Motorcycles are the epitome of cool, rugged, and edgy from the beautiful paint to the unique construction.
Bikes grant photographers the opportunity for one-of-a-kind imagery with a fresh aesthetic. Here is our guide on how to bring out the best in your motorcycle photography!
Equipment for Motorcycle Photography
What Kind of Camera Do You Need for Motorcycle Photography?
You want a fast camera, with reliable focus, and a decent number of megapixels.
A camera that has a speedy FPS (frames-per-second) is best. For indoor work, cameras that have low light capability are essential. These cameras have less noise and better focusing at higher ISO levels.
Cameras with higher megapixels tend to have a lot more detail in the image. This detail can make a difference when you look at the finished photo. As you can likely imagine, the more megapixels a photograph has, the larger the file size is. It is good to look at large SD or compact flash cards.
DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are popular choices for motorcycle photography.
Which Lens Will Give You the Best Bike Shots?
How a picture looks, in the end, is determined by the quality of the lens.
For motorcycle photography, you’ll want to look at lenses with a much wider aperture, such as an f/2.8 or lower number.
Even if wide apertures aren’t your thing, it is better to have the option of narrowing the aperture. The aperture is the direct pathway for light to the camera’s sensor. The wider the aperture, the more light can come in.
This allows you to capture lower light shots because you are taking full advantage of the available light.
As well as this, the wider the aperture setting, the shallower the depth of field.
Shallow depth of field refers to the subject being in focus and the rest blurring out into a creamy bokeh. This blur allows the subject to be very individualized from its surroundings. You can work with locations that may be a bit too cluttered if in focus.
Generally speaking, fixed lenses are of higher quality sharpness than variable focal lengths. Fixed lenses are built to take full advantage of their design. These lenses do not have to account for moving components. A lens that cannot zoom requires the photographer to move to achieve the desired composition.
The most used lenses for motorcycle photography are standard lenses or telephoto lenses. Wide angles are not ideal because of the perspective.
Standard lenses are very similar to what the human eye can see, and as such, the photos look very natural. These lenses are pretty easy to learn because what you see is what you get!
