Tucked away along Hwy 99 between Lodi and Stockton is the Lodi Cycle Bowl. The Lodi Motorcycle Club has hosted flat track races at the “Blue Groove” since 1953, making it the longest running motorcycle track of this type in the West. Most events start in the late afternoon after a practice session.
May 19, 2017. As I prepared to rattle off some shots at track level, I was keenly aware of two things: a) I had cancelled my life insurance policy after the children grew up and b) I would need to jump about 7 feet in the air if one of these guys lost traction.
It was past 10:30 pm and lighting conditions were marginal. I was using a Canon 1DX Mark II with a 70-200mm L Lens. An aperture setting of f/2.8 and shutter speed set to 1/500th of a second required an ISO of 10,000. You can see from the numbers, it’s all about balance, equipment capabilities, and personal preference. If I didn’t have a camera capable of a 10,000 ISO, then I could have slowed the shutter speed to 1/250th and lowered the ISO setting to 5,000. That would work just as well with maybe less sensor noise as a bonus, but tracking the action to eliminate motion blur would have been more demanding.
Isn’t this fun!
Photography Anecdotes 