How to take G O O D photos of Race Queens

[ARTC5859]

Ok Im writting this because I'm too lazy to carry my camera gear around the pits and having to barge my way into the crowds to get my shots. So I - like every other guy in there will hope that those of you with cameras will take good shots and post them up for the rest of us to see.

Here are a few tips to taking good photos:

FOCUS
1. If you're using a compact digital camera- you should turn the 'marco' mode on if you're taking a shot from about 1m from the girl. Trust me.- Test it out take photos of someone with and without the macro on- most of the time people shoot it blurred because they're too close.

I you have a SLR- the POF point of focus are the FACE and the EYES- when you look at a photo of a girl you look at her eyes and then her face. So at minimal standards the face and eye must be sharp.

POSITION/COMPOSITON
Watch what and how to frame- dont put heir face in the middle of the frame. Frame the shots - if you have the time watch what the background is. If you have an SLR and you can manage good focusing- you can blur out the background like a pro photog - just dial up your F stop to 2.8 or whatever is lowest number.

APERTURE
If you're hopeless at shooting sharp photos- then close down the apertute to 5.6 to F11 on your lens- then everything in the front and back will be sharp- its guranteed fool proof everything will be sharp. Just that less light will come in and you have to watch out for camera shake. But that's not a worry at Sepand during midday- there will be a lot of light

LIGHTING- shooting in the shade of the pits or shooting in midday sun- you'll want to light up their faces as flat as possible. If you have a flash unit- USE IT as a fill in flash- put some paper or tracing paper over the flash to soften it. the whole point is to get the light as equal as possible so as to not have shadows under the nose- cheek and etc.

SHOOT IN TANDEM
If a girl is posing for the guy next to you- then take the opportunity to shoot right next to him- then you wont have to waste time trying to get her attention. Shoot off his shoulder if you have to but dont get in his way.

BE POLITE
Ask politely and they will pose for you. Dont be a dickhead and spoil it for everyone. When the girls feel comfortable with the crowd they will stand closer to the ropes.
If you freak them out they will stand as far as possible from the crowd.

DONT TOUCH
Dont touch them unless they offer you a hand shake. If you get to take a photo with them dont put you hands on them- they know when you're trying to get fresh.

Any questions post it up here.

Have fun be nice - Good luck and happy snapping.

 

[ARTC5859]

http://www.motion-ds.com/gallery/d/3160-2/_MG_0572.jpg
Great lighting here by kenny yeoh- flat- no shadows and the face in full focus. just by chance there is a light at the back of her head which has nice highlights the hair at the top of her head.

 

[sakuraguy]

Nice guide .. its time for me to buy a new digicam and get those cars downtown! .. lotsa supercars ere'

 

[ARTC5859]

with fill-in flash

http://www.motion-ds.com/gallery/d/3240-2/_MG_1080.jpg

without fill in flash - shadows in the face spoils the shot abit. even though she is in focus and she has a great smile and the composition is drmatically at an angle. nice shot pity the shadows on the face.

http://christan.smugmug.com/photos/73522951-L.jpg

 

[ARTC5859]

here where the lighting is flatter- cynthia has a great complextion/smile in this shot.

http://christan.smugmug.com/photos/73522973-L.jpg

 

[ARTC5859]

Chris gets the eyes in focus and the picture is already 90% perfect add her smile and the framing of this shot makes it work. Working with a bigger apeture 2.8 he cuts down the depth of feild- he hands nearer to the camera is blur but the face is in focus- this concentrates the focal point on her face. good technique here.

In apertures to "open up" means going for a higher f-stop 2.8 (smaller numbers) etc
the lower the number F-stop means the "faster" the lens because it can open up and allow more light in.
for example a 50mm F1.0 lens is faster than a 50mm F5.6 lens.
Most of the big lenses you see the pros carrying around are fast 300mm F.28 or 400mmF.2.8 lens.
Canon used to make a F1.0 50MM lens which is very fast and also very big

and to "close down" means going for a lower F stop F5.6 to F11. (bigger numbers)
Cheaper lenses are spec slower. For example you can get a 300mm lens at F5.6 or zoom lenses like
70-210 rated at F2.8-F5.6 which means at 210mm the F stop is at 5.6.
Pro zoom lenses are 70-210 F2.8 meaning at no matter where the zoom length is it stays constant at f.28- these lenes are bigger sized and much more expensive.

http://christan.smugmug.com/photos/73531737-L.jpg

 

[ARTC5859]

Here are some shots by Japanese photog e style - see how FLAT ligting he gets the skin tones. - Im sure he worked on them on photoshop after but their complextion is superb. He definately uses abit of fill in flash- you can see the sparkle in their eyes. And the fill is flash is probably a soft box which really softens the lighting.

