpin first turn where only three or four can pass side-by-side, and you have a formula for intense action ...and a better than average possibility for a crash to occur This image of a rainy first turn at an Orlando, Florida Winter-AMA event provides a good example.

Although I rely on auto focus for my more sedate assignments, I turn it off for motor
sports and instead pre-focus on the spot where I expect the action to
occur. For the first turn shots, it's easy since the framing is wide enough to
allow good coverage and depth of field. Keep your hand on the focusing
ring, however, so you'll be ready to follow the action when it takes a
turn toward the unexpected.

Shoot at 1/500 for these images. Slower 1/250 won't stop the action, and 1/1000
completely freeze the wheel spokes and tire knobs removing all traces of the speed
you'd expect from a racing image.


Tip 2: Dynamic Duels.
Motocross is more of a contact sport than other forms of motor racing.
The combination of tight turns on rough terrain keeps the speeds relatively
low while forcing competitors close together, so contact is inevitable.
This image of New York's Jim ''The Jammer'' Weinert slamming into
Pennsylvania's ''Tony D'' Distefano originally appeared on the cover of
Cycle News in 1974.

It also won the Federation Internationals Motorcyclist photo contest
that year, and then in February 2004. It appeared on the cover of Racer X Illustrated when the image was selected as their sole Hall of Fame inductee for the year. I had picked a spot outside the turn, pre-focused, and was shooting each rider as he passed through when Weinert made his move. I shot Tri-x in those days, Kodak's 4oo-speed black and white film, and on a typical day 1/500 at f/11 stopped the action while providing substantial depth of field.

Tip 3: Panning To Intensify The Motion.
While stop-action shutter speeds are appropriate for many types of racing photography, there's nothing like a well-executed pan shot to show off the sheer speed of motor racing. I experimented with every shutter speed on the dial during those years, and I wound up with this set of favorites for motocross:

• 1/125 Provides lots of background blur but is more difficult to produce sharp areas on the bike/rider.
• 1/250 Much easier to create a sharp image of bike/rider but background blur is greatly reduced.
• 1/15 List this one under Special Effects with Unusual Technique. I start my pan well ahead of the point where I plan to press the shutter button. As soon as I press the button. I swing the camera ahead of the subject creating blur lines that stream out behind the subject.


Tip 4: Hero Shots.
Motocross is an extremely exciting form of motor racing because bike and rider
often leave the ground and because the sport is performed on loose dirt which
provides a solid spray (a ''roost'') of dirt as the rear wheel spins under
acceleration. As you'll discover these young athletes love to show of The
entire spot of freestyle motocross originated from riders who flipped their
machines sideways while in midair-actually turning before touching down-to
increase their speed through a turn that included a jump at its entrance.
Over the years, these mid-air gyrations evolved into a competition all its own.

Hero shots are often most available during practice sessions that precede
every event Arrive early and catch the gap showing off before the
pressure of winning becomes too great- Here's a good technique for determining
exactly the best moment to click the shutter Pick your spot, pre-focus, and then
follow the bike/rider through the section without pressing the shutter release
button. Instead simply say click to yourself or use another comfortable technique
to let yourself know when you'd take the picture. Typically riders approach a
turn at full throttle. When they've waited as long as they consider possible, they chop the throttle completely and apply both front and rear brakes at full strength. As they approach the apex of the turn, they release the brakes and begin to feed in throttle. As they exit the turn the throttle will be full on, creating a roost of dirt off the rear wheel and lightening the front wheel to the point where it may lift off the ground. That's the point where the image looks most spectacular by not pressing the shutter button and having the SLR mirror block your view of the moment of exposure you'll be able to pick the point where the best action occurs.

Tip 5: More Risk, More Responsibility.
Back when I captured these moto moments, track security was far more relaxed than it is today so if you plan to apply some of these techniques, your best bet is to attend a local event rather than a big-time professional race. You'll be able to get closer to the action, and that means better images. It also increases your risk however and there are several rules that will prevent you from making a painful mistake

Never turn your back on the action. If someone loses control, you need to see him coming so you can step aside.

Keep your left eye open. For the same reason as not turning your back be aware of these fast-moving machines and be prepared to get out of the way when things get scary.

Use a long lens when standing outside a turn. When a rider falls, inertia will carry him and his machine to the outside of the turn; make sure you're not there when it happens.

You're fairly safe standing or kneeling inside a turn with a wide angle lens, but make sure that no camera straps, loose clothing or other material is hanging (or blowing in the wind) where it could catch on a passing bike. Not only can you get hurt, but you may cause a crash that either injures competitors or removes them from competition.

_{source PhotoGraphic Mag}