Photos @ Night Races

[Gene]

I hope someone will be able to provide some advice for my issue.

I attend races around the country most are at dirt tracks which does not have very good lighting at times, and I have having problems with my action photos at night.

I am shooting with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi with a Sigma 70mm-300mm lens, with the built in flash. I am thinking the built in flash my be my issue but was wanting to ask before buying one. If the built in flash is the issue which flash should I buy for my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi? Thanks for your help!!!

[Tiberius]

Even the most powerful flash wouldn't be able to light a race course, and the built in flash is totally inadequate to such a task. You'll probably get best results by setting the lens to the widest aperture and increasing the ISO. Try to keep a reasonably fast shutter speed (about 1/400 second or so) to avoid camera shake. if you have a tripod, you could probably go down to 1/250 even with the tripod head moving, just be very careful).

[Gene]

How about photos of the cars by themselves not the race track? Which flash would you recommend?

[Tiberius]

As in when you can get up close?

You'll get most flexibility from an external flash (that is, one that you can attach to the camera's hotshoe.) Canon makes the EX series flashes that are designed to work with cameras like the XTi. However, they are quite expensive.

When looking for a flash, look for one that lets you rotate the flash head from side to side and/or up and down. These will let you bounce the flash off a ceiling/wall..

However, flash can be a little tricky to get the hang of, so you may still get better photos by simply increasing the ISO. A benefit is that at closer range the lens will usually let you use a wider aperture, meaning it will be easier to take photos with ambient light instead of introducing flash.