2016 Roar before the Rolex 24 pics

Today was a bust in terms of getting some pictures.

Fog in the morning caused a delay in schedule and the sun only took a peek for a few moments.
Rain threatened the night session so I packed it in and probably won't go back tomorrow.

I will say it was probably one of the biggest crowds I've seen for the Roar event.

Here are a few more pics and I'll see what else I can dig up.
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A few more....
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

Knowing they get some views is the incentive I need to come back with more in the future.

I also took a lot of video but after checking youtube and seeing that there is already about 100 videos of the Roar up there I have a hard time justifying spending the time to edit what I have.

I'm shooting with a Canon 7D and use the Canon 70-200 2.8 for the panning shots and in the garage.

I use a Canon 400 5.6 when the 200 can't reach and for the other stuff.

To pan I set the camera to shutter priority so my shutter speed is set and let the camera choose the aperture.

The slower the shutter speed the more dramatic the effect. For me the sweet spot is 80th of a second where I get about a 50% success rate. Going slower can get you a great shot but less success rate. 100th of a second is easy for me but a little less dramatic. When you get to 125th of a second you get a little blur from the pan and going faster than that doesn't get you much other than the tires moving which shows motion but you don't get that great feel of motion in a slow shutter speed.

The easiest time to snap the picture is when the car passes directly in front of you because it is neither coming towards or moving away from you so you have a better chance of getting it in sharp focus. I usually take three shots, one coming towards, directly in front and one going away. By far the ones in front come out the most consistent but I take the chance just in case I get a keeper.

When actually panning it really helps to follow through the motion just like a golf swing. The golfer doesn't abruptly stop as soon as he hits the ball, he follows through. The same principle when panning. you track the subject and continue to follow through after you've taken the shot. That doesn't mean you have to hit the guy standing next to you on the fence it means just be smooth through your shot.

You also have to keep the camera level to the subject as you pan. A wavy motion up and down as you pan left to right will mess up your shot. I have one hand out on the lens shade to help steady the camera through the motion.

With the technique down the other thing to consider for your picture is the composition. When I'm doing the panning I look for something in the background that will help make the pan effect more interesting. For example I notice a group of haulers with different color cabs that will add color to the picture. I know the C7 Corvette is yellow with some red trim and the truck cabs are red and yellow so I purposely try to include them in the shot. For the Rolex 24 they will have the ferris wheel that lights up and that makes for a great pan shot. The scoring pylon is also another element that can add to a great pan shot when blurred in the background. I look at the blue guard rails, fences and anything else that might add color or accentuate the pan effect which can add to the overall composition.

One could burn through a lot of film trying to get the panning technique down but thankfully we have digital today and you can experiment in real time and see your results instantly. I've shown a few friends at the track how to pan and they were getting results before the cars pulled off the track. One thing you will need is a two step stool to get over the fence for panning.

I hope the tips will help you get started. They are just fundamentals that work for me and you will probably fine tune them and get even better results so be sure to come back and post them up

I'll be at the Rolex 24 as well and I'd be happy to help any way that I can.
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Welcome to the board Turtle


While it takes a combination of camera settings and physical movements to pull off a successful pan, paying attention to things like shape and color in the background will add to the overall image.

At Daytona I'll move along the fence until I see something that will make for an interesting background in a pan shot. I do the same at Sebring. In the above Corvette shot I added the cabs because of the color. When the Rolex 24 comes around in a few weeks the ferris wheel is an obvious choice and lends itself to some very cool effects in a pan especially because it changes color.

The pan shot can make for a dramatic image that invokes motion and speed. Paying attention to the background can enhance the effect.
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Speaking of enhancements, I've put together a video that I took at the Roar last week.

This is just a bunch of video clips I took while walking around taking pictures. I added the commentary aimed at the general race fan to fill the audio as I was avoiding using unlicensed music so I can monetize the video on youtube. I'm no expert and certainly fumble along but I think it helps fill in the audio.

Editing the audio can enhance the overall video and one thing I try to do is let the audio gradually fall off between transitions. Say I video a car driving by. Even though the car has driven past my shot, I let it record just a bit longer to capture the audio of it driving away. When it comes time to edit I may end the scene of the car driving by my position and start another scene but let the audio of the car fade in the background of the next scene so you don't get that abrupt change of sound between clips.

When you watch this video and see the car go by and then a shot of a driver but can still hear that car in the background it is because of the way I edit the sound. It's a little detail that I hope enhances the video.

I didn't take much video with the 7D. Somehow I got some dirt inside the camera which shows in the video so I didn't bother getting any more video than what I have here. Hopefully I can get that resolved before the Rolex 24.

I'm not trying to create some authoritative documentary. I just want to edit my clips together, answer the who, what, where and why and reflect my personal experience at the track.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXskkeqtko&feature=youtu.be

Sorry, can't get it to embed.

 

Thanks

I don't have credentials and get everything using the ticket that allows garage access that anyone can buy.

There is a Target across the street from the track where you could probably pick up a step stool for under $20 if you really want one. When you're done with it you can gift it to another photographer at the track that could use it.

There is at least a 6 foot fence along the entire perimeter of the track so the stool really helps if you want to be in a certain spot. People make holes in the fence along the horseshoe so you may be able to find one of those if its not already being used.

There really isn't much to see on the east side of the garage / fan zone in the infield other than all the people camping so its best to stay on the west side. Coming out of the fan zone you are right at the international horseshoe. Starting there you can walk the track all the way around to where the cars enter the high banks in nascar turn 1 and that entire stretch offers lots of different views and action on the track from high speed to heavy braking turns.

Lots and lots of photo opportunities if you're willing to walk for them