Rolling shots??

[carlos91]

i always see people taking pictures of cars while they are moving the car is in perfect focus no blur and the background is all blurry from the fact that you were driving how do you get these kind of shots?

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Right off the bat I can thing of two ways but there may be more.

The first one is panning. You follow the car with your camera whit a shutter speed long enough to record the movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panning_(camera)

The second one is to shoot from a moving car along side the one you are shooting.

Both need practice.

 

[KmH]

A lot of rolling shots are made at walking speeds.

A grip rig is usually attached to the car to hold the camera and then cloned out in post production. A.K.A "Rig Shots"

Rig Shots

 

[RONDAL]

you dont need a rig for a lot of rolling shots, and i say this as i literally just ordered new suction cups and a magic arm to build my new rig.

if you're shooting from a lead car, the starting place is set to shutter priority and choose a shutter speed = 1/cars mph so if you're doing 60mph together on the highway 1/60 would be your shutter speed.

smooth roads help, polarizers help, ND filters help.

here's an example;
i took this shot late last summer

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3917855236_c08cbf51ec_b.jpg

the shutter speed is 1/100.
we were prolly doing about 60mph, but anything longer than 1/100 was blowing out even with the polarizer on.
The shot sucks, for a few reasons.
1) dont shoot into the sun, you get annoying shadows in the foreground, and you risk blowing out the sky
2) you need to use the car you are in and communicate with your driver well to compose the photo. It helps if you just get the car you are shooting to do a constant speed and just drive straight. you can then speed up and slow down and get your car into the position you want. its always hard to communicate between cars. we've tried using radios but its always tough.
3) the background is always important. you want a background that will blur nicely. City streets suck for the most part, they are too cluttered and distract the focus from the subject.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

A lot of rolling shots are made at walking speeds.

A grip rig is usually attached to the car to hold the camera and then cloned out in post production. A.K.A "Rig Shots"

Rig Shots

Pro shots maybe but our members prefer hanging out of car windows going down the road at death defying speeds.

Interesting link. Some years back, I built myself a suction cup rig with the kind of suction cups used in the glass industry. Tough mothers but they may not be any less expensive than the ones in your link.

 

[RONDAL]

suction cups are $55 each. i just ordered 2. lets face it, thats chump change as far as photo gear goes. and i dont want my $2k+ camera and lens hanging on cheap crap so it can crash to the ground

 

[RONDAL]

also you dont need to drive quickly, you just need to adjust your shutter speed accordingly.

 

[eriqalan]

Panning takes a lot of practice. To start plant your feet with the in the direction you will pan beside but behind the other: crouch on the balls of your feet and pivot on the balls (military / ex-military are used to this pivot)

Also a good tripod with a panning head will do this but you really have to practice the timing because when you are not holding the camera you don't have the natural movement of following the object - some use Monopods as a substitute as it gives you both the steadying and the natural turning motion

Pictures at a race, football, etc. are done this way

Taking a picture from a moving car is tricky - roads may look smooth but aren't so you bounce the camera spoiling the shot - you have to find very smooth areas to do this