These shots are done by using a "rig" which mounts the camera to the car then the car is driven while the shutter is opened for a slightly extended time.

Rigs are a very well kept secret among auto photographers but can be built with some research and patience, or they can be bought for a very steep price. The rigs actually end up being in the shots and are later photoshopped out of the image (yes it is common practice ask around if you like).

I know people who have spent as little as $50 building rigs and spent as much as $1200 building or buying a rig.

 

interesting... wat's a rig? kinda like those things they use to mount the cameras during filming? i guess it could be done the ghetto way of using 2 cars rolling at the same speed and having a guy take the shot from the trunk

 

Yes that is exactly what a rig is. Hanging $1000+ in camera gear is not something to take risks with which is why the secrecy to it all.

You could do it the way you describe and I myself have hung out of cars doing 70+ down the freeway dragging the shutter, but results are incnsistent at best and many times shooting feature vehicles you have a limited amount of time with the car, so getting results by pure chance is something you don't have the option of doing.

 

:werd:

ive done it a few times on the highway... never again :a:

 

but those shots r different from the initial guy is asking... i've done rolling shots, and those shots r easy to get.... go on a freeway and snap the pix... the difference with the pix in the 1st post is the background... rolling shots have clear backgrounds, while the other one is blurred...look at the pix below and see the difference betwen the ones in the 1st post

the pix in the 1st post is the result of slow shutter speed + movement in the car.... and no, the car doesn't need to move fast... it prob needs to move 2 feet during the 6 sec that the shutter is open...

 

Also in the first and third pics posted I will tell you this...

First shot was taken with the car moving at about 5 mph (if memory serves me right) and the cleaning up of the rig took the shooter quite a bit of PS work to get fully cleaned. I remember the first time the shot was posted by the shooter. Also shot with a wideangle lens (12mm if I remember) which accounts for the mild fisheye type distortion making the car seem bowed and giving it a more flowing effect.

Third shot was taken with , my guess is a 15mm lens with the rig hanging off the front right of the car and about a foot or so off the ground (risky shot). Vehicle again was most likely only moving at 5mph or so with a drag on the shutter and the rig later chopped out.

 

No they don't have to move fast but they do have to move for the duration of the shutter.

First shot most likely exposed for about 1 second, note the consistency of motion in the background. A longer exposure (give or take) would have resulted in the white lights blowing out the shot and making it unuseable.

edit: the shot you posted has a fast shutter speed (note stopped background with almost no blur). My guess is 1/250 shutter speed.

 

Also, for that 1 second the shutter is open, the camera can't move relative to the car, otherwise the car comes out blurred too. That's why it's difficult to do with two cars instead of rigs.

 

i know h: i was merely trying to point out the different between rolling shots (my pix) and the slow-shutter shots but like i said earlier, the 1st shot had the car moving at a slow speed (5mph sounds abt right) and having the shutter open for abt 1-2 secs... anyone in so cal wanna help me do a shot like the 1st pix?

 

One time I stuck my camera on a folded-up tripod in between my passenger seat and center console, stabilized it with the pan handle on the rear deck with the top down, and used a cable release to pop the shutter. Only problem was it was the middle of night and I figured I would do like, a 15 second exposure. I got some uh, nice streaky jagged lines of street lamps, and a rather blurry image of my dash and windshield, and that was about it. I want to figure out a more stable mounting solution for that location. A dude from miata.net did something similar during the day with a shorter shutter speed, and got pretty decent results: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=28055