Car Photo shooting tips, post your words of wisdom (no Photos)

[Nick H.]

Thanks! I was thinking that it would be very, very unlikely to work, unless you had a D5 with an amazing lens and the sun in just the right direction. I'm imagining it as a way of getting candid portraits of strangers while they're at the wheel, by putting the camera on top of the handlebar bag of one's bicycle, riding along in the normal way and firing a burst whenever a car passes. Combined speed would be at least 40mph. No opportunity to frame the shot...just strap the camera down at a certain angle and use a remote shutter release and cross your fingers. It appeals to me for some reason. i'm thinking of buying a Z6 but I doubt the AF could do it. Hence the imaginary D5! Even then I imagine that you'd never get enough detail of the faces to make it interesting.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Is it possible to get an in-focus shot of someone's face when they're driving towards you at 50mph in a car with a windscreen?

It's actually pretty easy if your car is in front of the other car, if the two cars are going approximately the same speed, and if you're shooting through the rear wind shield. That situation also requires that the subject is facing forward.

 

[Nick H.]

Not an option for me! And if the subject sees what you're doing....forget it!

 

[Palouse]

Not an option for me! And if the subject sees what you're doing....forget it!

Oh, one of those situations, eh!

 

[Nick H.]

Maybe AF is a red herring...maybe the answer is manual focus and try to shoot every car from the same distance.

 

[Ronald M]

Maybe AF is a red herring...maybe the answer is manual focus and try to shoot every car from the same distance.

Yes great idea.

Scout the track or have someone do it as some have be all fenced up for safety. I did a lot of photos at Indianapolis before 1980, but fences everywhere now. I even have a pic of a very young Mario Andretti in the pit.

Pan the cars so the background blurs