The Ultimate Car Rig Photography Thread!

Just saw the video on Facebook. Nice. Not many use that long shutter speeds - was it just so you can move the car very slowly and smoothly?
 
kman said:
Just saw the video on Facebook. Nice. Not many use that long shutter speeds - was it just so you can move the car very slowly and smoothly?
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Smoothness equals sharpness that is the name of the game!:) I can shoot @ 2 secs but the percentage of pin sharp image falls of dramatically which is really noticeable when using large format Alpa and hi res Phase back.
 
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Never done car photography before, so thought I'd give that Virtual Rig a go. Here's my first attempt from a handheld static shot of one of my motors :/

 
Unijak said:
Never done car photography before, so thought I'd give that Virtual Rig a go. Here's my first attempt from a handheld static shot of one of my motors :/

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Nice shot, especially for a virtual one. Only crit is car is too close to the side of the road, but I guess that's because you'd parked it there. S
 
lol cheers ACW. (y) The road was quite busy to be honest - I had to rush to take the pic as there were cars coming at me on the other side of the road lol!
 
what nd filters are people using for the shots out in the day light, been looking at a Hoya 77mm PRO-1 Digital ND16 whats ya thoughts always taken my rig shots in low light before but wuld like to try out some thing new
 
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I tend to do all my rig shots during the day as part of full car shoots so its always really bright.

I alternate between ND4 and ND8 depending on sunlight intensity and cloud cover etc. I also find it depends greatly on the colour of the car you are shooting :)
 
Mikehamilton said:
cool, have you done something to the tree / bush reflections on the bootlid to make them look non static?
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Lol No Mike infact I intentionally kept them static! (if you click on the image you can see it better on the larger version)

In theory, they should show blur similar to the surrounding landscape, but I liked the contrast between the motion blur of the bushes and the mirror like effect on the car's rear. (y)

BTW this is the original pic I used:

rnpr.jpg
 
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Unijak said:
Never done car photography before, so thought I'd give that Virtual Rig a go. Here's my first attempt from a handheld static shot of one of my motors :/

http://imageshack.us/a/img14/2648/3vjd.jpg
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Those virtual rig shots hardly ever look right to me. Sky looks like its moving faster than the road, and I'm not sure why some of the car is mirror finish and some isn't.
 
That's something that really only applies on a personal level Mike. ;)

Gary - how does the sky look like it's moving faster than the road? There's less motion blur on the sky, so not sure how you came to that conclusion? :/
 
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today during a Golf GTI shoot I had some practice with the rig! REally happy with the way they came out, was nice doing it in a different sort of location than my usual car park shots :)









I know I could have done with a polarising filter but I don't have one for my 10-24mm lens and cant spare the money for one just now, will get one soon :)

Sammy
 
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Unijak said:
That's something that really only applies on a personal level Mike. ;)

Gary - how does the sky look like it's moving faster than the road? There's less motion blur on the sky, so not sure how you came to that conclusion? :/
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I think typically in a rig shot you get very little blur in the sky so maybe its still a bit too much. I still think its quite impressive
 
Nigel that video guide is great. The pulley system is brilliant and something that most of us could make and use.

And Mike your rig shots are in a different league to when you started!
 
My latest rig shot also landed me with a broken rig. The location was a bumpy gravel road.

The rig shot

Clio 172 by Micky Photography, on Flickr

I was happy with the results and decided I wanted a nice bit of dust following the car. Drove 10mph ish down the road and the rig caught in the long grass.


And as it happened.


Moral of the story. Always keep an eye on your rig and don't push it beyond it's limits. Luckily the only damage was one bent pole.

Now time to build a new section and improve on the previous design.
 
god lucky it was only a bent pole :) nice pics by the way

some new ones. changes to my rig and the way i take them after advice from here i have ended up with sharper images ,



 
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Quick post to keep you updated. I had the opportunity to build a carbon rig so went for it.

I've stuck with 1 1/2 inch the same as my ally rig for a fair comparison and cost. Not weighed the rig yet but it is considerately lighter.
Flex wise is very slightly stiffer than my ally rig but will still need stabilizer wires to get the best from it.

This was 4.8 meters.
Exposure 1 second
Aperture f/16.0
Focal Length 10 mm
ISO Speed 100


Carbon rig test by Micky Photography, on Flickr

I have scope to go to 6.4 meters once I have sorted the stabilizers.

I suspect that with larger diameter tubes you will get less flex as they are stiffer but they also cost more.

My build came to £370 for the poles.
 
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Made up of 162 cm sections. The main pole is 38mm with 35mm connectors.




Blue tape is there until I print numbers onto the poles. Still need to drill them to put bolts through to secure it.
 
No secrets with supplier. I used easycomposites.co.uk .
For size I used 35mm ID and 32 ID for the connectors. They supply the tube to length. So 35mm x 1.5m for the boom and 32mm x 1m for the connectors. I cut the connectors down to size (25cm long). Carbon isn't difficult to cut. Just use a hacksaw and rotate the tube. *Be carefull with the dust! You don't want to inhale carbon*

The gti rigs came up nicely.
 
I may have to invest in some carbon... One thing always in my mind, worst comes to worst, a cup fails etc, what damage the pole is going to do to the car, I'm sure carbon fibre would be a lot less damaging than my Ali box section.
 
I hadn't thought about rig failure. I would imagine the carbon would do less damage. Outlet down to the weight difference. I'll weigh my rig tonight when I get home.

I have gone for the cheapest route into carbon. There are different weaves and sizes to consider. For me roll wrapped is fine and I have previous experience with it

You could go upto 2 inch and it adds another £100 to the price. Next step up is 2x2 twill like carcamerarig. It is stronger and looks cool but in my opinion overkill unless you are working professionally. It's also very expensive.
 
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Micky_st said:
No secrets with supplier. I used easycomposites.co.uk .
For size I used 35mm ID and 32 ID for the connectors. They supply the tube to length. So 35mm x 1.5m for the boom and 32mm x 1m for the connectors. I cut the connectors down to size (25cm long). Carbon isn't difficult to cut. Just use a hacksaw and rotate the tube. *Be carefull with the dust! You don't want to inhale carbon*

The gti rigs came up nicely.
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Thanks Mate :)

are the connectors specific parts or just chopped up bits of smaller tube? as you mention cutting?
 
Just smaller bits of carbon mate. They are a tight fit and may need sanding to fit. The Same principle as ally rigs just different material.
 
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