Moving car shot
Taking action shots of cars may be one of the trickiest disciplines to master. But it can also be one of the most rewarding. And, with a few tips and tricks, not to mention a lot of memory space, you could begin churning out some of the most exciting images in photography.
Instructions
Panning from a Stationary Vantage Point
1. Prepare your telephoto lens. A 70 to 200mm one works perfectly, but a lot depends on how much distance you have from the passing car. Still, even if you're able to get up close, it is best to work with anything over 70mm (working with a 1.6 crop factor) to get a more compressed shot.
2. Set your camera to shutter priority. Start at around 1/100th. Work with the ISO to achieve a narrow aperture. F/8 and above should do the trick.
3. Have the car drive past you several times so you can build up a rhythm. Don't be frustrated by your first few shots, and avoid deleting the images until you get home. Every image is worth something, even if it is to teach you what you are doing wrong. To improve, you will need to understand why your images are coming out the way they do.
4. Signal the driver to increase his speed or focus on cars running at up to 50 mph. Drop your shutter speed down to 1/80th to get a decent contrast of motion blur in the background and the wheels, maintaining crispness along the edges of the car.
5. Try to keep the subject fairly close and use a wide angle, like 18mm and above on a digital SLR. Film and full frames can use a 28mm and above. Try not to go wider than this because it will distort the lines of the car, and unless you really know what you're doing, this can be terribly unflattering.
6. Keep in mind that while panning, especially during cornering, if you're trying to take the three quarter view, the front and rear of the car are actually traveling at different speeds in perspective to your camera lens. This is why you see a lot of shots where the front is crisp but then begins to trail off at the rear, try to keep the car as "flat" as possible; a side view works best with this shot.
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