CAR TO CAR

The biggest and newest aspect to this technique is one I haven’t discussed before, and that’s shooting car to car. This is a mandatory basic to work to master as an automotive photographer. I love creating virtual motion shots as much as the next person, but sometimes it just has to be done in camera.

The flag was the biggest reason I needed to combine real car to car motion with a virtual motion static shot. I could not fake the waving of the flag and the appropriate back lighting with a slightly transparent cloth material, but I wanted to maintain the full control working with a static image also provided me.

I will do a more a more in-depth Digital Assistant lesson on strictly car to car shooting, but it definitely warrants you to practice as much as possible if you are not comfortable shooting this way. A convertible isn’t required, although a nice luxury. If possible using a lens with any kind of stabilization will make getting sharper photos easier. Also keep in mind the wider the focal length like 24mm will be easier to get a sharper image than shooting at a longer focal length like 105mm. Speed plays an important role on how much motion there is, for speeds 30 MPH below 1/50″ shutter speed is needed, 30-80 MPH 1/80″ shutter speed is a safe bet.

EDITING

The LiveClass Commune Atmosphere Pack played a major role in the final outcome of this image. I felt for a for true sunrise hero shot feel, a lot of separation was needed for the car from the background, and the haze smoke layers combined with the dodge and burning I showed in the editing segment of this video achieved that result with little effort.

Be sure to join in on the LiveClass Commune Facebook Group to share your own images and get critiques and feedback from myself and others in the LCC community!