Failed attempt; shoot from moving car

[alfa147x]

Any tips on how to make these less blurry?

I had the tripod set up in the back of my car. I had the camera tethered into my MacBook pro which was being controlled by my GF in the passenger seat.

Picture EXIF Info

Make => Canon
Model => Canon EOS 30D
Exposure Time => 8 sec
F Number => f/4
ISO => 100
Exposure => Manual

I think my problems are:

• Southern Georgia (Low population)
• craptastic roads
• I should try to move the camera further forward
• faster shutter speed

Any tips would be great!

Thanks guys,
Alfa147x

 

[speedy2]

Get a tripod and some bungee cords. I was able to setup my camcorder inside my Camaro I had. Bungee it around the seat belt mounts near the floorboard. Get it real tight. Try a faster shutter too. Should get good results. You're not really going to fix these pics you already have.

 

[speedy2]

Here's that Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTtnSqPd8Cg

 

[alfa147x]

Get a tripod and some bungee cords. I was able to setup my camcorder inside my Camaro I had. Bungee it around the seat belt mounts near the floorboard. Get it real tight. Try a faster shutter too. Should get good results. You're not really going to fix these pics you already have.

Thanks, yeah I know I can't fix I was going to go out again today

 

[corkyg]

Also, crank up your ISO. You are taking time exposures while moving. Blur guaranteed. Try a faster lens if you have one.

 

[alfa147x]

Sounds good
I used the 24-105mm f/4L , I'll give the 50mm f/1.8 II a shot

Thanks!

 

[speedy2]

Sounds good
I used the 24-105mm f/4L , I'll give the 50mm f/1.8 II a shot

Thanks!

Yeah I was looking at your sig and thinking, "he had to have used the 24-105mm, cuz the 50mm has to do better than that." lol. You might not get the kind of shot you want though since it's 50mm and only in the back seat. Might be too tight of a shot. Maybe try finding a smoother road and going slower.

 

[xchangx]

Doesn't matter what lens he uses, just the shutter speed. With a shot like that he's going to want the shutter open for at least a second.

You need to find a better way make the camera as firm as possible to the car since you want it to move with the dashboard.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

what kinda shutter speeds are optimal for these? I've done panning shots for friends from a chase car, and I know that 1/30 - 1/60th work just fine....

 

[alfa147x]

I do also have a Canon 18 - 55mm

 

[speedy2]

I do also have a Canon 18 - 55mm

Try it too. For me, I think the widest you can go would look neat for shots like this.

 

[angry hampster]

Sounds good
I used the 24-105mm f/4L , I'll give the 50mm f/1.8 II a shot

Thanks!

50mm will be worthless on a crop body in a space that confined.

 

[Paladin3]

Neat shot, but you really could take it to the next level. Just thinking out loud here…

Maybe more traffic on the road or a more interesting background? Maybe try a smaller aperture for more DOF and limit the ambient light in the car? Secure the camera better so it moves with the car and doesn’t vibrate or bounce around to reduce motion blur inside the car. If you really want to reduce all motion blur inside the car (except for the bright dash lights) you could shoot above the ambient interior light and pop a little quick strobe to get some sharp detail back. That would prevent things like the double image of your hand on the steering wheel.

Another issue is that the dash lights and headlights of your car are too bright compared to the light trails from the cars passing by. The beautiful trails from the passing cars should be the brightest highlights in your image, IMHO. If you can dim your dash instruments a bit it may help. You’ve also got to figure out some way to dim your headlights a bit too.

Now, I’m not advocating anyone driving at night without their lights on, or anything that silly…but if it were me I *might* try putting masking tape over my headlights to reduce the light a few stops. Again, I’d only do this if I was an idiot and didn’t mind killing myself. If I really wanted to go all Evil Knievel, I might even try turning the headlights off and using just the running lights for about half of the exposure, but I’m sure you would never do anything that stupid.

Anyway, disregard that last paragraph unless you have a death wish (<--my attorney advised me to add that sentence.) Good luck!

