Creative or Capture Motorsport Photography

Part One

9th April 2021

I receive a lot of motorsports images every month for publication to the website (in a normal year) and it's always interesting to see what our spectator photographers have come up with, especially if there are a few of them at the same track at the same time. Generally speaking the motorsports images presented to the site fall into two distinct categories.

I classify these two categories as a Capture shot or a Creative shot. We will look at both types from the perspective of the spectator photographer, but in short most of the images we receive are a mixture of both, a capture shot with a little bit of creativity. A few submissions are camped firmly in the creative area with some bordering on the abstract!

So, I thought it would be interesting to look at the two styles in this two part series and see if we can give you some inspiration and guidance to expand your capture and creative photography techniques for your next visit to the track.

Capture Image.

The Capture Image does what it says in the tin - you have captured a moment in time that represents the action which was happening in front of you. The capture image for the sports photographer is arguably the most important and most lucrative to the full time professional. 

It doesn’t seem to matter what sort of sport is being photographed, equestrian, rugby, track and field, these demand a capture image up front. Why is this? Well it's to do with two factors - sales and time constraints.

The media outlets for the sports photographer demand images as fast as possible, it always has done. You only have to look at the goal announcements from football matches on social media, they all include capture images taken minutes before.

For the motorsport event photographer it’s the same deal, time is your enemy. For example when photographing a track day you need to display photos at the point of sale and these images need to be ready to go straight from the camera.

The logistics of taking lots of pictures and then editing them requires a big team, eating into your profit margins. So high quality capture images that make an impact are required as part of the package.

So what is a capture image? In its most basic form it’s a freeze frame of the action happening at that moment in time. It has no frills and no special techniques. It’s generally a sharp, well exposed, well composed image mostly with a high shutter speed that goes from camera to customer with minimal, if any, post production. 

So why should the amateur photographer shoot this type of shot? Two reasons, first it can be a great shot when taken well and second, once mastered, is easy to take giving you a guaranteed quality shot to take away from the track,  adding value to your portfolio.

Sounds simple however, there are some pitfalls in taking motorsports capture photography, so let’s look at some of our essential tips to get that great photograph. 

First, the basics of motorsports photography are simple to explain and execute. A shutter speed that matches or exceeds the focal length of the lens ensures the subject will be sharp, with no camera shake, 400mm lens 1/400 of a second shutter speed or higher.

An aperture that gives the correct depth of field (how much of the subject is in focus) and allows in enough light to expose the image correctly. Combine these with an ISO that allows you to balance the other two to give you the effect you want; this is called the exposure triangle. Don’t forget to compose and focus and you are good to go.

The second and most important part of taking a great photograph is location. As a football photographer in the professional game you are pitch side close to the goals, the equestrian photographer will be focusing on the jumps where the action is happening.

Capturing the action is all important in these types of sports photography, so a high shutter speed is desirable to freeze that action.

In motorsports it’s not the same. Using a high shutter speed setting for a capture shot will make the vehicle appear static, great for a football shot but not so good for motorsports. So when should you use the capture shot as a motorsports photographer?

One shot I like is the head on shot, which is easy to take and falls right into the area of capture photography.

So where are the best places to take a capture shot? In motorsports there are three distinct zones in our action areas which, generally speaking, is the corner.

This area can then be sub divided into, A the braking Area, B the apex and C the exit from a corner.

Our stylised corner will not have the same radius as your favourite corner, so there will be a bit of trial and error when you arrive on location.

However, using these general areas you will be able to make a plan and position yourself for the head on shot. The inside of the corner isn't a great area for the head-on shot except in some situations like the exit from the corner.

And here is the detail, capture pictures are best taken looking at the front of the vehicle with a moderate to high shutter speed which equates to an easy shot to take, or does it?

As the vehicle will be moving even if is coming straight at you, you are going the have to track it, which is another way of saying panning. Even if it’s just a slight movement there is still a risk that the shot will be blurred, so a higher shutter speed than you usually use will help.

Also enabling continues focusing on your camera will help a lot, I use a button on the back of my Nikon camera, the AF-L/AE-L is the usual one, it can be already preconfigured or you can assign it from the focusing menus - check your camera manual for more details.

Anticipating the shot and understanding the dynamics and the design of the vehicle being photographed is very important when you pick your location to shoot from. Consider first what set of shots do you want to take, is the corner a left hander or right?

At most tracks it can take you some time to get to a good location depending if you want to be inside or opposite the apex. This location choice will have a bearing on what type of image you are going to capture so it’s a good idea to plan ahead.

So what can you expect to capture? Cars might smoke tyres in the braking zone, trucks more so. Motorcycles can have the back end coming round smoking at the rear and this can make a pleasing head on shot from the outside of a corner.

It can be done from the inside but will more of a creative panning shot and therefore there is risk of a blurred image.

Jumping off the throttle and hitting the brakes can produce excess fuel, resulting in flames from the exhaust but if it’s a right hand corner and you are on the outside photographing motorcycles, you will miss any flames as most modern race bikes have exhausts on the right or under the seat.

A lot of race cars have side exhausts, V8 will have them on both sides, old Fords and Skylines have them on the left, it’s the shortest distance from the exhaust manifold to the outside of the car. Study the cars on the sighting lap as it can make the difference between a good shot and a great shot.

The head on shot of the apex is a good for cars and motorcycles -  just before or just after also works well for motorcycles. 

The corner exit is generally less dramatic, but picking the right location can pay dividends, which a lot of photographers miss. Top Tip, don’t get too close to the exit.

The vehicle will be on a constant throttle round the apex putting the power down as it exits,  which can make the back end step out. Some will drift, some will get into an uncontrollable slide.

One last capture shot for which you can ignore all of the motorsports photography rules is the close action shot. Filling the frame is great for displaying detail and as there is little to no background. You can ramp that shutter speed up to well over a 1000 of a second to ensure the image is super sharp.

Creative photography

A guide to taking motorsports photography

Our other articles on how to take stunning photographs at motorsport events including, panning, shooting through wire, locations, equipment, settings and much more.