Automotive Photography Competition #182

[zeppelin]

Congratulations to John Thawley for winning competition #181!

• The deadline is Saturday 11:59PM
• The photograph can contain only automotive images (with no adulterous material)
• The proposed picture must be your own and not found on the net.
• The photograph must be attached using the UCP system. Any picture not attached using the UCP system will not be in the voting thread.
• Your image may be up to 800 pixels wide or tall.
• Photograph may contain post-processing editing
• It is preferred that you state enhancements made, but not necessary.
• The photograph must be taken no earlier than 3 months before start date
• Each photographer cannot vote for himself, they must vote for the others.
• Any users who enter and vote for themselves automatically receive a 2 week penalty from the competition and all votes previously given to his/her photo are removed.
• The entry must contain the following information in the same order :

User name
Subject matter/photo title
Date taken
Camera Type | additional information you feel important

pat_ernzen: 9
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Manik: 5 / John Thawley: 5
-
Fumacher: 4
-
Wouter Melissen: 3
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johnnynumfiv: 2 / <AAA-MOD>: 2 / basman007: 2
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zeppelin: 1 / João Guimarães: 1 / Piacki_117: 1 / henk4: 1 / Rijoh: 1 / robcooper: 1
---
January: johnnynumfiv / February: pat_ernzen / March: pat_ernzen / April: pat_ernzen / May: pat_ernzen / June: pat_ernzen / July: Manik

[henk4]

Henk4
Lotus 46
Canon 40D, IS:28-300
1/200, ISO 160, F11, 270mm.
Goodwood 20-09-2008
No editing but sharpened with Irfanview.

[RacingManiac]

RacingManiac
"Looking Ahead"
2008 ETS FSAE car
Mosport Kart Track
Sept 20, 2008
Sony Alpha 700 + Sigma 70-200 f2.8 EX DG
Raw Conversion, WB

[basman007]

basman007
Daimler DS420 Limousine
19/09
Netherlands
Canon 40D + 70-200 F2.8 IS
@ 200mm - 1/250 - F3.5 - ISO 100 - BW edit

[John Thawley]

Tree Line
John Thawley
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Shot from the woods, Canada Corner @ Road America
August 8, 2008
Canon 40D
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 Non-IS
Focal length 135mm
f/18
1/15 sec.
-1.0ev
ISO 100
Standard post processing adjustments, no crop

[basman007]

Tree Line
John Thawley
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Shot from the woods, Canada Corner @ Road America
August 8, 2008
Canon 40D
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 Non-IS

Fantastic John! How did you do the focussing? manual or af?

[henk4]

Fantastic John! How did you do the focussing? manual or af?

probably using the A1-Servo function or there is another trick I don't know about

[RacingManiac]

1/15sec sec @135mm, AND no IS....holy crap x100

[basman007]

1/15sec sec @135mm, AND no IS....holy crap x100

I think the IS can't really help at low speeds like that... but yeah, it's good

[basman007]

probably using the A1-Servo function or there is another trick I don't know about

but doesn't it focus on the trees all the time if you do that?

[henk4]

but doesn't it focus on the trees all the time if you do that?

you pick up the car before it goes behind the trees I think...

[John Thawley]

You have to manually focus.

[henk4]

You have to manually focus.

Old school

[RacingManiac]

You have to manually focus.

Continuously too?

[John Thawley]

Ok... well, not to simplify the process, but I'll be happy to share the technique.

First, yes... you must manually focus. You locate the area you're going to hit your mark and set the focus accordingly.

Now, to get the transparency, a couple of elements have to be right. There should be a reasonable opening among the branches and trees, you need to be positioned so that the trees are comfortably situated in the foreground between you and the subject... further away from you is preferable... and you MUST use an extremely slow shutter.

The key to the slow shutter is also that it is counter balanced by a small aperture. In this case f/18 - so you've got an increased depth-of-field that is a little bit more forgiving on the focus too.

You need to burst, also... probably 5 frames... the first and last are definitely throw-outs, but they start your rhythm and absorb the shutter punch going in and pan rate fall-off on follow through. The middle three frames are where you hope to get lucky... right hole in trees.. and sweet spot of where the car is dead parallel to film plane or lens face.

Lastly, shoot a lot.

JT
But, yeah... you got a pan smooth... on target ... and kind of steady.