Tickets to many drag race facilities include a pit pass allowing you to get close to the drivers and their cars. Make a friend and maybe you can get invited to the races as a member of the pit crew, which I was on this day, giving me closer access to the track. This position let me fill the frame with this drag bike doing a burnout. Because motorcycle racers don’t want to get their front tires wet by driving though the water pit, their riders walk the bike around the pit and back into it before doing a burnout. Knowing what a competitor will do before he or she does it helps you get the picture you want instead of being caught unawares.

When photographing motorcycles indoors you have the additional challenge of dealing with color balance issues. I typically start in Auto White Balance (AWB.) If that doesn’t look good on the LCD screen; I whip out my Kodak Grey Card—the flip side is white!—and do a custom white balance. With a minimum working distance of less than four inches, the Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/4.0 lets you work close to the subject. I was just inches away from this custom motorcycle at a Harley Davidson dealer when photographing it using an Olympus E-Volt 300 with the camera mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and an exposure of one-half second at f/20 at ISO 400,

Automobiles make great photographic subjects. Whether photographing a Ferrari Formula One car blasting off the banking at Indy or enjoying the quiet elegance of a vintage Packard Sport Phaeton parked on the manicured grass of the 18th Hole at Pebble Beach, cars and photography are a natural combination. And all the excitement that surrounds digital imaging can be found in the be-winged, be-skirted sport compact cars that use the latest automotive technology to extract 500 horsepower from a four-cylinder Honda engine. Get out your camera and lets make some pictures of these cars!

In warmer weather, on any given weekend there’s a car show or Concours d’Elegance happening somewhere. You will find information about these shows in newspapers, enthusiast publications, and the Internet. A growing phenomenon within America’s car culture is impromptu shows not associated with a special event or organization but occur on a regular basis at a local donut shop or burger joint. These gatherings are harder to find but make the effort because they are smaller in size and have a more relaxed environment where you can photograph the cars and get to know the owners. To find show, visit shops that cater to cool cars, such as tire and wheel stores, upholstery, or paint shops, in short anyplace where you see interesting cars parked outside. Ask about upcoming shows and locations, including those informal get togethers.

Tip: There isn’t always a car show scheduled so why not shoot your own car? The top photo of my old Mercedes 320 SLK ( my wife still misses that car) was made in a local park using a Casio EX-F1 and the camera’s 16×9 ratio capture mode. Exposure was 1/640 sec at f/8 and ISO 200 in Aperture Priority (Av) mode. It was temporarily parked between two “No Parking” signs, so I “temporarily” parked it, jumped out, and made a few exposures before jumping back in and motoring on.

Many digicams also offer a feature called digital zoom that is produced by cropping the captured image in-camera and then interpolating (making it physically larger) to emulate the camera’s maximum resolution. This process always produces a lower quality photograph than that what would normally be captured with an optical zoom lens because you are tossing away parts of the original’s image resolution.

Question: Was this classic car at top cropped or was it photographed using a digital zoom and does it even matter?

Answer: It was cropped from the original photograph—after the fact.

You can achieve the same effect as a digital zoom by cropping the original file with even the least expensive image-editing program. So what’s the big deal about digital zoom? It’s all about marketing not photography, so don’t be fooled when the manufacturer erroneously combines the ratios of both optical and digital zooms giving you double the amount of worthless information.

Exposure for the black E-type Jaguar (above) was 1/320 at f/11 and ISO 200, which is one and one-third stops less that the indicated “correct” exposure. ©201 Joe Farace

Light has four major qualities: color, quality, quantity, and direction. As photographers seeking to master the art of exposure, seeing that light is the key mastering the art of exposure

If there’s any secret to getting proper exposure, it’s learning how to see the light falling on your subject, especially the range of shadows and highlights that occur within the scene. This chiaroscuro, as the Italian Renaissance painters called it, is the use of effects representing contrasts of light to achieve a sense of three-dimensionality within a two dimensional frame. Learning to see light is not difficult but does take some practice. That practice should take the form of not only constantly making new images but also taking the time to analyze those photographs after you’ve created them.