 

[alfa147x]

Cut

Thanks man
Lots of good info

 

[slashbinslashbash]

As others have said, the biggest thing here is getting your tripod rock-solid, and against solid parts of the car (if it's sitting on upholstery at all, the upholstery will compress and jiggle as the car moves). Depending on the car... I would try stuffing one or two of the legs between the seatback and the seat bottom until they hit a solid part of the car. Then the other leg(s) sitting on the floor of the car. But you really want to wedge them in place as solidly as possible. It needs to be absolutely rock solid stable if you want a non-blurry interior with long exposures like this.

 

[corkyg]

As for shutter speed, the old rule of photography is anything slower than 1/30th of a second is getting into time exposure, and requires no motion. Does your camera have a video mode? If so, try that and then clip a still from the video stream.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

Corky (and others): the point here is to capture motion from the road lights while having the car interior itself look solid. To do this you necessarily have to have a lengthy exposure time (half-second at least). But to get the car's interior looking good and sharp, there has to be no relative motion between the camera and the car while the exposure is taken. (If the car itself is a rattletrap, this kind of shot is basically impossible.) Of course I guess you could just paste two exposures together and get the same effect, but there are people who get good results with just one frame. This kind of frame is almost a sub-sub-genre of photography in its own right. Here are a couple of good examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmmpereda/3655439752/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazyousuf/3112028635/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psycho_crow/2948242366/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredthomas/3540104839/

 

[sswingle]

Corky (and others): the point here is to capture motion from the road lights while having the car interior itself look solid. To do this you necessarily have to have a lengthy exposure time (half-second at least). But to get the car's interior looking good and sharp, there has to be no relative motion between the camera and the car while the exposure is taken. (If the car itself is a rattletrap, this kind of shot is basically impossible.) Of course I guess you could just paste two exposures together and get the same effect, but there are people who get good results with just one frame. This kind of frame is almost a sub-sub-genre of photography in its own right. Here are a couple of good examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmmpereda/3655439752/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazyousuf/3112028635/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psycho_crow/2948242366/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredthomas/3540104839/

The better ones there used a 30 second exposure, although one used a 3 second exposure. Although a longer exposure is going to make it even more important your tripod is rock solid.

 

[corkyg]

Ah, so des neh! I did not understand the objective. The primary target then, is the car dashboard. Makes sense! A backseat driver would help. Sandbags or shotbags could help stabilize the tripod.

 

[vshah]

I'm about to do the exact same thing this weekend...making a time lapse of my drive from NY to Pitt. I'm constructing a simple headrest mount with some PVC tubing and U-bolts...we'll see how it goes.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

I'm about to do the exact same thing this weekend...making a time lapse of my drive from NY to Pitt. I'm constructing a simple headrest mount with some PVC tubing and U-bolts...we'll see how it goes.

I have seen this done before, but I think it was using metal pipe rather than PVC. I wonder about the amount of flex that PVC might have.

Definitely interested to hear how it works for you.

 

[vshah]

I have seen this done before, but I think it was using metal pipe rather than PVC. I wonder about the amount of flex that PVC might have.

Definitely interested to hear how it works for you.

i was worried about that as well...i'm going to make it span both headrests instead of just hanging off of one.

also OP...have you considered a very low level, diffused, rear synced flash to get the interior sharper at the slower shutter speeds, while not affecting outside exposure too much? only worry would be reflections...

 

[alkemyst]

hold the gun sideways.

 

[troytime]

why not take two photos and combine them?
one for the motion blur of the scene
one for the sharp dash

 

[Dubb]

why not take two photos and combine them?
one for the motion blur of the scene
one for the sharp dash

that's probably what I'd do. Doing it in one shot I'd be looking for a way to secure the camera to the car's frame, and drive slowly on a smooth road.

you might be able to hang the camera upside down from some sort of roof mounted fixture. any dome lights or vents you could remove and look for a stable point to affix to? I remember one car I had, the dome light was held in by a couple small machine screws.