Taking pic from an open top car.
Discussion
Erm..
I know crap title, sorry!
My plan is to take a series of pictures, whilst I'm driving top down, with the camera wedged above & behind me. If what I have in my head comes out I should have some pretty decent pictures
However, I'm not quite so sure how to setup the camera for them.
As it will be a 10-20 lens I'll be using I can get away with a relatively slow shutter speed. Ideally I want the interior of the car in focus and a decent sense of speed on the 'outside'.
My real big problem is how to fire the shots off, it's a Canon 400d and I've not got a remote shutter lead, can I set the camera up to fire off a series of shots over the period of a minute or so?
Or is the 10 sec timer the best option?
Going to have a play in the estate tomorrow to see how I get on, probably disaterously!
ps If you have taken similar shots can you refrain from posting them in this thread, I want to try and get this with a 'blank canvas' in my mind, feel free to post away when I put the finished pics up!!
I know crap title, sorry!
My plan is to take a series of pictures, whilst I'm driving top down, with the camera wedged above & behind me. If what I have in my head comes out I should have some pretty decent pictures
However, I'm not quite so sure how to setup the camera for them.
As it will be a 10-20 lens I'll be using I can get away with a relatively slow shutter speed. Ideally I want the interior of the car in focus and a decent sense of speed on the 'outside'.
My real big problem is how to fire the shots off, it's a Canon 400d and I've not got a remote shutter lead, can I set the camera up to fire off a series of shots over the period of a minute or so?
Or is the 10 sec timer the best option?
Going to have a play in the estate tomorrow to see how I get on, probably disaterously!
ps If you have taken similar shots can you refrain from posting them in this thread, I want to try and get this with a 'blank canvas' in my mind, feel free to post away when I put the finished pics up!!
andy-xr said:
Have a look around ebay for an intervalometer. Other stuff, I guess if you've got a tripod you could weight it down if you're not planning on mounting it or fixing it to the car. Could be expensive if it goes tits though
It's been an age since I've bought a camera gadget and that could be a good way to start again 
Will have a go at getting a single shot right and if all goes well that cold be worth a purchase
raf_gti said:
Famous Graham said:
One tip - you don't need to go very fast at all to get the result you're after. A lot of rig shots you see, the car's actually being pushed.
What would you say would be the ideal speed for both the car and camera?Using your 10-20, depth of field won't be an issue. I know you haven't asked that but it matters in the sense that it gives you the full range of apertures to play with. That in turn gives you most flexibility with shutter speeds.
You could shoot at f/22 in bright sunlight and convey movement at a road speed of less than 20mph. Or f/4 at night time and keep the shutter speed relatively short - 3 sec or less.
For the sake of £18 it's arguably worth the investment in a Hahnel shutter cable from Jessops. Or spend less mail order. An intervalometer is another option, though with extended exposure lengths you won't be pushing the camera's frame rate so it's easy to set it on continuous mode (note: not bulb mode) and use the cable to hold the shutter open so it fires again and again.
A ghetto alternative to the cable release is to tape a bit of pea shingle onto the actual shutter button once the camera's all set up. Never used this on the move but have taken plenty of startrail stacks using consecutive 30sec exposures by this method. Actual exposure length is irrelevant.
You could shoot at f/22 in bright sunlight and convey movement at a road speed of less than 20mph. Or f/4 at night time and keep the shutter speed relatively short - 3 sec or less.
For the sake of £18 it's arguably worth the investment in a Hahnel shutter cable from Jessops. Or spend less mail order. An intervalometer is another option, though with extended exposure lengths you won't be pushing the camera's frame rate so it's easy to set it on continuous mode (note: not bulb mode) and use the cable to hold the shutter open so it fires again and again.
A ghetto alternative to the cable release is to tape a bit of pea shingle onto the actual shutter button once the camera's all set up. Never used this on the move but have taken plenty of startrail stacks using consecutive 30sec exposures by this method. Actual exposure length is irrelevant.
ok, so a really high level answer on how most of these are done to point you in the right direction (tweaked slightly for your request):
To be 100% clear here, as fun as it would be, it's actually not recommended to 'drive the car' with a camera out the top as the road/running engine will add far to much camera shake.
There is some good online tutorials around if you get stuck but I can't quite put my finger on them right now. Should be easy to search for though.
