low light MX shots- CC if you would like

[oldguy]

Last Saturday we headed down to Mendota to race the MegaX series race. I only shot practice but it was as the sun was setting so I set up in a corner that offered reduced speeds. This one girl (who also plays Photog/reporter) that never gets her picture taken showed up

BY the way she was on the job but I think her Zoom may have been a bit weak due to her compensated stance to get closer

But she was very professional all the same

 

[oldguy]

BTW her name is NIKKI and she is pretty fast finished 3rd against girls that were no slouches on their bikes :cool:

 

[oldguy]

By the time Spider(35) and his friend Dan (51) practice session came the sun was below the trees in the west and here is what I was able to get

 

[oldguy]

these final 2 were the last lap and it was getting darker- no sun shining just ambient light

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

No stink'in brackens!! My heart was out there Dave! Nikki taking tricky shots through the water bottle, busted! How did Spider finish? Oh yes, the packers lost!

 

[oldguy]

He was running first in moto1 but got passed last lap and then in the main he got a bad start couldn't catch the leader and started daydreaming and forgot about the guy coming from behind until he left the door open by going wide on a corner. Finished 3rd in the main. His friend went 4th.
To defend them both a little bit they were really tired from riding at Sunset Ridge all day and they found out how out of shape they are. Also they both need to ride stadium style tracks more often before they will get more competitive
I saw the Pack lose but even worse the cowgirls won :bang:

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

Joliet has a sweet stadium track, it is the only one I know of for practice. Cowgirls,pfffft! Could not believe it!

 

[trial_07]

Nice shots :cool: I like reading the description that goes with each one of them. From the numbers, Spider is running A class? 3rd is an awesome finish!

 

[oldguy]

Nice shots :cool: I like reading the description that goes with each one of them. From the numbers, Spider is running A class? 3rd is an awesome finish!

He is actually running B class our numbers can be any color combo and he stuck with the traditional Blk on white for the 250 (MX :| ) class because he runs a 450.
The 3rd even in this case is pretty good considerring the guys he raced have raced that track all season and it was his first time there. Either way he wasn't real pleased with himself since he got the bad start and then made the mistake of leaving the inside open to get passed.

 

[trial_07]

That's great! Bad starts do suck, especially if the track does not have many lines. How much time are the motto's?

 

[oldguy]

Qualifiers at this track are 4 laps - about 1 min 20 sec a lap the main is 5 laps
Not much time to make up for mistakes

 

[trial_07]

Qualifiers at this track are 4 laps - about 1 min 20 sec a lap the main is 5 laps
Not much time to make up for mistakes

Indeed, that is very short. Please tell me if I annoy you with all my questions, but is he planning on moving on with the pros next year?

 

[Chili]

Nice work Dave, I have no idea about the track but the backgrounds could definitely be cleaner as far as too many trailers etc. One thing that caught my eye is that your white balance was set to manual, are you setting your own white balance or was this an oversight?

 

[oldguy]

Yeah I haven't done anything with white balance I thought I have been using the auto setting. I'll have to look at that
The track has better spots but with the sun setting I would have been shooting directly into it anywhere else and this gave me the most useable light altho there wasn't much

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Dave - When the difference between the light to dark contrasts are this great a couple of things can be really helpful.

- If the pictures are important shoot in RAW mode rather than JPEG. You'll have a lot more leeway in getting the details the way you want then in post processing.

- Use center weight or spot metering modes. You'll have a better chance at getting the critical portion of the image exposed correctly.

- Get a shoe mount flash. A good flash head combined with something like a Better Beamer (about $40) can add enough extra light to keep the differences between light and dark from overwhelming the capabilities of the camera's sensor. Even shooting with the 200mm lens the flash with the Better Beamer works great. Once you start using a good flash unit to fill, you'll wonder how you lived without it.

I really like the second shot. You did a great job of capturing the golden glow that comes from the setting sun and the way it contrasts with the moto colors. Nice work. :cool:

 

[nikki]

That #102... what a goon!!! Haha, thanks Dave for the photos, I really appreciate it, good stuff!! I really like how the camera does a great job of focusing on the subject, and blurs/softens the background.... pretty cool for making moto shots pop. Also noticed the camo trailer in the background of one of spider's pics, and the Mayor... :cool:

I have been taking photos at Megacross for a few years now, and it's for sure an added challenge with the light situation (not as bad mid-summer), and with getting a nice background (especially on the south end by where we park). Plus I use a crappy camera, so once the sun drops behind the grandstands, I'm pretty much done. There are a few nice photo spots on the north end of the track, where you have the sun behind you, and get the start line billboards for a background. If I ever get outta work (been working 11-12 hour days for over a month....) I'll try to dig up a few of my Megacross photos from the year.

 

[Okiewan]

pfft.. any pic of Nikki is good.

Nice stuff mister.