Photographing stationary cars (at night)

[Dean.]

Hey everyone,
I'm heading out in a couple of hours to take some pictures of my mates new car
What's the best advice for taking pictures of a stationary car at night? Especially under street lights and the likes.

The equipment ill probably take with me is...
Nikond d3100
18-55 kit lens
35mm f1.8 prime lens
External flash sb-600
Tripod
ND 4 filter? If I can do anything with this, creative wise?


I have a couple of shots in my head that I'd like to try, if possible I'd like to make the car look as if its moving, possibly with some kind of trail behind it? I was going to play around with the flash as I'm sure there is some kind of sync mode that allows this although I've never tried doing it so have no idea how to do it.

I'm also curious as to how easy or difficult it is to photograph a car at night with its headlights on, and still get some decent exposures? I guess trial and error will be my best effort tonight but if anybody has any advice that would be great!

 

[Kerioak]

I don't photograph cars but if I wanted one with headlights and decent exposure I would probably aim to get the detail in one shot and the lights in another and merge them but that is because I like experimenting in photoshop

 

[Chris Day]

Have the camera mounted to a tripod, possible time delay or trigger switch.

Start with a shutter speed of 6 seconds or so (s on Nikon) Experiment with shutter speeds and the car moving slow/fast. Merge photos in PS if necessary.

Try the camera on an angle to add a little drama to the image.

Photoshop - simple 's' curve, boost vibrancy, duplicate layer apply soft layer is a nice start.

 

[jon ryan]

Shoot RAW so's you can adjust the white balance. Street lights throw weird colours.

 

[AndWhyNot]

Start with a shutter speed of 6 seconds or so (s on Nikon) Experiment with shutter speeds and the car moving slow/fast. Merge photos in PS if necessary.

The bit I've emphasised suggests you're advocating shutter priority mode? At night I'd always shoot full manual so you're controlling exposure length and aperture.

Avoid trying to make the car look like it's moving, but you can add some dynamism by including light trails from a passing bus or large vehicle.

Settings depend on the ambient light but in a streetlit area with light trails in the background, ISO200; f/9; 15 sec is a good starting point.

Leave the ISO and juggle shutter speed and aperture if the shot is too dark or too light? The poster who said about using a separate frame for headlights was right, although someone sat low in the driver's seat flicking the lights on and off for a second or so can work if you want to capture a single frame.

 

[Jonzilla]

I took this:

It was pitch black

I think the settings were 30" exposure f1.8 iso 100

I shot in raw, boosted clarity and vibrance on the car and desaturised the background.

For long exposures use a remote shutter release or timer

 

[Brendan Mulachy]

go somewhere dark with no street lights, camera on tripod, manually focus on car, not too shallow DOF , longish exposure(you can play about with this) and paint with a torch....job done


dont forget to get your mate to give the car a good clean before

 

[jST]

Here's one I did when messing around.

Can't remember the exact settings, definitely 30 seconds @ f/4.5 or 5.0ish. Stuck the camera on a 10 sec delay and legged it round the car with a flash set to 1/16 bursts and gave it three or four blasts from different angles and a couple more from underneath.

Put a blue grad on the sky in LR to take out the streetlight orangeyness.

Could probably be better but like I say, it was just a quick mess about.

 

[Dean.]

The bit I've emphasised suggests you're advocating shutter priority mode? At night I'd always shoot full manual so you're controlling exposure length and aperture.

Avoid trying to make the car look like it's moving, but you can add some dynamism by including light trails from a passing bus or large vehicle.

Settings depend on the ambient light but in a streetlit area with light trails in the background, ISO200; f/9; 15 sec is a good starting point.

Leave the ISO and juggle shutter speed and aperture if the shot is too dark or too light? The poster who said about using a separate frame for headlights was right, although someone sat low in the driver's seat flicking the lights on and off for a second or so can work if you want to capture a single frame.

Thanks Andy, that gives me a few things to consider and will definately put what you say into practice

I took this:

It was pitch black

I think the settings were 30" exposure f1.8 iso 100

I shot in raw, boosted clarity and vibrance on the car and desaturised the background.

For long exposures use a remote shutter release or timer

I like this idea a lot! I'm familiar with de-saturating a picture and adding in the colour now. Was this picture shot in a very dark area?

Here's one I did when messing around.

Can't remember the exact settings, definitely 30 seconds @ f/4.5 or 5.0ish. Stuck the camera on a 10 sec delay and legged it round the car with a flash set to 1/16 bursts and gave it three or four blasts from different angles and a couple more from underneath.

Put a blue grad on the sky in LR to take out the streetlight orangeyness.

Could probably be better but like I say, it was just a quick mess about.

I've thought about doing this, I do have an SB-600, would you say that you get better results using a flash, or running round the car with a torch?

You did well for timing to get a car light trail in the background too