- First up, don't worry about the car, just take your camera outside. Close down the aperture a reasonable way. If it's bright then add dark filters or polarisers. Your aim is to get a 'correctly exposed' image with a few second exposure. If it's to bright and you don't have filters, try sunrise/sunset for more dramatic shots.
- Once you have your exposure settings, find a way to mount the camera in the position you want (a tripod on the back tray may be enough if you are careful)
- Once you know how to mount it, find a way to trigger the shutter release while standing behind the car (or automatically as mention in the posts above). This is likely to be a remote shutter cable of some sort, although it may be possible to use the 10sec delay if you are desperate and careful.
- Find a 'volunteer' (although you may have to swap with them in the next step making them 'passenger')
- Get the 'volunteer' to push the car slowly
- Once moving slowly, fire the shutter.
- Check the exposure/blur on camera and adjust push speed/shutter speed as needed.
To be 100% clear here, as fun as it would be, it's actually not recommended to 'drive the car' with a camera out the top as the road/running engine will add far to much camera shake.
There is some good online tutorials around if you get stuck but I can't quite put my finger on them right now. Should be easy to search for though.
pernod said:
ok, so a really high level answer on how most of these are done to point you in the right direction (tweaked slightly for your request):
To be 100% clear here, as fun as it would be, it's actually not recommended to 'drive the car' with a camera out the top as the road/running engine will add far to much camera shake.
There is some good online tutorials around if you get stuck but I can't quite put my finger on them right now. Should be easy to search for though.
Some very good advice there, thanks - First up, don't worry about the car, just take your camera outside. Close down the aperture a reasonable way. If it's bright then add dark filters or polarisers. Your aim is to get a 'correctly exposed' image with a few second exposure. If it's to bright and you don't have filters, try sunrise/sunset for more dramatic shots.
- Once you have your exposure settings, find a way to mount the camera in the position you want (a tripod on the back tray may be enough if you are careful)
- Once you know how to mount it, find a way to trigger the shutter release while standing behind the car (or automatically as mention in the posts above). This is likely to be a remote shutter cable of some sort, although it may be possible to use the 10sec delay if you are desperate and careful.
- Find a 'volunteer' (although you may have to swap with them in the next step making them 'passenger')
- Get the 'volunteer' to push the car slowly
- Once moving slowly, fire the shutter.
- Check the exposure/blur on camera and adjust push speed/shutter speed as needed.
To be 100% clear here, as fun as it would be, it's actually not recommended to 'drive the car' with a camera out the top as the road/running engine will add far to much camera shake.
There is some good online tutorials around if you get stuck but I can't quite put my finger on them right now. Should be easy to search for though.
BUT
My 'superstar' shot requires the picture to be taken whilst moving over a bridge so I may have to end up actually driving the car!
If that does prove to be completely impractical then I'm sure I'll have a great deal of fun with the slow stuff
pernod said:
Is it a busy bridge? Can you find a similar one that's quiet enough to play around on?
Careful of the cops... if they see you operating the camera while driving I'd imagine thats 3 points (which actually seems fair enough)?
Busy enough. Careful of the cops... if they see you operating the camera while driving I'd imagine thats 3 points (which actually seems fair enough)?
I certainly shan't be doing it if there is any chance of 'dodginess', a funky photo to share to share on an Internet forum definatley isn't worth causing any bother or getting into trouble over!
Chris71 said:
Hmm, might have to investigate this as a means of getting a basic approximation 'rig' shots without the money (in my case) to buy a rig!
Coincidentally - is there no remote shutter release available for the 400D at all?
There is, can pick up a cheapo one from eBay for about £10 which does the job.Coincidentally - is there no remote shutter release available for the 400D at all?
I'd like one of those all singing ones from further up the thread but for the amount I would use can't really justify the cost.
On the other hand... What's the least you could get away with paying for a general purpose (i.e tripod-fit) suction mount? (I presume the GoPro one is GoPro specific?)
Although, in order to take photos from a carpetted/leather interior cable-tieing an old tripod to the back of the head rest might not be such a bad solution. Oh well, that something to try when I get the TVR back...
Although, in order to take photos from a carpetted/leather interior cable-tieing an old tripod to the back of the head rest might not be such a bad solution. Oh well, that something to try when I get the TVR back...
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