Ready Steady Action!

Hi everyone, firstly congratulations to John Nicholson for winning July’s Transport of Delight Challenge. Don’t forget this month’s Ready Steady Action! Photo Challenge winner will be announced at the start of September, so make sure you submit your entry before the closing date of 31st August to be in with a chance of winning!

The photographs for this month’s article were shot during a practice day at the Silverstone Classic festival, held annually over a few days at the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’, the Grand Prix circuit just north of London. This makes for a great day out and is, of course, a wonderful opportunity to take a wide variety of shots – as there is so much to see. The day I was at Silverstone, there were more than 700 of the world’s finest historic racing cars, with a total value in excess of £300 million!

So, this month’s article is all about shooting action – which means being ready with your Lumix G camera for whatever chances come your way to take a great shot. I’m not going to go overboard on the technical side, with details for every photograph beyond the basics – the settings on my Lumix cameras. Instead, I am going to ‘let the pictures do the talking’. But do check out my rundown of general tips for action photography and then get active yourself – get out there and shoot whatever takes your fancy!

I was shooting on my day at Silverstone with my Lumix G2 and GF1 cameras, with the 7-14mm and 45-200mm lenses. All the shots were processed and cropped as required using Adobe Photoshop software. You might not be surprised to hear I took in excess of 500 shots! However, I have edited the total down to what I judge to be the best ones to illustrate the article here.

KEY POINTS WHEN SHOOTING ACTION

1. If possible, try to have a choice of lenses with you, from Ultra Wide to Telephoto. The interchangeable lens system on the Lumix G range makes this easy, of course!

• Lumix DMC G2
• 7mm lens
• Aperture set at f 7.1
• Shutter Speed: 250th sec
• ISO 100

• Lumix DMC G2
• 11mm lens
• Aperture set at f 5.0
• Shutter Speed: 200th sec
• ISO 100

• Lumix DMC G2
• 20mm lens
• Aperture set at f 5.6
• Shutter Speed: 320th sec
• ISO 400

• Lumix DMC G2
• 7mm lens
• Aperture set at f 5.0
• Shutter Speed: 200th sec
• ISO 100

2. When shooting, it is vital to always use a fast shutter speed, to freeze the action. On some of my shots, when the vehicles were coming towards the camera at speeds up to 100mph, I used a shutter speed as fast as 1,000th of a second.

• Lumix DMC G2
• 109mm lens
• Aperture set at f 6.3
• Shutter Speed: 800th sec
• ISO 200

• Lumix DMC G2
• 67mm lens
• Aperture set at f 7.1
• Shutter Speed: 640th sec
• ISO 100

3. However, if you are shooting a vehicle travelling from one side of the frame to the other, try my trick of panning the camera as you take the shot, to blur the background slightly. I find this helps to portray movement, and I use a shutter speed between a 250th and a 400th of a second.

• Lumix DMC G2
• 200mm lens
• Aperture set at f 5.6
• Shutter Speed: 800th sec
• ISO 100

• Lumix DMC G2
• 200mm lens
• Aperture set at f 6.3
• Shutter Speed: 800th sec
• ISO 100

• Lumix DMC G2
• 200mm lens
• Aperture set at f 6.3
• Shutter Speed: 1000th sec
• ISO 100

• Lumix DMC G2
• 200mm lens
• Aperture set at f 8.0
• Shutter Speed: 500th sec
• ISO 200

3. Always use a fairly wide aperture of f5.6 to f8.0, in order to keep the background nice and soft. This will bring out the subject of the shot better.

4. On my day of action, I used a mixture of focus techniques. Some of these shots were taken with the AFC setting; for some I set my Lumx to AFS. I also took some of my images with the camera manually pre-focused on a predetermined point where I knew the vehicle I wanted to capture was going to be. Then, of course, it simply becomes a matter of getting your timing right!

5. The trick there is to know your equipment. As with most digital cameras, there’s a tiny amount of shutter delay on your Lumix G, so practise until you know precisely when to press the shutter release. Getting a very fast-moving car dead in the centre of the frame is something that has taken me quite a while to master! (But don’t forget you can always crop your shots in post-production on your computer.)

6. Remember that while practice makes perfect, the beauty of digital photography is that it’s impossible to waste shots. Never be afraid to take lots and lots of photographs – then, of course, you can then edit out all the bad ones!

7. I always try to look for a few unusual shots in the mix – such as the one here of a golf cart racing a mobility scooter! Breaking up the subject matter keeps you fresh and creative, and will better allow you to capture the general ‘ambience’ of an event.

• Lumix DMC G2
• 45mm lens
• Aperture set at f 8.0
• Shutter Speed: 1000th sec
• ISO 400

Wherever you choose to take your camera and whatever the event you’re having a go at, never forget that your real goal is to enjoy yourself. I certainly did!

• Lumix DMC G2
• 45mm lens
• Aperture set at f 6.3
• Shutter Speed: 640th sec
• ISO 400

• Lumix DMC G2
• 45mm lens
• Aperture set at f 8.0
• Shutter Speed: 1000th sec
• ISO 400

Well, I hope this article has inspired you to start thinking about how to capture that perfect action shot with your Lumix G.

I look forward to seeing your best efforts in this month’s Photo Challenge.

Good luck,

Phil Surbey