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.

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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.

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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.

Photos from an airplane

Here is a fun post. Photos from an airplane. Do you remember being a kid and riding in a plane for the first time? I sure do and I loved looking out the window, fact of the matter is I still do. Here is a small sample of photos I took from some of my travels. I have hundreds and hundreds of this photos, I always take my camera and take photos from my window. I know I am not the only one that does this because I always look around and there is always people doing the same thing. I love how the small things in life put a smile on peoples faces.

Check out my Main Site, it just got a face lift. I will also be uploading new galleries to it so make sure you come back soon. Spread the love…

Don’t forget to Subscribe to get the latest updates on gear and of corse my blog posts and please come check out my tShirts page. If you want to buy or license any image please email me. Thank you again for dropping by. Brought to you by B&H Photo.

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photos from a plane

photos from a plane

Plane photos

photos from a plane

photos from a plane

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Zarcero Costa Rica

I have been so busy its been crazy, but a good thing. So the Art Expo went extremely well, I sold some pieces, met some amazing people, and made some new friends. The weather was too cold for my taste but we still went out every night until the wee hrs of the night (morning) and got some great photos. Special thanks to Jaci for helping me with the madness and to everyone that came out to support me and the awesome art scene.

I am currently working on my site (as always) so look out for a new face lift. Also check out my new Galleries Page where you can find photos by places (still on the works).

Here is a photo of Zarcero Park in Zarcero Costa Rica. This is the Zarcero Church. Have a great rest of your day and as always spread the love peeps…

Don’t forget to Subscribe to get the latest updates on gear and of corse my blog posts and please come check out my tShirts page. If you want to buy or license any image please email me. Thank you again for dropping by. Brought to you by B&H Photo.

Zarcero Church Costa Rica

Costa Rica Street Mini Series

Costa Rica Street Mini Series.
Here is a mini street series I did in Costa Rica while on the road. This trip wasn’t much of a photo trip per say it was mostly about hanging out with my boy and catch up since I had not seen him for four years, but I did manage to squeeze some photos in. This are some of my street shots.

Don’t forget to Subscribe to get the latest updates on gear and of corse my blog posts and please come check out my tShirts page. If you want to buy or license any image please email me. Thank you again for dropping by. Brought to you by B&H Photo.

This guy was pulled over on his motorcycle, I started making noise wile I was looking through the view finder and when he looked I snapped a shot.
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This dude was super cool, he approached me to sell me lottery tickets while my hommie was getting redbulls and beer, the conversation shifted and we started talking about work, while he was going on a rant I snapped away, super cool cat.
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This guy was in line on a ferry, we were on our way out, this girl was looking at him with a camera on her hand thinking about taking a photo, I said to her “that makes a great photo”, she said yes it does, so I graved my camera whistled and when he turned I snapped this flick.
Costa Rica Street Series

Costa Rica Sunset

This is my first Costa Rica Sunset experience. I must say Costa Rica is just amazing, you have amazing mountains and beautiful beaches, the best of both worlds, not to mention some really cool people. It seems like everytime I go somewhere I fall in love with it, I can’t wait to see what my next trip has in store. All in all Costa Rica is on my top 5 places to visit, its so beautiful and so much fun… Spread the love peeps… Click on the pic to see full res…

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Costa Rica Sunset

Costa Rica

You know that friend you have that’s more like an extention of your self but a little bit weirder? I am lucky enugh to have a couple of those friends. On this trip I met with my friend Rudy, we hadn’t seen each other for 4 long years. I went to Costa Rica to see him and we picked up right where we left off. The last time I saw him was on the top of a mountain riding dirt bikes, this time was rallying in the dirt roads and beaches of Costa Rica, like nothing ever happened, like it was the next day. This is a private beach we drove about 9 hrs to get to on dirt roads while catching up and laughing our asses off. This went on for 5 crazy days. It was really good to see my friend…..

Don’t forget to Subscribe to get the latest updates on gear and of corse my blog posts. Thank you again for dropping by. Brought to you by B&H Photo.

Costa Rica

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