I dont know if this is off topic , but Iam going to the salt for the first time this year. Im looking for tips for shooting at Bonneville to get the best shots. Which lenses to take with And how to protect my camera and lens . Any advise will help. Thanks
You'll shoot more pictures in the pits and at the starting line than actually shooting the cars racing...
What kind of pictures are you wanting to take - subject material? What equipment do you have - point and shoot - SLR - digital?
Like carbs said, you gotta give more info. Bring a long range lens and a good short range/all around lens. Some pictures may require a filter such as a polarizing filter or just a UV. If your shooting film still, you'll need film. Lastly, or maybe firstly, you might want to bring the actual camera body it does come in handy at times. And I'm only guessing your talking SLR beacuse you asked what lens' to bring.
I have no experience with digital photos yet, but here's a tip for using your light meter on the salt. It's usually ungodly bright out there, and your meter will be pegged for sure. Just keep cranking down until it reads 100%, then crank down 2 more notches. Should be perfect with no washing out (especially light colored cars). As for zooms, a 75 to 250 is only good within a stone's throw at the line, or down the course. If you want really close, get one of those monsters the size of a small cannon.
As far as protecting the camera (s) and equipment including electronic equipment, the big problem and danger to the equipment would be the heat. Unless there was a windstorm that shut down the racing you wouldn't have to worry too much about salt blowing around like you would dust at the dry lakes. If you carry film I think I would keep it in a small cooler or other case that would protect it from the heat. It isn't fun to get home with a ton of film ruined by heat exposure. As Lucky Burton said, most of your photos will be taken in the pits and then around the starting line. Usually there is a spot around the 3 mile marker on the spectator side where guys park and watch the cars but the cars are several hundred yards away so it takes a long lens to get any kind of photo and probably a tripod or some other setup to steady the camera. You also should take a portable AM radio and dig out the old CB to listen to the tower and the goings on. This helps you be ready down the track when the fast car run as you don't get much time to reach for the camera if you wait until you can see them running. The last time I went I had my 80/200 lens on the camera (film) at the three mile and even the diesel trucks look pretty small in the photos.
If you're talking about action shots, it's tough to practice panning a camera and taking pictures of something going 200 miles an hour three-quarters of a mile away. Before you go, you can see how well you can do by panning and photographing planes flying nearby. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Thanks Guys, I have a nikon D300 dslr with a 18 x 200, and a 70x 300 lens. I may even by another longer lens , such as a cheaper 500 mm. I have uv and polarizing filters and 4 8 gb cards. For subject matter, i want to shoot it all. hell im so excited I can hardly contain myself!! Thanks everyone.
Sounds like you've got some good equipment.Action shots do get frustrating though.Its hard to capture the action.I go stand at the starting line and get shots.The pits are awesome .You can shoot a lot of frames there!
Bring lots of film/ digi. cards..........I know the first time my pops and I drove the 34' to the salt I took 11 rolls in the first day. And if I remember correctly "Coop" shot up every digital card that he had last year in a day and had to go load them in his laptop. For lighting and all that jazz........sunset is the best and heck with everyone that mentions that you can't shoot into the sun.......they are some of my best shots with a point and click. Oh yea, wear sunscreen and in the morning after you get outta' the shower put sunscreen on your "beans" they will get sunburnt from the light reflecting up. Chris Nelson Kansas
Like mr48chevy says, bring a tripod or some sort of steady-cam arrangment. Trying to shoot cars/bikes in motion at a great distance is difficult at best. DW
I found it very difficult to take a bad shot at bonneville. ****ty point and shoot cam worked wonders for me. It's not the equiptment, but the operator. The framing. Composition. Angles. Contrasting colors. Use of light and shadows. They exist everywhere in bonneville, you've just got to find them.
Church is exactly right. You can spend thousands, or in your case did spend, but its all up to the photographer to make that shot. Some people could take a better picture with a 5 buck throw away camera than most people could with all the expensive **** in the world.
True.... taken on a 10$ plastic Chineese Camaera at Bonneville. .........but don't underestimate the expensive stuff either. My advice, what ever Camera you have.......bracket your exposures. Use reflectors to light up the shadow side of the vehicle. Unless you have a 600-1200mm uberzoom lens, forget about shooting a car speeding by at 300 mph.
Hyperdrive 80 with 250gb Western Digital hard drive took me all the way through a month in Myanmar shooting over 6000 RAW pix. And you can get a nifty Pelican case to protect it from thermonuclear war.
2007 was my first year at Bonneville and I used a Pentax mz60 with a 300mm lens, nothing to over the top, and left it on auto. I was very pleased with the results because of the light etc on the salt. I am new to this forum stuff so I still have to work out how to load photos yet. But if you go to www.nz2usa.com and look in the photo area you'll see what I mean. We will be back again this year and there are a dozen kiwi teams racing in several car and bike cl***es so keep an eye out for us. See you there. cheers Graeme
1st thing bring Good sungl***es or you can buy them there & sunscreen, gatorade or something I went in 2000 to Speed Week it was Great went to see the 53 Studes run, had a Olympus 35mm, computerized focus type I didn't know what to expect with the sun & salt for picture quality, they came out perfect You won't be sorry, the sound & the people you meet
Every picture I have taken on the salt has came out absolutely beautiful that white background makes the cars pop!! Jerry
Yeah, those are Holga shots. I scanned the negs. I have yet to print any of them. I will some year. When I have time to go back into a dark room.
Here are some of the pictures that I took at Speed Week in 1999 using a disposable camera: http://www.roadsters.com/chauvin/ There are more of the pictures in an article I wrote about being at Speed Week, here: http://www.roadsters.com/bonneville/ Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Some of the most outstanding photos posted last year from Bonneville were by COOP666, in my opinion, - here is the link where he posted: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=202159&highlight=bonneville When I questioned COOP666 as to what camera he used this was his reply: Tech stuff: I was shooting with a Leica Digilux 3, using the Leica lens as well as an Olympus/Zuiko 8mm fisheye that I bought specifically for Bonneville. I was shooting a little underexposed, then color correcting in Photoshop. I also used a polarized filter to cut the glare from the salt, after a few days. Definitely on my wish list someday to own that camera.
The Jalopy Journal