One of the first tips that I give aspiring car photographers is that they should underexpose black cars to ender them as black and overexpose white ones, so they look white. When you think about this concept, it makes perfect sense: By forcing the exposure to middle gray tones, you’ll end up with a white car that looks gray or a black car that looks gray too.

On a Sunday every June,  the Italian car clubs in Colorado gather at an annual show where there are lots of exotic, interesting, and beautiful cars are on display including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lancias, Panteras, Maseratis, Alfa Romeos, and Fiats. I’ve had a love affair with Italian cars since the early ’70s when I purchased my 1969 Fiat 850 coupe (great car) and then a 1970 Fiat 850 Spyder (not so great and what people often think of when they think Fiat.

While at the Italian car show, this little red car captured my imagination but there was always a crowd gathered around it. When leaving the show, I took one last look and there was this kid—dressed all in black—standing in front of the car and I made the shot using a Leica Digilux II. . After I made the photograph I looked back again and the kid had left so I made a second exposure. At the moment of the second exposure I knew two things: I was going to combine both images on different layers in Adobe Photoshop and I was going to change the opacity on the “kid” layer so he showed through the car in a ghostly way.

Leica Digilux 2's ISO was set at 200, shutter sped 1/500th sec at f /7.1

I started the process by opening the photograph of the car without the kid and saved it as a Photoshop (PSD) file. Next, I created a duplicate layer (Layer>Duplicate Layer) so I had two identical images on top of one another and was ready for the next step. Since the background was so busy I applied Nik Color Efex Pro’s Old Photo: Black and White filter to it. I thought the effect was perfect because it makes it look like a diorama, which many people believe it is rather than a real outdoor car show.

Next, I used Photoshop’s Eraser tool and erased holes in the duplicate layer where the car was located. Tip: I usually turn off the other layers so I can only see the one that I’m erasing. Next, I dragged the file with the kid on top the PSD file, automatically creating another layer and made sure that the kid layer was the topmost layer. Using the Eraser tool, I erased everything but the kid from that new layer. Since I wanted the kid to be “ghostly,” I set the Layers palette’s Opacity control to 70% in the kid’s Layer’s palette.

Even though the car is really an Autobianchi Bianchina it has a Fiat engine, so I call this image “Dreaming of Fiats,” and feel that unlike most of my car photos that are just pretty pictures, this one tells a story. I know what my story for this photograph is? What’s yours?

Exposure: 1/320 sec @ f/9 and ISO 800, in Shutter Priority mode

If you’re photographing motorsports from the stands, a tripod can interfere with the other spectators and some venues might not even let you carry one in. But a monopod usually won’t create the same kind of disruption, especially if you try to get along with your fellow spectators.

For the photographer with space and weight at a premium, like a backpacker, the monopod is ideal. Flashpoint’s F-2560 carbon fiber monopod weighs only 10 ounces but will support 11 pounds. That’s because weight is one-third of a tripod of similar quality. Monopods can be used with the same type of heads that tripod use but can used without any head. The 1/4″-20 threaded bolt sticking out from the top of the monopod can be screwed into the bottom of your camera or the tripod collar on really long focal length lenses. Why lose your head? Big tripod heads can get in the way, but since a monopod, unlike a tripod, can be easily moved to get that perfect angle you may not need one, The monopod seems to be making another one of its many comebacks. Manufacturers have even designed tripods that can be quickly and easily converted into a monopod. While that may seem like a gimmick, it may just be just the tripod you’re looking for.

As in other areas of photography, any monopod is a compromise. They’re certainly not as rigid as a tripod but they are better than hand holding a heavy long lens, slow shutter speeds, or both. While shopping for monopod, remember that the same quality/price standards that apply to a good tripod also apply to the monopod. One side benefit is that because of the simplicity, even a top of the line monopod is surprisingly affordable. If your camera support needs are simple and occasional, a monopod may be all you need!

