THE NEED FOR SPEED

Pro motorsports photographer Rob Gray passes on his tips for capturing dramatic shots of high-speed racing bikes

PRO ROB GRAY

CAMERA: CANON EOS R3 & R5

Rob started his photography journey in 2013, picking up an entry-level Canon EOS 550D as a way to shoot his hobby of motorsport events. He's since turned his passion into a pro career, graduating from shooting the UK domestic racing scene to jetting off to Moto GP races all over the world, as well as running his online Speed of Light Academy.

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APPRENTICE PHIL PERRY

CAMERA: CANON EOS R5

Phil is a healthcare relationship manager with a high street bank. In his spare time, he loves to photograph motorsports, and has recently upgraded to a Canon EOS R5. He wants some tips to help him get the most out his new camera, so we paired him up with Rob at the UK's Donington Park Circuit to take some fast and furious motorbike photos.

TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT

Rob set up Phil's EOS R5 so it that was ready for action

MANUAL MODE

To begin, Rob told Phil to set his Canon EOS R5 to Manual mode so that he could take full control of exposure. The first setup was all about using fast shutter speeds to make sure the riders were pinsharp, so Rob suggested a shutter speed of 1/500 sec and an aperture of f/4 to let in plenty of light. Phil also switched on Auto ISO, so there was one less exposure setting to worry about, enabled raw image quality, and selected the fastest burst rate.

AUTOFOCUS

Next, Rob set Phil's EOS R5 to its Servo autofocus mode so that the camera would continually refocus - a must for fast-moving subjects such as motorbikes. He then went into the autofocus options by pressing the Menu button and set the Servo AF to Case 3, which is better suited to motorbikes and other speedy subjects.

LENS 400mm f/2.8