Photos from 2009 San Diego SCCA National Tour

[mrueda]

Here are some pictures I took from this year's event. I just started getting into photography last month and this was my first motorsports event. Any input on the pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael Rueda

Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrueda/sets/72157615950807012/
Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrueda/sets/72157615864791929/

[Kyle H]

Hey Michael,

Just looking through some of your pictures, the composition and timing is pretty good, with some practice you could put out some great stuff.

One thing that I noticed is the settings you're using... here's an example:
# Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/125 second
# Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 220/10 = F22
# Exposure Program = manual control (1)
# ISO Speed Ratings = 400

It's great that you're shooting in manual but those other settings are a little off. First and foremost you need to decide your shutter speed, you were pretty good there, 1/125 is perfect for panning. Next you want to go to your ISO and aperture requirements... idealy you want the lowest ISO possible for the cleanest picture. I'm not sure if the D40 goes down to ISO 100 or is ISO 200 is the lowest, but that is what you should shoot for. Then just set your aperture for whatever you need it to be, I'd shoot for around f/7.1 - f/13 (max) on a sunny day... I was shooting ISO 200, 1/125 and bouncing between f/6.3 and f/12 depending on the cloud situation on Sunday. At f/22 ISO 400 you're actually getting much worse picture quality than if you were to drop the ISO and open up the aperture.

Good luck! If you have any other questions just let me know.

edit-
just noticed your lenses' max aperture is f/2.8... on the d40... are you shooting with the 70-200 f/2.8?! Awesome lens if so. With that lens you can drop your aperture down to f/4 and get some GREAT background blur effects.

[mrueda]

At f/22 ISO 400 you're actually getting much worse picture quality than if you were to drop the ISO and open up the aperture.

Good luck! If you have any other questions just let me know.

edit-
just noticed your lenses' max aperture is f/2.8... on the d40... are you shooting with the 70-200 f/2.8?! Awesome lens if so. With that lens you can drop your aperture down to f/4 and get some GREAT background blur effects.

Thanks for the input! I'll definitely shoot at the lowest ISO possible for the situation from now on. The lowest selectable ISO on the D40 is 200.

Yeah, the lens i was shooting with was the 70-200 f/2.8. I went out and rented it for the SCCA event(it's a bit out of my price range to purchase at this point). That lens is definitely great though.