I’m so excited about these pictures that I just have to share. I have to. You have to see what I managed to do!!! 
Autocross #1
February 21, 2010. A cold, rainy winter day. War Memorial Stadium… The first autocross of the local SCCA chapter’s season.
Sadly, I’ve become very attached to sleeping in whenever I get the chance. And with the threat of rain, well, I wasn’t eager to go racing anyhow. (I’d rather not, it’s really not fun to me haha. I’ve done it once or twice and that was enough!)
My “Job”
It’s also fairly sad that I’ve become attached to the whole photography thing, in a way. You see, it’s pretty impossible for me to take pictures of my car racing and be the one out there racing. I really need to get myself one of the cameras for recording that stuff, and mount it to my roll bar…. But I also want a transmitter for track days. 
(Expensive stuff, to say the least!)
When I’m not racing, I want to take pictures. Lots of them. Especially when I have a bunch of good cars in the same spot! Perfect.
I had already decided that I wanted to try to get some panning shots. I’ve always loved the way they turn out — a clear, crisp car and a blurred background, the implication of speed.
It’s one thing to read about photography techniques, and it’s a whole other thing to go out and put them into practice. Once I found out “how” to do it, it was up to me to practice it until it turned out.
My biggest lesson learned? I desperately need a zoom lens if I want to do this often…… My pictures turned out way better than I ever expected them to, but the lack of zoom was pretty depressing.
My Success
Enough chit chat, here are my successful panning shots! Please, let me know what you think?
So happy it turned out! Haha.
I couldn't tell how the pics looked until I got home. (I'm impatient, so the wait sucks!)
The car, of course, is an AP2 S2000, owned by a friend.
I have no favorite between these really, they all turned out great, just the lack of zoom that bugs me. D:
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Excellent pictures!! You are DEF improving, KEEP IT UP!
Whoa. I’ve never seen a panning shot taken with a wide lens. They are amazingly cool! The tiny car pops right out. Well done!
I’ve shot a lot of panning with my 18-55 lens. The trick is getting permission to go out on a corner and shoot with a group of workers.
Those shots are of some real merit. Although the zoom would be nice, getting close to the cars with a wide angle and a longer exposure can produce some very nice results. Case in point – http://msphotolog.exblog.jp/
Awesome pics. Congrats on being able to go out and being able to get the shots you wanted.
Jeris: Thanks dude, I’m trying.
Adam: I cropped every other picture I took that day, but with the panning the background really didn’t detract from it at all… It was more enhancing than I thought it would be.
I am, however, buying the 55mm-200mm lens, so that’ll help me a bit to not make the car so teeny tiny.
J.: Woah, those are some *awesome* pics there….. I like!!
N/A: Thanks.
It was just cool to try something out and actually be successful for once, haha. This whole photography learning adventure has been so full of mishaps and the occasional cool thing.