Im new to this site and photography as a whole but was wondering if anyone had any advice on taking pictures at the Monaco Grand Prix any advice would be great. Just rember im new to photography so say it in simple terms. Treat me like an idiot everyone eles all ways does
What do you want to photograph exactly? Photographing the celebs of F1 is different to trying to capture a car moving at close to 160 mph. What equipment do you have? Are you prepared to spend some money? Where will you be on the track - at a window from an appartment, in the crowd or will you have access to non-public areas? What do you want to do with the pictures (Web site, large prints etc.)?
As you will appreciate, photographing motorsport and doing it well can't be addressed in a couple of sentences on a Web forum like this. It's like wedding photography where the need equipment, technique and experience to make it come together and that doesn't happen overnight.
<font color="#004d83">Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
Sorry to be a wet blanket but... BEST OF LUCK! Monaco is such a tight circuit that you'll have problems tracking the cars as they belt past your position. Youll be lucky to find somewhere that has a clear view of the track without fences in the way (they can cause AF problems as well as showing up in the form of vastly reduced contrast if you pan through them).
Probably best to just wander where you can on the practise and quali days shooting what you can (and who you can!) then concentrate on enjoying the race as a live view rather than a photo opportunity. On the day, see if you can capture the essence of the event by looking at the spectators - you'll be extremely lucky to get a good picture of a car (unless it's "parked"...).
MATWSIJ.....
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you'll be extremely lucky to get a good picture of a car (unless it's "parked"...).
no chance of that as Micheal Schumaker doesnt race anyone more [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
...but if you are lucky to know somebody who has an appartment that overlooks a choice part of the track or, as a friend of mine did last year, being invited to a party on board one of the boats moored in the harbour where he had a panaromic view of the swimming pool section.
<font color="#004d83">Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
As has been said Monaco is a really hard track to get pictures, if you want to get a bit of experience at photographing F1 cars & the likes a trip to Goodwood is well worth while, you get good access to the cars & there are plenty of areas trackside that you can get close enough to the action.
Take a pair of earplugs...... the cars are EXTREMELY noisy.
My current avatar here was taken from one of the grandstands in the British GP in 2006
Too many cameras, too many lenses.......
I used to take proper ear defenders and at Silverstone I took a small Walkman radio with earpieces to go under the ear defenders so I could hear the commentary via the short range Silverstone broadcast.Take a pair of earplugs...... the cars are EXTREMELY noisy.
My current avatar here was taken from one of the grandstands in the British GP in 2006
<font color="#004d83">Lounge Lizard
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
...and a blindfold, with a pair of these underneath to watch the ITV coverage...I used to take proper ear defenders and at Silverstone I took a small Walkman radio with earpieces to go under the ear defenders so I could hear the commentary via the short range Silverstone broadcast.Take a pair of earplugs...... the cars are EXTREMELY noisy.
My current avatar here was taken from one of the grandstands in the British GP in 2006
Don't visit the Casino and keep your head out of the way as the cars come round the corners!
Got COMPUTERISED at last and now Digitised but FILM still RULES!
Never been to a F1 race myself unfortunately (I'm a sofa watcher) but I have been to Goodwood watching motor racing and an F1 showcase in London taking photos (I have a couple of images on my flickr site).
Firstly you'll need to find yourself a good position. I wouldn't suggest head on as you'll never autofocus quick enough to catch the image sharply, and if you manual focus then you need to press the shutter quick enough at the correct time.
I'd suggest a straight, leading into a corner if possible. That way the car is slowing down and coming passed you so you can easily pan with the car.
Watch the race. Watch the racing lines that the drivers take. Doing this allows you to predict where they will be next time the cars come around. It will also allow you to manually set you focus before they next come around.
Secondly, you need a fast shutter speed. You'll need a high ISO speed as well to obtain these fast shutter speeds unless it is really bright.
Thirdly, I'd suggest trying 'burst' mode or similar on your camera. That way you can shoot numerous images of the cars coming past you (cheating a little bit I know but it helps).
Hope this helps. Also you're a lucky sod if you're going to Monaco...
Gary - My Flickr Site
That aspect has been reincarnated in Massa, Alonso has the attitude.
you'll be extremely lucky to get a good picture of a car (unless it's "parked"...).
no chance of that as Micheal Schumaker doesnt race anyone more [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
Where exactly will you be going in to Monte Carlo to watch the race? You'll basically be above the cars where ever you go.
Schuey was only ever parked up at monaco anyway. LOL
I fancied L glass, the missus fancied a Ford Puma, It's a nice car but it doesn't fit my Canon.
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