My father in law and I were discussing photography and he mentioned how much he liked the long exposure pictures with cars running through them creating a streaking effect. I thought that taking such a pic and making a large print would be a good father's day present. However, I have attempted a couple of times, and I'm not entirely happy with the results. Do any of you have some examples that I could use as inspiration? if so, please post. any tips would be great. Thank you.
I've never tried a picture such as this, but if you have a powerful enough flash unit, you could also try a slow sync exposure for either first or second curtain.
Night time + Tripod + Really Long Shutter 3" - 15" = really cool streaming shots.
Second Curtain flash works well, but I found drivers aren't too crazy about that kind of thing.
I have a coffee shop that sits right in the corner of a 4 way stop, I put the cam on a table tripod and shot dead center of the intersection at 30 second shutter speed. Mind boggling cause you will get Headlights, Tail lights, cars turning, Ghosts of cars when they stop...And the buildings and signs will all be in focus.
Hiya! I, too, love the streaking car light pictures. They're so cool! Here are some that I found very inspiring:
Of course, there are many, many others just as inspiring that I missed (my apologies). As for the technique, I haven't tried taking such picture yet but perhaps we can learn something by clicking on each of the thumbnails and looking at the aperture/ISO/shutter information as well as photographers' comments. Hopefully experienced photographers will respond to this post with their techniques. :)
Try not to have your camera down too low, if it's at the same height as the headlights you get some horrible looking shots. Keep it a little higher, or stand further away from the road and zoom in if you can.
it is funny you say that. I have this fondness for low angle shots, and when I went to try these streaks, I got down low. That was my biggest mistake, the streaks overpowered the photo, and made for a horrible shot. Thanks for the advice.
I find that a little underexposure helps too (definitely a tripod too) and if you have a separate flash gun you can try flashing a moving object mid-motion to freeze it in its path instead of only at the beginning or end.
A lit, spinning, reflective spiral over 8 secs...
Some lunar madness with a torch in the woods...
Dining room light...
It sometimes helps to add dimension with some mid-range context...
For a Fathers Day pressie you could try setting light to his car, turning all the lights on and indicators, then shoving it off a cliff. I reckon a 20secs exposure should just about do it! :D
