CAPTURE BIKES IN MOTION

Mike Harris shows you how to capture dramatic motorsports shots, with pin-sharp subjects and plenty of motion blur

Many of the best motorsports photos have one thing in common: a real feeling of speed. Fast shutter speeds will freeze moments of action, and highoctane car and bike racing are perfect subjects for this treatment.

At 1/3200 sec you can capture a crisp shot of a motorbike zooming round a circuit; however, you’ll also freeze the background and wheels, removing any indication of motion, and for all the viewer can tell, your subject could be parked on the track. To retain that sense of motion you need to shoot at a much slower shutter speed, but the problem here is that this will blur the entire subject.

The answer is to sight and track your subject through the viewfinder, match its speed while engaging continuous focus, and press the shutter when everything is perfectly framed. This technique is called panning – do it in one fluid movement and you’ll capture spinning wheels and a tack-sharp subject surrounded by smooth lines of motion blur.

Faster subjects and slower shutter speeds result in more motion, but it becomes harder to keep the subject sharp. 1/320 sec is a good middle ground that provides decent motion blur and a high hit rate of sharp subjects, but feel free to shoot at faster shutter speeds to begin with. So read on and get panning: you’ll be shooting super-slick shots of speeding bikes and cars in no time at all!

1 USE A LONG LENS

A lens with a large zoom range is preferred – the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 we’re using is an ideal choice. It boasts plenty of reach for when you’re positioned far from the track, but is still suitable if you can get a little bit closer to the action. If you can get fairly close to the track then a 70-200mm lens will be sufficient.