Settings for race track pics

deanna4j

I have the Canon T2i and love it! I just began my passion with photography in the past year or two. My hubby races at a local dirt track and last year I had the privilage of taking pics on the track! I loved it! All I had was my 55-250 lens and my on board flash! The pics taken early on were ok, but as it got darker things started getting really noisy because I had to turn up the ISO.

For Christmas my hubby got me a new flash, the Canon Speedlite 430EX ll, so now my settings will be different. Any info or help on where to start? Thank you!

P.S. I have some pictures of race cars and other things here.

Moose

Howdy @deanna4j - Honestly, with the equipment you had...you did pretty well! It does help to be close to the action, which I'm sure you found out first hand. :)

As for settings, I'm actually a bit surprise the built-in flash worked so well for you. Generally, it's best to shoot fast action in low light with a "bright" lens rather than relying on the built-in flash or even an external flash. If you like the look of the images with flash enabled, then I would say keep doing what you're doing.

If you want to elevate the look of your images beyond what you already have, you'll need to rent or buy a telephoto lens that can get down to f/2.8, something like the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L (see here). This lens is a bit pricey especially when you consider the cost of your T2i, however, any telephoto lens with a maximum aperture this low will be expensive.

As you might already know, lower f-numbers give you faster shutter speeds at lower ISO's. Faster shutter speeds help freeze fast action, which gives you sharper shots. Lower ISO's reduce the amount of image noise (grain), which gives you better color and clarity.

If you're planning on making a little money with this new hobby of yours, you might try renting the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens one weekend so you can see the difference. It's really like night and day.

As for other settings and features you might try experimenting with...try setting your AF mode to AI Servo and your Drive mode to Continuous. This will allow you to continuously focus on the car as it goes around the track. When you're ready to take the shot, fully press the shutter and hold it down to fire off a burst of images in quick succession (you won't be able to do this with flash enabled)...improving your odds of finding a keeper.

That should get you going in the right direction. Happy shooting! :)

deanna4j

Well the shots I posted this week are with my new flash. After the sun went down and it got dark I had to shoot in Tv mode, shutter speed at 1/160 and ISO at 800. Of course it set the aperture and it was either at f/4 or f/5.6, but I am happy i figured it out. I was able find some other photographers who provided example settings and found out it was the same as I was using! Thanks for the info, your site is great!

Moose

@deanna4j - Glad I could help! Happy shooting :)