The more events I attend, the more images I take. The more images I take, the more I want to know about the technicalities behind the shots. The more I want to understand why different results happen.
I’ve had my Nikon D300s since 2010, and while it’s seen a bit of use over the years, It’s never really been used in a variety of circumstances. I used to shoot a lot of images indoors with strobes, so action was always frozen and well lit, making it fairly simple to meter and get focus.
But taking that experience to the motor racing circuit has proven to be a little more tricky.
I have no strobes, I can’t get so close and the light is always changing. Being outside and at the mercy of the sunshines indecision to show itself when required, it helps if you understand the versatility of the technology in your hands, to help you adapt to the variety of situations on offer and vary your shots.
Honestly, I’ve learnt more about this photographic device in the past 3 months than I have in the last 5 years.
Simply put, I had never bothered looking into it…the camera did what I wanted at the time, so I didn’t have the need to figure anything out. But now, to help me take better images, there are a multitude of features on this ‘aged’ device that have opened up a whole new world of photographics for me to get used to.
One of the biggest I have learnt recently is 14-bit or 12-bit images. Why? well that adjustment allows the Nikon D300s to shoot at 2 frames a second, or 7 in RAW mode. A subtle difference and one that can really benefit the motorsport photographer.
Honestly, I’ve learnt more about this photographic device in the past 3 months than I have in the last 5 years…
I can’t say I find it helps, but then my experience with such a fast shooting camera is minimal. I am used to shooting i single frames, so timing was everything. The speed of the camera is now little overwhelming, but something I should really get used to.
So off I went to the Blancpain GT Sprint Cup weekend for the first time, excited to see the awesome GT machines lapping the full GP circuit at Brands. Only my second time at the Kent circuit, and with 50% more track to enjoy. Not only that but a camera that can now shoot machine-gun style…something that I had never thought possible thanks to my ignorance.
I find myself enjoying the sun, watching these menacing machines lap this awesome circuit at serious speeds. So planted and poised compared to the Touring cars I was in awe of back in March and so rapid through the flowing tarmac contours.
I was instantly enthused, and set my now fully capable camera up to capture some action…blasting through eight gig of flash card in about 30 mins, having to stop after about an hour and a half with a tea and sift through the shots on the back of the camera, to make some more space.
How I wished I had learned this about my camera earlier.
Another bit of knowledge in the memory bank and something further to practice with. I just have to learn to not be so trigger happy, or buy more memory cards!
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