There are few if any secrets about capturing images when light is low. The ingredients are a simple witches brew that includes fast lenses, high ISO settings, and an appropriate camera support. What sets a successful image apart from a less successful one is how these ingredients are combined, so it’s important to have most of your work done in advance. Before snapping the shutter, you should already know which ISO setting and lenses you’re planning to use. That’s why it’s a good idea to scout the location and determine the best spot to place your camera so when that golden hour arrives you are free to concentrate on properly framing the image.

Just as with sports cars, bullet trains, and Internet connections, being fast is great for camera lenses too. It’s much easier to take photographs in low light with an f/1.4 or f/2.0 lens than with an f/4.5 or f/5.6 lens because it produces a bright viewfinder (or Live View image) and gives you more choices for a matching shutter speed. Camera companies don’t bury us with choices, usually selling just two or three similar lenses in the same focal length range and designed to work under normal lighting conditions. In photographic terms, “normal” means outdoors on sunny day. Out here in the real world where we all live and make photographs, “normal” lighting may be overcast weather, under the shade of trees or buildings, or in brightly lit rooms (one with skylights or maybe large and plentiful windows.) Basic zoom lenses supplied on point-and-shoot cameras and bundled with entry level SLRs have maximum apertures ranging from f/3.8 to f/4, f/4.5, and even f/5.6. Some point-and-shoots cameras only have an f/6.3 maximum aperture!

Not surprisingly, zoom lenses come in fast or slow varieties. Many of the slower zoom lenses have a floating maximum f/stop. That means the maximum opening changes within the lens’ zoom range. A 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens is a good example. At the widest focal length of 24mm the maximum aperture is the f/3.5. As the lens is zoomed toward the telephoto end, that maximum aperture shifts to f/5.6. The downside is that fast lenses cost more and with digital SLR’s performance getting better and better at high ISO’s, is the fast lens going to go the way of the passenger pigeon? I don’t think so because; right now anyway, nothing can replace that big, bright image in the viewfinder.

Joe is the co-author of “Better Available Light Digital Photography” published by Focal Press.

 I am an amateur imager and love to shoot cars and bikes, usually at crowded shows with the rides parked closely together and tons of spectator’s standing even closer. If you have ever shot a show you know the scenario, an extreme exercise in patience and creativity of framing.  Even on the best days however sometimes there is a shot where the ride is truly an inspiration but there is just no way frame it up no matter what you try.  Many times in the past I just did not make that shot because I thought there was  no hope of producing a quality image but, over the last few years however I became interested in and tried some basic compositing skills and my new approach has opened up many new opportunities!

Last year while shooting at the Amelia Concours I took some shots of the amazing “Bentnik” ride sitting in a packed lot waiting to be shown at Auction inside the Ritz Hotel. As you can see from the picture below (middle or 0ev exposure), the surroundings were impossible, I could not even get a set in without people’s heads in the glass, there was an endless flow of spectators. I loved the ride and just did not know what to do with, but I kept it, 7 months later while combing the archives an idea fell into place (this goes for most of my work). Another thing I have put into practice is shoot anything that looks interesting and could possibly serve as a background in the future, not a keeper in itself just files waiting to provide help support spontaneous inspiration sometime in the future.

This shot from the very surreal “South of the Border” in South Carolina seemed to be a possible  background. I shot it at a few angles with possibly setting a bike in the foreground, never a car!

Nuts and Bolts

99% of my work is multiple exposure HDR images so each of the images you see in  Photoshop were already processed using Photomatix using three images each that were autobracketed and handheld @ 2EV.

• Does it fit? Using the Move Tool, drag the ride on top of the background
• Lower the Opacity so you can see both layers enough to set the car into position.
• Bring the opacity back up to 100 and use the History Brush Tool to paint the background into view.

