Shooting Through Safety Fences: Tips for Motorsport Photography

Motorsport photography often means working around one unavoidable obstacle: safety fences. While they are essential for protecting spectators and photographers, they can make capturing clean images of fast-moving cars and bikes challenging.

With the right techniques and a bit of planning, it is possible to minimise the impact of the fence and still capture sharp, dynamic images. The key principle throughout is simple: observation.

Paying attention to your position, lighting, equipment, and surroundings can make all the difference.

These images were taken through the fence at Silverstone during the GT Media day. The weather was overcast.

Positioning and Observation

Before raising the camera to your eye, take a moment to study the scene.

When setting up, look down the side of your lens toward your target area and check that the only thing between you and the subject is the fence itself. Thick support wires or structural posts may not always be obvious through the viewfinder, but they will appear clearly in your final image.

Another useful technique is to align the centre of your lens with the middle of a fence opening. This minimises the amount of wire appearing around the edges of your frame. This approach works best when capturing non-panning shots where your camera position remains fixed.

Weather and Lighting Conditions

Lighting conditions play a major role when shooting through fences.

Whenever possible, position yourself so that you are shooting through the least amount of fence. Ideally, your camera should be positioned perpendicular to the fence (around 90 degrees to your subject). At steeper angles, your lens has to look through more layers of wire, which increases softness and distortion in the image.

Weather also affects how visible the fence becomes:

• Overcast days are ideal because the diffused light reduces reflections on the wire.
• Bright sunshine can cause the fence to glint and become much more noticeable in your photographs.

On sunny days, it may be better to shoot from locations where the fence is absent or less prominent. On dull days, shooting through the fence is usually much easier.

Checking the weather forecast before heading to the circuit can help you plan where to shoot throughout the day.

Small amount of panning. Silverstone under Club B Grandstand. Nikon D3x, Nikon AF-S 200-500 mm ƒ5.6. Auto ISO 100 Focal Length 500mm F9 1/400s.

Choosing the Right Focal Length

Long focal length lenses generally perform best when shooting through safety fences.

Shorter lenses tend to show more of the fence because of their wider field of view. Longer lenses, combined with wider apertures, help blur the fence and isolate your subject.

If your lens has a focus limiter enable this function. If you are shooting through wire setting the minimum focus distance beyond that obstruction allows the lens to lock onto the subject behind it. This speeds up the auto focus and ignores the foreground, the wire. 

For example, photographing the Melbourne Loop at Donington Park often works well with a full-frame (FX) camera and a 400–500 mm lens.

Using a DX camera with a 1.5× crop factor changes the effective focal length. A 500 mm lens effectively becomes 750 mm, which may be too tight for photographing cars as they will not fit comfortably in the frame. As a result, you may need to zoom back to around 300 mm, which can increase the chance of fence artefacts appearing in the image.

Choosing the right camera and lens combination for the location is therefore important.

Small amount of panning. WSB at Donington Park Melbourne Loop. NIKON D7200, AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4G IF-ED. Auto ISO 224 Focal Length 525mm F6.3 1/640s.

Real-World Example

One example sequence was captured using a Nikon D7200 (crop sensor) paired with an AF-S NIKKOR 70–200 mm f/2.8 FL ED and a 1.4× teleconverter.

During the sequence, a rider came off the bike. As the rider moved rapidly toward the camera position, the shutter speed was increased using the rear control wheel while zooming out to keep the subject in frame. This is one of the reasons Auto ISO is often useful in motorsport photography—it allows quick exposure adjustments without taking your eye away from the action.

Managing Fence Glare

Some photographers resort to spraying sections of fence with matt black paint to reduce reflections. This is not something I recommend or condone.

However, if you notice areas where the fence has already been treated or where natural shadows fall across the wire, these spots can help reduce glare and improve your chances of capturing a clean image.

Again, careful observation of your surroundings will help you spot these opportunities.

Panning. Silverstone Brooklands, 90 degrees to the action, sun at my back some shadow falling on the fence. Full Frame Nikon D3X, AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4G IF-ED II with a Nikon II 1.4 Teleconverter. Auto ISO 100 Focal Length 525mm F6.3 1/500s.

Camera settings for shooting through fences

• Overcast days work best
• Look for shadows or dark areas on the fence
• Shoot through the least amount of wire, 90° is best.
• Set your focus limiter (if you have one), stops the camera focusing on wire.
• Get as close as possible to the fence
• Use a wide aperture (low f-number, like 𝑓4) 
• Shutter speed, as required to achieve the affect you want. Panning or freezing the shot.
• Ensure you have the correct exposure, auto ISO helps.

Safety Comes First

Finally, always consider your own safety when shooting motorsport.

Safety fences exist for a reason. They are designed to protect spectators and photographers from debris or vehicles leaving the track. No photograph is worth risking serious injury.

Never lean over, climb on, or place your head above a safety fence to get a shot. Respect the barriers and shoot responsibly.

World Superbikes – Donington Park 2023. Eugene McManus’s bike a Triumph Street Triple RS 765 went down at the Foggy Esses and turned into a fire ball. 

With patience, careful positioning, and the right equipment, shooting through safety fences becomes much easier. By observing your surroundings, planning for lighting conditions, and choosing appropriate focal lengths, you can capture sharp, dramatic motorsport images while staying safely behind the barriers.

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