How to create a moving car shot

[Rav]

So decided to get a Nikon D40 during the Xmas sales..
Looking at your random pictures and car related pictures threads. Some fantastic pictures there....

i.e:





How are these created? What else do i need to ask santa for as well as my Nikon D40?

[4hero]

Dear Santa, I would like lots of rig equipment and many years of experience please.

[Steve Evil]

Top two are done with a big rig attached to the car, which is then photoshopped out later, budget for well over a grand to do it properly

Another technique is to have two cars drive along at the exact same speed (only needs to be fairly slow) have the camera nice and securely mounted in the camera car and then leave the shutter speed open long enough to capture background and wheel movement but leave the car crisp and in focus, very tricky to get right.

Bottom shot I guess was taken by panning the camera along with the car.

[nick_bbb]

There is another way...

http://www.grantgb.com/creatingmotion.htm

But very time consuming to get all the reflections right if it's a side shot.

[andy-xr]

Credit Crunch version: Just take a picture of you in the car with the camera on a tripod and blur everything else

[MartinP]

My shot was actually 'faked' in photoshop. The photo was taken with the car stationary and then blurs added (zoom blur for the whole image and radial blur for the wheels) and layer masks used to apply the effects to only the areas required. Took about an hour or so to get to the final image.

[bramley]

I thought so Martin - the wheels give it away. It's still a nice shot though

[cw42]

One car following another while leaning out into the freezing air while your glasses nearly blow off your face and the guy behind takes his time getting into position, is the cheapest option. Going to the IOM to take the picture is optional


and this one taken on the snake pass:

[MartinP]

bramley said:

I thought so Martin - the wheels give it away. It's still a nice shot though

Thanks.

I spent most of my time on the wheels and was never happy with them. Also if you look closely at the reflections on the car, they're not blurred, which is another give away.

[4hero]

andy-xr said:

Credit Crunch version: Just take a picture of you in the car with the camera on a tripod and blur everything else

A couple I did earlier




And the setup:

Edited by 4hero on Friday 5th December 16:18

[Famous Graham]

at the South Park characters

[trackdemon]

OP:

1st is done in photoshop, can be a very effective method (if somewhat time consuming!)
2nd is Dean's A3, its a full car rig mounted shot
3rd is a panning shot

What do you need to create 'em?

1st: Time & practice
2nd: Time, practice & a rig(£££)
3rd: Time & practice

Like most skills, all can be learned and if you've got a decent lense then there's no reason you cant be out there creating shots like those now! Enjoy!

Photochopped:

Rigged:

Panned:

Edited by trackdemon on Friday 5th December 16:45

[miniman]

MartinP said:

My shot was actually 'faked' in photoshop. The photo was taken with the car stationary and then blurs added (zoom blur for the whole image and radial blur for the wheels) and layer masks used to apply the effects to only the areas required. Took about an hour or so to get to the final image.

And then ruined by a shoddy job on the number plate! (sorry, no offense but I **hate** number plates being shopped out)

Edited by miniman on Friday 5th December 17:13

[leightonjames]

Steve Evil said:

Top two are done with a big rig attached to the car, which is then photoshopped out later, budget for well over a grand to do it properly

Another technique is to have two cars drive along at the exact same speed (only needs to be fairly slow) have the camera nice and securely mounted in the camera car and then leave the shutter speed open long enough to capture background and wheel movement but leave the car crisp and in focus, very tricky to get right.

Bottom shot I guess was taken by panning the camera along with the car VERY WELL!.

[magpie215]

very basic shot but a mate of mine was hanging out of the window of another car and shot this one of mine.

[MartinP]

miniman said:

And then ruined by a shoddy job on the number plate! (sorry, no offense but I **hate** number plates being shopped out)

No offence taken, always open to comments/criticism, but can you explain what is wrong with it please? (BTW the 'T350c' was taken from a photo of the badge on the rear of the car - that really is the font/spacing as done by TVR)

[Andy M]

nick_bbb said:

There is another way...

http://www.grantgb.com/creatingmotion.htm

But very time consuming to get all the reflections right if it's a side shot.

This is good, but I'm not sure the sky should be so blurred?

[miniman]

MartinP said:

miniman said:

And then ruined by a shoddy job on the number plate! (sorry, no offense but I **hate** number plates being shopped out)

No offence taken, always open to comments/criticism, but can you explain what is wrong with it please? (BTW the 'T350c' was taken from a photo of the badge on the rear of the car - that really is the font/spacing as done by TVR)

Simply that it is so obvious that it is not the actual number plate. It's not the font, it's that it is so hard to place the text at precisely the right angle so that it looks as though it's the plate. The problem I have is that photoshopped plates draw the eye away from the rest of the shot. Perhaps just IMHO though.

[nick_bbb]

Andy M said:

nick_bbb said:

There is another way...

http://www.grantgb.com/creatingmotion.htm

But very time consuming to get all the reflections right if it's a side shot.

This is good, but I'm not sure the sky should be so blurred?

Yes I think you're right. There are a few bits I would do differently now, all part of the learning curve I guess. That was two and a half years ago I did that.

[dumbfunk]

miniman said:

snip ... The problem I have is that photoshopped plates draw the eye away from the rest of the shot. Perhaps just IMHO though.

What I always do is copy one or more numbers in the actual plate on top of other numbers so I create a realistic looking registration that doesn't tie back to the car. It's actually quicker than painting out the whole plate too.


dumbfunk

Edited by dumbfunk on Saturday 6th December 11:00