Conveying Motion in Motorsports Photography

As a type of photography that I’m most passionate about, I wanted to talk about some basics, as well as share a little bit more about myself. So, this post is for all the aspiring motorsports photographers, as well as enthusiasts, out there.

Speeding up.

A shot from the first-ever Croatian round on the WRC calendar, held in 2021.

It started from another passion

Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve admired vehicles of all kinds. And if they were noisy and racing against each other, even better! My father was a passionate motorcycle rider and a car lover too, so he instilled in me this passion that a lot of men develop, sooner or later.

Over the years, I started driving and eventually got my motorcycle license. I also got into photography, first as a hobby and then professionally. The combination of these two passions really helped me over time to define my priorities and find my niche.

But like I mentioned earlier, a passion for motorsports usually comes naturally to men, and I guess anyone interested in this little read shares the same passion and probably knows as much if not more about the sport than I do. But let’s see how to best combine that love for motorsports with photography and capture the most exciting moments.

Kawasaki cornering.

An expression of movement, with a focus on both the bike and the rider.

Racing is motion

And this is the best approach. The first mistake that all new photographers make, as I did too, is choosing the fastest shutter speed, probably with the widest aperture, and trying to freeze the motion while blurring the background. While in certain situations that can work too , in terms of capturing the race and motion itself (part of motorsports is also what is going on in the pits/service area, but that is a story for the future post), it is best to go exactly the opposite way. Freezing the action is easy with modern cameras, but it’s also very boring and unrealistic.

Why is that? If a car is speeding down the track at 200 km/h, when would anyone see its wheels perfectly captured as if on display, or even the car itself? We need to observe the motion of the vehicle passing us and realize how we see it. We’re not flies; our vision has limitations. Our eyes and brains aren’t fast enough to process fast-moving objects in full detail and resolution. So, why would we try to capture it that way on camera?

As I mentioned, there are instances when we want to portray something like that — usually in rally racing, where the environment (sand, dust, water, dirt particles) helps convey the sense of motion, allowing us to show the car or bike in full detail. But in most cases, freezing the action would make it look as if the driver is standing still on the track.

Stopped motion.

Compare this image to the one above and notice how the riders look as if they're leaning on the bike, much like they would on one of those simulators that are fixed in place. Even though we can obviously tell they were going very fast, judging by the amount of lean, it still doesn't feel instinctive.

Motivated motion

There is a lighting technique in film called motivated lighting. In short, it is a way of lighting our scene or subject with off-screen lights to make it appear as if they were lit by an existing light source within the scene. I am not sure if the term motivated motion exists, but to me, it feels like a natural comparison and a way to explain it.

When there’s motion in front of our eyes, we want to portray that motion. And we usually do this in-camera by adding motion. Panning is the technique that allows us to do just that - convey motion while keeping our subject still mostly in focus.

Unlike freezing motion, where we simply set our camera to the fastest shutter speed and click the shutter, panning takes a lot more practice and experimentation with settings. For freezing the shot, we can usually just choose the fastest shutter speed possible to keep the image properly exposed. But when it comes to capturing motion, we can’t just do the opposite, because, first, there could be too much motion, or we might not be still enough when shaking the camera, or precise enough in the panning movement. There’s also the issue of exposure. Do we compensate by stopping down the aperture, or is it so bright that we can’t stop down any further and need ND filters?

Panning takes practice, and the settings vary depending on the location, lighting conditions, the speed of the vehicles, the focal length we use, stabilisation in our lens or camera, and, in the end, our creative choices.

The ring of fire.

If done right, we can keep all the details of the subject visible while still conveying a sense of speed.

But don’t forget the rest

Panning is not the only technique for capturing a great action shot, nor should it be the focal point of the photo. Never forget about the subject itself, composition, leading space, headroom, and all the other details that, when combined, make a great photo. In other words, we can’t rely solely on our passion and personal perspective — photography basics must also be covered. However, once I became comfortable enough with photography and using the camera in full manual mode, combining my two passions gave me the best results. After a long journey, what I can say with certainty is this: Do what you love. You’ll enjoy it the most, and everything else will come naturally.