Motorsport photography - what settings to use?

Samsonite

Senior Member
Hehe Well thanks to both of you guys for being so much help. Will see if its possible to blur photos on lightroom by checking some tutorials online, will then try do another photo tomorrow and show you the before and after results!
 

Rexer John

Senior Member
Isn't lightroom like a digital darkroom?
Control for hue, saturation, sharpness, colour changes etc. i.e. changing pixels rather than moving them about?
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
Just found a tutorial :) Rather than having a specific 'Blur' tool, in Lightroom you can set the clarity and sharpness sliders to negative figures, which gives the same effect... Will give it a go tomorrow :)
 

Rexer John

Senior Member
Well my Kit lens is 52mm (18 - 55), But I dont use that for Motorsport, My 70-300mm AF-S is 67mm Diameter, so will just buy a filter for that Lens...

Polarising filters are great and I wouldn't be without one.
Great for reducing glare from glass, car paintwork, shiny roads, vegetation etc. Also darkens sky and brings the blue out to get clouds looking great.
Best at 90 degrees to the sun, i.e not photographing towards or away from the sun.

Here's the bad bit, perspex and transparent plastic do not give good results unless you are a big fan of rainbows.
Cars often have perspex or plastic headlight lenses, some might have perspex or similar windshields.
A polariser might not be right for your motorsport photos, you really need to have one in your hands and play with it to see how it works with different materials.
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
Mmm interesting, I was under the impression it worked to reduce glare on all glossy / reflective surfaces, irrespective of their orientation to the light source. You learn something new every day!
 

Rexer John

Senior Member
It doesn't work on metallic surfaces.
The light has to be polarised for the filter to have an effect. Scattered light is no good but it can be polarised after reflecting off a surface.

It's a strange thing, have a look on you tube for some examples.
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
That's weird! Will order the one you pasted the link to and have a play with the filter to try get a good grasp of its effects and when it's most effective....


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SkvLTD

Senior Member
So, if you're just learning and all, why watermark in huge text across the bloody middle of every pic? Just curious.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Because people on Facebook would just take them off the internet instead of buying them...


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But who would buy from a beginner? Unless you've had luck otherwise, then I'm all ears man. Besides, you can watermark in suck a place where it would be hard to cut around/out but still see the main subject just fine.
 

AC016

Senior Member
Because people on Facebook would just take them off the internet instead of buying them...


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If you take a look at Marcel's pictures, you will see that he places his watermark very creatively. So, for your car shots for example, you can put your watermark across the bumper or on the tire (following the curve of the tire). There are many other ways. Good luck
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
Obviously I moved the watermark to lower left hand corner and made it much smaller on the copies I sold....


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Samsonite

Senior Member
So heres my attempt after the feedback you guys provided around blurring out the back ground to put more focus on the car... Ive included a copy of the photo as shot, and another which has been touched up in lightroom.


As Shot... (Looks slightly over exposed to me)

Gnejna 24th March (221) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

After Lightroom...

Gnejna 24th March (221) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Things done in Light Room:

Blurred the back ground and foreground
Inceased clarity and detail
Reduced highlights and increased shadows
Increased a bit of saturation too - I think the colors look much better like this....

Any feedback will be appreciated!
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
Just to add, Im very happy with the result, I think it looks much better than the original (But thats just my amateur opinion). Looking forward to see what you guys think!
 

crashton

Senior Member
Samsonite- Your opinion counts. You were there & saw what that car looked like. I did not. To me either could be correct I have no way of knowing. Since you asked, I'd split the difference between the 2 images & call it good. That being said both look good to me & I like the image, great shot. Love the wheel in the air!
 

Samsonite

Senior Member
Thanks, I just feel the original looks a bit bland and lacks color, the edited one is sharper and to me seem more aesthetically pleasing....


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