1st and 2nd attempts at in car Long Exposure photography.

IanClark

IanClark

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My first attempts at this kind of photography.

Tripod was braced in the car using one leg against the rear seat and the other two legs against the backs of the front seats. Aperture set to F/9.0, Aperture priority, ISO 320 so exposure times varied depending on ambient light. Focus locked and set to manual to avoid focus hunting. Shots were taken using my intervalometer. Set to take 60 or so shots with a 35 second delay in between (to allow for a potential 30 second shot if it happened). Focal length was 12mm

This way, I could set the camera taking the shots, drive off and let the camera continue its work with no intervention from myself whilst driving. Also, the shots were taken at the legal speed limits.

A couple of shots from the first attempt. Composition not great, too much rear view mirror showing and too much bloom on the dash lights.

Click to view a sharper and larger image.

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These shots from the 2nd attempt are better although I need to now work on eliminating camera shake a bit more. Composition is better with the camera being lowered. I removed my dash cam as it was a bit of an eyesore in the first shots and plus the exposure on the dash lights is better.
For these shots, I specifically chose F/13, ISO 200 and 10 second exposures. Again, focal length was 12mm (canon 10-22mm). I think I might try my 15-85mm and give the IS a go to see if shake can be elimited a touch.

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This one I was going to bin but for some daft reason I like it. I think it's the "no U turn" sign to the right

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Some crazy lights. Like the last 3, and the last one the most.
 
Nice stuff Ian, I think they are all interesting. Think you should wait for some more snow and give it another go. I always imagine I am piloting the Millennium Falcon when driving through falling snow, and it would be great to get a shot of it.
 
Very cool and very different (y)
 
Thanks all, very much appreciated.

@RandomlySet , exposure times in the first set were between 15 and 30 seconds as I was using ISO 320, F/9.0 and aperture priority so it was changeable. The problem with that was bloomng of the lights on the dash. That said, any camera shake was then minimalised into motion blur :)

For the second set, I set an aperture of F/13, fixed exposure time of 10 seconds and ISO 200. The result, sharper images, more clearly defined interior but more obvious camera shake on the trails.


For those interested, this is the tripod set up in the car. This was taken as it was for the first set where the camera was too high. In the second set, I lowered the camera down to a height the same of the tops of the seats (so just below the head rests) which resulted in more view out of the windscreen. The camera was far too high in the first set.


Ooh, set up Focus prior to driving and ensure you're on manual focus when going. As mentioned, I have an intervalometer which I set to take 100 shots at 10 seconds per shot with a 10 second delay in between each shot.

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Nice set up. I can see how that would be stable. I was half expecting the back leg to simply be rested on the seat. That is proper wedged in there.
 
Nice work indeed, Your rig certainly looks better than mine the last time I tried this..

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The main issue I found was the slight flex in the cheap tripod top mount.. But a little packing foam sorts fixed it

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Good work Ian, I particularly like the last three, and especially the last one.
Those crazy lights really make the image pop.

I don't think you could elimate the vibration completely but perhaps a few at really slow speed would lessen the effect. In some of those, I see you are travelling at 60mph,I would guess at that speed it would be nigh on impossible to eliminate vibration, even on the smoothest of roads (if such a thing exists in the UK)

Good luck with it though, some great results so far (y)
 
Second setup is so much better, well done.

Looking at how sharp the interior is, your camera's already strapped down well and moving in sync with the car. Don't suppose you have firm suspension? Even so, you should be able to get smooth trails at motorway speeds if you're able to choose your roads surface well.

The slightly longer focal length of your other lens (15mm vs 12mm above) will actually amplify any vibrations and I don't think the IS will help either - but I'd be interested to see the results if you go ahead.

Look out for petrol stations/ neon shop fronts and overhead reflective/ illuminated gantries - they can boost the amount of light trails you capture.
 
Thanks again guys :)

Yeah I think a slower speed on a smoother road will certainly help out with any vibrations. The last one was as I was moving off from a set of traffic lights and there's always a bit of bump road around lights as I'm sure we've all experienced. Andrew, car is a Mondeo TitaniumX Sport so suspension albeit much softer than my previous car is still moderately firm.

These were certainly two attemps whilst drving home from a late shift at work. I'll pick my locations for next time to get more trails etc. :)
 
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Liking the pics and this is on my list to have a go at.

You said set the focus before driving, which i understand. Can you tell me what you set the camera to focus on?
 
Cheers Mark.

I let the camera auto-focus on a well defined object as far as away as possible which in both cases was probably about 30ft away in the works car park. Then switched to MF.
 
I tried long exposure 'on the back of a motorbike taxi in Thailand' photography once.. nowhere to put the tripod so just handheld ;). Reason for posting here is I'd recommend an IS lens, this was with IBIS (isn't 100% sharp, but those of you who've been on the back of one of these bikes will understand why!), unlikely I would have got much without it.


Day 52 : Thailand : Hua Hin : Motorcycle Taxi to Nowhere (1sec exposure) by _Jo Gray, on Flickr
 
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That's a fantastic result Jo. haha makes that little scooter bike look like it's a superbike at top speed. Can tell the exposure was only short though based on the length of the light trails.

Really nice shot though.
 
Loving those "in the car" shots. Never in a million years would I have ever thought of attempting something like that but I will now. Great inspiration.
 
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