Decision point One. Things don’t always line up quite right, for this one I had to resize the car image after my first draft lineup try to get it to fit properly in the surroundings/perspective. On this corner my thought was to paint in an angled line and then fill the edge of the cement with brush and the extra space with cement to make it appear to be part of the parking lot.

Decision point Two. This was a bit easier to see and execute just a nice fill of cement but leaving the yellow lines and wet deck in place.

Decision point Three.  How to get the heads from the glass and bring in the sign features but maintain a natural look. No idea on this one initially, that’s why I saved it for last!

• 1. Get rid of the heads and leave a nice layer to work. I used the Clone Stamp tool working from top to bottom on the reflected seat curves.
• 2. I applied the same basic process to the rest of the dome. For those areas that just did not blend quite right I used the Spot Healing Brush in Proximity match to clean them up.
• 3. Filling in the sign. I set my History Brush Opacity to 18% and painted in a large even single stroke across the main area of the window, then resized and again for the area above the frame. For the reaming areas using a small brush at 8% I finished it off.

Other Thoughts

As with my shooting, erratic, unplanned and from the hip I find these simple inspirations while archive diving trying to save that one ride image I just loved but couldn’t frame up properly. Sometimes the shots used span a period of years and the idea just as long but the outcomes are always an amazing surprise and well worth the wait.  Shoot backgrounds anywhere and everywhere, if the ride is an inspiration but impossible to frame up shoot it anyway and save it for another day!

Wide-angle lenses or wide angle zooms let you fill up the frame with part or even the entire car while eliminating background distractions but make sure your zoom lens allows close focusing. Wide-angle zooms let you get close during crowded car shows but during racing events you’ll need longer zoom lenses to bring the cars closer without getting too near to a Porsche traveling at more than 100mph.

The large crowds at most car shows often make it impossible to use a tripod so I seldom use one but be sure to ask one of the show’s officials before schlepping any kind of support to a show. Image Stabilization or Vibration Reduction lenses or other kinds of in-body anti-shake technology are an alternative and let you hand hold slower-than-normal shutter speeds while maintaining small enough apertures.

Tip: When shooting in a museum or private collection, always get permission to use a tripod and although I occasionally bring a tripod most of the time it stays in my car’s trunk, Some museums don’t permit their use without a permit but monopods provide a steady platform for your camera in low light conditions, including museums or end-of-day outdoors shots and you may be able to get by using a tabletop tripod for on-the-ground low angle shots.

Photographs made at the J&R Vintage Auto Museum in Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Park your vehicle in a designated parking spot in a designated parking lot. The last thing you need to hear when you’re getting ready to photograph a championship drag racing event is the race announcer calling “will the owner of the orange Gremlin, please move your car or it will be towed.”

When making photographs, remain behind safety barriers and while these barriers may not be set up everywhere, especially on a sprawling road course, use your judgment when choosing a place to shoot the race. If you’re not sure about it, chances are a safety worker will shortly arrive asking you to move. If they do, be nice to them; they have a tough enough job without coping with whiny photographers.

It may or may not be hot at the track but it surely will be loud. Be sure to bring earplugs. Most tracks’ concession stands sell earplugs but why not bring your own. Make sure to keep several pair in your camera bag because they are easy to loose but inexpensive to replace. Offer any extras to a photog who may have forgotten theirs; make a friend.

While in the pit area be alert because there will be many scooters, 4-wheelers, motorcycles, or golf carts transporting people around. Be sure to pay attention to any cars that are getting ready to enter the staging area. Racecars don’t always have horns like the family jalopy but you should hear them coming even when wearing earplugs.

As with most professional sport facilities, you are only allowed to make video or still images of the vehicles for personal use and they may not be sold or marketed without having an arrangement from the speedway and/or the sanctioning body. Save yourself legal hassles but taking care of this when obtaining your track credentials. That doesn’t mean you can’t sell photographs to the teams or the racers at the track, which can help make you a few bucks.