These first couple pictures are from my very first attempt at doing in motion photography.

Photo 1
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective01_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
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Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
5 sec @ F/11
ISO 200

In this one you can make out the dash lights. I like the blur, but the angle feels a little confined by the setup. The nose seems strangely small in this one.

The tripod is positioned on the very rear corner of the car.






Photo 2
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective02_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
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Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
5 sec @ F/16
ISO 200

This is overexposed along the top of the bonnet around the S, but I like the way the wheel showed up.

The tripod was positioned on the driver's side door.






Photo 3
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective03_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
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Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
3 sec @ F/10
ISO 200

In this photo you see my first motion photo with the full car in the frame. This was a big step, and required a compete rethink in terms of setup. You can also see that the initial setup had some issues with stability as the rear end of the car is a little fuzzy from the camera shake.



Photo 4
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective04_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
3 sec @ F/14
ISO 200

This is another picture from that first night I tried shooting with the whole car in the field of view. Again, toward the rear of the car things get fuzzy. Part of the reason for the low camera position is that my setup was bending under the weight of the camera. Following this shoot, I took a step back and redesigned the setup to increase the stability.


Photo 5
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective05_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
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Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
2 sec @ F/9
ISO 200

This was one of the first pictures with the revised setup. There are still some stability issues though. The rear of the car, especially in the area around the exhaust tips, starts to get a little shaky.


Photo 6
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective06_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
Nikon D70
18-70 F/3.5-4.5
Focal Length 18mm
2 sec @ F/22
ISO 200

This picture was a challenge mainly because it was the first time I had done a daytime shoot. It was about 6 PM when I shot this, so the sun was going down.

One nice aspect of this photo is that the front brake caliper is nice and clear behind the nearly transparent swept front wheel.

The lower light helped with being able to draw out the shutter to get the background blur. That said, I probably drew out the shutter too much (for the setup at the time) and should have opted for a 1 sec exposure to boost the sharpness. If I were doing this over again, knowing the setup I have today, I'd opt for the 2 second shutter.


Photo 7
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective07_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
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Nikon Coolpix 4300
WC-E63 Wide Angle Lens
2 sec @ F/7.6
ISO 100

My D70 was in the shop for repairs when this one was taken. It was actually the first time I had used the manual mode on my p&s camera even though I had owned it for over two years.

The night I took this photo was a big eye opener for me. The light weight of the 4300 and the wide angle lens (about half of my D70) contributed to a picture that appears to be fairly free of camera shake. Having less weight at the end of the camera rig definitely helped in that regard. It also meant that there was about $750 less equipment being placed in peril.


Photo 8
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective08_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
Nikon Coolpix 4300
WC-E63 Wide Angle Lens
1 sec @ F/7.6
ISO 100

This photo marks another refinement in my setup. The end result is that I'm now very happy with the stability of the camera and the corresponding crispness of the car.


Photo 9
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective09_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
Nikon Coolpix 4300
WC-E63 Wide Angle Lens
1 sec @ F/7.6
ISO 100

With the redesigned setup that started in 5, and the refinement that started in photo 8, came the ability to move the camera farther away from the car, while maintaining a stable platform to photograph from. As a result, these shots start to look more natural, especially when compared to the early ones (Photos 3 & 4 for instance), where a MINI just barely fits into the field of view.

Photo 10
[imgright]https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/data/593/1279retrospective10_thumb.jpg[/imgright]
Nikon Coolpix 4300
WC-E63 Wide Angle Lens
1 sec @ F/7.6
ISO 100

This picture and the cabrio picture capture the sense of the MINI pretty well. Both were taken with the car turning and that definitely enhances the blur. In both pictures, the background blur is natural and no motion blurring filter has been added after the fact.

 

Cool smiley-usage, Dave!

Clover

 

Thanks Clo.

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My computer beeps in Colorado.

Cool.

JPS

 

I'll have to check into that, we don't have an emergency warning system on NAM.