Unfortunately in Sepang you will not get such nice natural lighting as in Japan- the sun will be above you and cast harsh shadows- so a fill in flash will soften the harsh lighting. Pros dont shoot nice shots of models during midday - all the calendar shoots you see are done at early morning or in the evening then the light is warmer and 'softer'.

http://e-style3.chips.jp/2006gt01_s_001l.jpg
http://e-style3.chips.jp/2006gt01_s_002l.jpg
http://e-style3.chips.jp/2006gt01_s_032l.jpg

 

[ARTC5859]

and another thing...

if the girl is carrying an unbrella- the colours of the umbrella will be cast on her face- you have to use a fill in flash to cut that back. one plus is that the umbrella softens the sun light. but if the umbrella has red panels- then you'd get red highlights on her face.

http://page.freett.com/e_style/back26l.jpg

 

[Tom]

Hi ARTC5859

Great contribution!
This will definately come in handy for all of us.

keep it coming

Tom

 

[hilal]

yeah! an excellent guide for those amateurs like me

 

[driftkingII]

need help here.

Sometimes i catch pic, some picture of the model or girl will always have heavy make-up. How to prevent it so the pic wont show her heavy make-up ???

Urgent b4 tomorrow !!!!

 

[hilal]

i guess u r using flash and u r too close with the girl. u should adjust your flash exposure lower or if ur camera doesn't support it, then move behind a lil bit. =)

 

[syaZ13]

i wish i came here first before goin for the GT... would've helped...

 

[chinweipin]

hello ARTC5859 "tai lou"
thank you for the Advices, and thanks again for posting the Race Queen picture fresh and hot.

and Question is , i am a non-professional photographers, and how can we take a nice picture like i'm using Canon Powershot S2 IS, and feel like embarassing to the BIG CANON's canon? like 300mm F2.8~~ bla bla

 

[ARTC5859]

Hi guys- sorry this reply is late.

I hope you guys got some GOOD shots and I hope to see them posted up some where- please post the links up in here when you have uploaded them.

HOW TO PICK GOOD SHOTS
Well Im sure you have taken heaps of shots- how do you pick whats good and whats "so-so". Well the way I used to do it- with prints is to decide how many shots I want- say 10- or 20. And I lay the prints out on the floor and my process of elimination- and you HAVE TO BE RUTHLESS - I just take out the ones that looks bad first off. You keep eliminating until you get the number you want. Really bad ones out first round- then the not so bad ones- then the so-so ones - leave the "good" ones.

This might not apply if you want to keep all the shots- maybe you have 2-3-4 of a girl you like but there are slight differences in the focus- lighting- pose- if she's making eye contact. Ask youself which one of the 4 is the best and put that one up.

I'm not saying delete everything- save them in a different folder and "edit" a set that is GOOD enough to show people or share. ALWAYS KEEP A BACK UP SET somewhere.

 

[ARTC5859]

I carried a small old Pentax Optio 3.2mpxl which took forever to focus and shoot and sometimes the girl got tired of posing and moved on to another photographer. That was almost embarrasing.

I would say that all the girls are well trained professionals- they will pose for anyone using any type of camera- even if you're using a handphone. Some of the Japanese fans who were there took photos with their phones. You shouldn't feel inadequate just because you have a Canon powershot- your camera is probably better than mine! I was just too lazy to carry bulky equipment and lenses around and I was after autographs rather than photos.

I hope to see your shots online.

hello ARTC5859 "tai lou"
thank you for the Advices, and thanks again for posting the Race Queen picture fresh and hot.

and Question is , i am a non-professional photographers, and how can we take a nice picture like i'm using Canon Powershot S2 IS, and feel like embarassing to the BIG CANON's canon? like 300mm F2.8~~ bla bla

 

[ARTC5859]

I shot these above the Nismo pits when Michael Krumm turned the No. 22 car over to Richard Lyons and the crew changed the tyers and refuelled the car. I didn't intend to shoot it as a sequence but later when reviewing the shots it looked like a "sequence" - in a very loose sense.

What was interesting was each tire man would all sit on their new tires before putting them on the car.
The refueller would put his full body weight into the hose and the fuel cap cover looked like a sponge cover and is just squeezed in place.

 

[ARTC5859]

Hilal has got alot of shots- some are quite good. This is a good example- he's got all three girls' eye contact with the camera nice smile- all the girls are in focus and smiling.

This one works quite well too which the contrast of the back costumes and umbrella it brings out the skin tones of the girls.

 

[reeza_007]

nice picture..

 

[V-Spec]

Here is my shots.

Comments and critique welcomed.

http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/eujinchan2/