Race
to the Finish: Insights from a MX Race Photographer
Ped Watt is an Oklahoma based Photographer, and owner of Watt Design Photography. While there isn’t much he won’t shoot, he loves getting dirty shooting Motocross. He’s been a long time PhotoTips Member that’s always willing to share his knowledge of the sport with anyone that asks. He mentors new Motocross photographers whenever he’s able.
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| (c) http://www.wattdesignphotography.com/ |
I sat down with him to pick his brain on shooting Motocross:
Q:
What gear do you use?
A:
As a general rule I reach for my Canon 7D and 70-200 f/2.8L, although on days
with deep blue skies and big puffy clouds I may grab my Canon 5D Mark
II and my Canon 17-40 f/4L.
Q:
What settings do you start your race day with?
A:
On a normal race I preset my camera’s C1 and C2. I primarily shoot races in
Aperture Priority. My initial C1 settings are always the same. F/3.5 ISO 200 AI
Servo and then take some test shots. I then adjust my ISO until the camera is
consistently picking a shutter speed between 1/800sec and 1/4000sec. I use this
for probably 90% of my shots throughout the day. I then set C2 to Shutter
Priority, ISO 200 at 1/250sec. That way if I get caught between locations by a passing
rider, I can quickly switch modes and “pan” the rider, still getting sellable
shots.
Q:
If the goal is to control your shutter speed, why use Aperture Priority over
Shutter Priority?
A:
For my style, I like to isolate my subjects from their background, similar to a
portrait. With Shutter Priority I found I would get a shot at 1/1600sec at ISO
200, but have an aperture of f/16, those images felt boring, flat and resembled
a snap shot. So I decided, for me, controlling the aperture was key to
creating a more compelling image.
Q:
Why not shoot with full manual settings if you want to control your shutter and
aperture?
A:
When you’re dealing with heavy overcast or night races, you have to switch over
to full manual to get the results you want, but with a race during the day, with
constantly changing lighting conditions, keeping up with your settings becomes
distracting, making it more difficult to capture the race. During one five
lap race I try to shoot three different locations on the track, keeping the
pictures diverse. So in one race you may be shooting a corner in shade, a jump
with nothing but air under them and a fast straight away. All three locations
have extremely different and difficult lighting conditions, thus making it more
profitable letting the camera do the heavy work. That frees me up to dial in
the shots by utilizing exposure compensation.
Q:
Isn't Motocross dusty, what do you do to protect your gear?
A:
Lots and Lots of Gaffer's tape. When I first started I tried using a rain
sleeve, but these races are generally shot in the heat of the day and the sweat
from my hands would turn the dust into mud. I also don't swap lenses at the race.
Then I clean my gear before I break it down.
Q:
What four tips would you give a new Motocross photographer?
A:
First, if your standing up, and your not half way up the side face of jump,
then squat, sit, or lie down and change your angle. It is your job to capture
the picture that the parents on the fence can't get. Second, do not spray and
pray, there is too much movement between frames for you AF system to keep up
with the rider. On top of that you are doing nothing but wasting memory card
space and shutter actuations, shortening the life of your camera. Focus, shoot,
refocus, shoot, refocus and shoot. Third, when you make your pictures available for
purchase, break the pictures by rider and rider number. Your customers are not
going to spend hours going through hundreds of pictures to find the hand full
of pictures you took of their rider. Fourth, "Shoot hard, Sort
Harder" meaning your not there for your good looks or to flirt with the
cute rider. You are there to photograph the race. Attack it with all your
abilities, and don't get distracted, but when you get home and start processing
your images, be ultra picky and only keep the best of the best. If you worked
hard at the track then you will have enough “great” shots to be able to delete
all the "nice", "decent" and "good" shots.
Q:
You mention sorting, do you process your images or do you upload them straight
from the camera?
A:
When I get home from I race I import all my pictures into Adobe Lightroom, and
then do the following steps:
1.
I do a hard pass, I generally deleting 30% of the images in this first round.
If the crop feels weird, the rider doesn't take up enough of the frame or if it’s
just a boring picture I delete it. If the image is not "Tack" sharp
it also goes. Some times this requires you to delete an amazing picture, but if
it isn't sharp it’s trash.
2.
Using the Keyword system in Lightroom I then break up the remaining images by
rider name and number.
3.
Using the library module in Lightroom I then go through each rider and keep
only the best of the best for each rider.
4
Using the develop module I then process the file for exposure, highlights,
shadows, contrast, vibrance, saturation, lens profile and add a slight
vignette.
5.
I export using their keywords to name them, sort them into folders and use
Backup Guru to upload them to Zenfolio.
Q:
What is the biggest mistake you see newer motocross photographers make?
A:
Motocross is a very fast and intense sport, your angle can add intensity or
leave the viewer wanting more. I find pictures of the rider coming straight at
you or at a slight angle really helps draw in the viewer. The negative side of
this is, most camera's Auto Focus system suffer with trying to keep up with an
object coming at you that fast. I generally use the nameplate as my focus point
as it has a ton of contrast for the AF system. If your AF system is running a
little slow, then the rider will most likely still be in focus. When I walk off
a track, I look like I have been rolled in mud because of the angles I chase,
if you come off the track and you're clean, perhaps you should reconsider how
your shooting.
Q:
What is the most important thing to remember about the pictures your taking?
A:
Although the parents will cherish the captured moments of their children, the
riders will hopefully be using these pictures for other things such as bragging
to their friends, building their portfolio in an effort gain sponsors, and then
hopefully to give posters to their sponsors to show them where their money is being
spent.
~~~
I
want to personally thank Ped for taking the time to share with us his work as
well as tips and tricks. I can personally attest that picking out shots for the
world to see is a daunting task. He did a great job! It’s been an honor and
pleasure to see his photography progress throughout the years and I look
forward to the future!
Check
out more of his work:
Show
him some love on Facebook:
Norm
Beer, PhotoTips Member, Moderator, and Mouse
All
images (c) Watt Design Photography
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| (c) http://www.wattdesignphotography.com/ |
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| (c) http://www.wattdesignphotography.com/ |
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| (c) http://www.wattdesignphotography.com/ |
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| (c) http://www.wattdesignphotography.com/ |
