Life is all about trying something new……This blog will be a little different, but I hope you still find it useful.

In order to grow, I think it’s necessary to always try something new, even if you aren’t comfortable with it. This can be true in any aspect of your life, from a hobby to your daily routine. A couple of weeks ago I had an opportunity to try something I’ve never done. For the longest time I have wanted to try car photography because I had watched a few youtubers/photographers do it and wanted to see if I could do it. So, I messaged my friend, who loves his Miata, and asked if I could shoot his car and we hit the highway. I had watched a few videos and read through a few forums to get an understanding of what to do, but there is no better way to learn than actually trying it yourself.

We got on the highway, accelerating to about 55 mph as I lowered the backseat window. I was super nervous because I was about to stick my head and some of my body out the window of a moving car. I quickly adjusted my camera settings, based off my general knowledge, and made sure I was secure to something in the car. As soon we got to the middle lane, I went through the window with my camera strapped to my neck and just pointed and shot based on my intution. We drove around for a little over an hour and I was able to try, learn and experience something new, as opposed to if just continued to watch my favorite youtubers do it and just wishing I could do it. Though I am not telling you to go out and do this, I do strongly believe that being able to do something new or step outside your comfort zone or even taking a risk, no matter how small, can open you up to so much more. However, I do want you to learn from my experiences so I’m going to tell you how exactly I took pictures like the one above and I’ll include more below.

Rolling Car Shot Settings

Before we got onto the highway, I was watching the sky to make sure i get the exposure right. We went out right before sunset so there was just enough light and wasn’t too harsh. My friend and I also had to discuss the speed at which he’d be driving, because that would determine my shutter speed. Normally, it’s recommended that the the dirver of the vechile your photographing go 60 mph or above to get good motion blur in the background, but since my friends car was a little older we settled for 50-55 mph. Based off that I made my shutter speed 1/50 sec and adjusted my aperture to f/4.0. I like to keep my iso at 100 to start off and then increase it as it gets darker, just to limit excessive noise. Lens wise, I would recommend anythign between 15-24mm, this way you’re not shooting too wide and or too close. This also helps stablize the camera more because as the lens zooms in more, the bumps on the road start to become more apparent and make your picture come out shakey/unclear. For the location, I couldn’t really think of a specific place and was hard to find something specific so we just did it on our local highway, that way we knew the exits and could turn around at any point. If you try this just remember to be safe and take precautions. Try to keep your seatbelt on, make sure your camera is strapped to your neck, and make sure the roads are mostly empty to reduce endangerment to yourself or anyone else. The first time I stuck my head out of the car and took pictures they did not turn out well. I had only capture the front bumper of the car and the rest of the picture was of the road, so I took a deap breath and did it again. If you fail at your first try of anything, you should always try again. That’s why they teach you the saying, “if at first you fail, try, try again.” There are still things I’d fix if I were to do this again but for my first try shooting a moving car, I am happy with how they turned out and as long as you are happpy with the outcome of your pictures, thats all the really matters.

Here a few other pictures from that Sunday.

Being able to push yourself to try something, allows you not only to grow but become a better person. It doesn’t mean you have to try something dangerous or even something out of your comfort zone. It can be as simple as trying a new food, which will let you build upon your experiences and maybe create new preferences. In photography, trying something new, can make you a better photographer. Playing with different types of photographer or simply different editing techniques will show you where you really stand and how much you still have to learn. As I said before, this was my first time doing a rolling car shot and I am happy with the way the pictures turned out, but I do feel like with practice and being able try new things will allow me to get better.

Let me know how you think the pictures turned out!

You can see more pictures from this shoot and the latest car shoots by clicking the button!