Technique assessment

Shutter Priority

Gary says… When I asked Tony to walk me through his usual motorsport settings I found that he was shooting in Programmed Auto mode (P), in which the camera automatically sets the shutter speed and aperture. I recommended Tony shoot in Shutter Priority mode (S) instead, because we would need full control over the shutter speed later on, and wanted the camera to take care of aperture only.

High ISO

Gary says… In combination with controlling the shutter speed, I advised Tony to shoot with a high ISO. The D750 is fantastic at handling high ISO anyway, so this was never going to be a problem for Tony. I suggested he use ISO800 and above to achieve faster shutter speeds when tracking the bikes around the course.

Continuous high

Gary says… Motocross bikes move quickly, so I advised Tony to move from Single frame shooting to Continuous High. We also ensured that the frame rate was the highest it could go in the D750’s menu (6.5fps). I’ve been to shoots with my Nikon on Continuous High before and then found out halfway through that I wasn’t shooting at my camera’s top rate, so double-checking this beforehand is always a good idea.