How to photograph a moving car

How to photograph a moving car.

I love racing, there is so much action going on, the sound of a car going 200+ miles per hour 30 feet from you its just indescribable, your heart drops to the asphalt and you can feel the car vibrate inside you making your hear beat double. I often go to the Sonoma Raceway in California (formerly Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway) to watch the races, indi cars, nascar, or drag cars, I love them all.

So how do you take a photo of a car blazing by and give it that feel of movement? Its not as hard as you might think but it does take a bit of practice.

SonomaRaceway2

Here are a few simple tips to get you started out at the race track (or on the streets).

Camera settings: When you are looking for an action shot such as this you need to have a slow shutter speed, you can achieve this in Manual (M) Mode or in Shutter Priority Mode (the S dial on your Nikon or Tv on your Canon Camera)

The shutter speed should be anywhere from 1/40 of a second to 1/80 of a second. This will create the blur effect in the back ground making the car feel like its going really fast in the photo.

1. Find a secure spot to take the photos.
First thing you need to do is find a secure spot where you can stand and where you are able to move around. By that I mean you need to make sure there is no one (or nothing) next to you (you need about 2-3 feet of space to be comfortable when learning) who you are going to bump with your camera every time you rotate. When you take this kind of photograph you have to follow the car with your lens and take it at a slow shutter speed, not run after the car but rotate with it as it passes you.

SonomaRaceway1
2. Observe the cars going by, try to get used to the speed and follow the subject with your eyes. Do this a few times before doing it with your camera. If you are on the streets, get used to the traffic and how its circulating.

3. Do it with your camera. Gain focus, rotate with the car and take the shot.
When the car is approaching you have to gain focus on it, so follow it from the far and the closer it gets thats when you want to gain focus. You can achieve this by pressing the shutter button (the button you use to take a picture) in your camera half way down, this will get the car in focus, then you start rotating with the car and when you feel right you snap the shot. Now remember this all happens very fast and it takes practice, so give it a few tries and don’t get frustrated its going to take a few fails before you get the killer shot. Be persistent and you will get it.

4. Repeat 1 and 2.

5. Remember to have fun, if you can’t get it walk away for a few and come back and try again, its really not that hard. Practice makes perfect.

Sonoma Raceway 1

Thats it, thats how you take a photo of a moving car giving it that motion feel, but what if you want to do the complete opposite and freeze the entire frame?? Well let me tell you thats even easier.

Here is a photo of a 4×4 race I shot in Costa Rica. I wanted to get the feel of the race and the mud and the environment so I wanted to freeze everything in my frame specially the mud flying all over the place.

How did I achieve this?

Thats easy, all you have to do is shoot this at a fast shutter speed, so instead of 1/40 of a second you have to be at about 1/200 of a second or more, this will ensure that everything on the photo gets captured perfectly still.

Camera settings for this particular shot:
Shutter speed 1/1250 of a second f/5.6 ISO 160

CostaRicaJeepRaces

Thank you so much for dropping in guys, if you have any questions or suggestions please leave them in the comments below. Don’t forget to pick up your free Video below.

California Highway 1

California Highway 1

There are no views like the views you see from the famous California Highway 1 drive. I try to do it once a year. Its miles and miles of twisty roads with incredible views of the Pacific, there is small coffee shops, restaurants and view points along the way.

It’s really hard for me not to stop every 5 minutes, there is an incredible photo every inch of this road. It’s a must on anyones bucket list…

Camera settings: 1/160 of a second F11 ISO 500 14-24mm Lens

California HWY1

Santa Monica Pier Bliss

Santa Monica Pier Bliss

I love Santa Monica, for a long time now I have been coming to this place, its is such a cool beach and the sunsets are amazing.

This particular day there wasn’t much of sunset so I had to do some long exposures. I got a couple good shots and afterwards just sat in the sand and enjoyed the ocean breeze. I’ll be back soon Santa Monica…

Settings: 116 seconds F16 ISO 100 24mm 10 stop filter

SantaMonicasbliss

Lone Cypress 17 Mile Drive

Lone Cypress 17 Mile Drive

After a long day of taking photos on the 17 Mile drive we headed to the Lone Cypress to shoot the sunset. I quickly realized that the sunset was not going to come out, so I seatled for a nice quiet time to reflect and put my camera down. On my way up to the car, I say this, so I took one shot, I must say I got lucky, the colors came out crisp and the contrast looks really good.

Settings: 30 seconds, F16 ISO 100

About the Lone Cypress:
Standing on a granite hillside off California’s scenic 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach, the Lone Cypress is a western icon, and has been called one of the most photographed trees in North America. The tree is located between Cypress Point Golf Course and the Pebble Beach Golf Links, two of world’s most well known golf courses. Possibly as old as 250 years, the cypress has been scarred by fire and held in place with cables for 65 years” Wikipedia

LoneCypress 17 Mile Drive

The Oakland Bay Bridge From The Beach Below

The Oakland Bay Bridge From The Beach Below, San Francisco California.

After a long drive up the coast I had made it just in time for the sunset, the only thing left to do was park the rental car and hike down the hill to set up for my shot. I have wanted to shoot here many times but this was my first time. Parking and walking was the easy part, the hard part was hiking down from the main road to the beach next to the bridge, specially since I had no idea where I was going and there is no clear path on where to go on a very steep hill.

Finally I had made it. There I was, now all I had to do was wait for the sunset, get my shot, and hike up the hill in the dark, and it was really really dark.

The sunset wasn’t epic but its wasn’t bad, and the photo well I’m happy with it, its not what I had imagined in my head but I’m happy with it. I wanted more clouds and a crazy pink sky… maybe next time…

This is shot from the East Side of the brigade from Yerba Buena Island facing West. What you see is the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Skyline Below it.

BayBridge

17 Mile Drive California

17 Mile Drive California.

17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, no matter how many times I go there its always magical.

As the sunset was setting I turned around only to see a family of deer behind me also admiring the sunset. It felt something out of a science fiction movie with a crazy twist of magic… This never gets old.

17MileDrSunSet

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