Tips for nighttime car photography (or photography in general :P)

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nismohks

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Aug 15, 2004
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Sydney, Australia
ive been experimenting with night photography of cars lately, either at carparks or just close to buildings with exterior lights etc.

anyway, i use a 400d with a efs 17-85 is usm lens and i know that its probably far from adequate for these types of shots, but anyway... i also use a manfrotto tripod the whole time which helps a whole lot.

atm, all i do is set it to M mode, and use a long exposure of like 25 seconds on 100ISO and hope for the best :p the aperture i just change randomly, but normally around F11 or so for an open carpark. I am really not sure how to determine the aperture i need.

should i use the camera's flash at all in the shots? i have left flash off totally so far, but i will be purchasing a 580 EX II very soon.

when i get the 580EX II, how do i use it, or more specifically are there any settings i should take note of?

something else i will get is the 70-200 F4L IS USM and EF 50mm 1.8.

so please advise me~ im sure many will find this information helpful too!

Thanks!
 
Let the camera set the aperture.

If you are using long exposures, like 25 secs or more, I would suggest light painting. Just get a LED torch with white light or a regular torch if you prefer that, and evenly shine the light on the car. Move the light around the car slowly and that is light painting for you.

It will spread nice even lighting on the car for you ;-)
 
If you have a tripod, and if you like to experiment a lot, then set your camera up for a 25-30 second exposure, get a flashlight and an A4 sheet of paper, release the shutter, and then walk around the car without entering the frame. You'll get an eerie effect like this from mine:

https://pic.armedcats.net/a/al/alok/2008/11/02/DSC_0182-51.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/al/alok/2008/11/02/DSC_0184-53.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/al/alok/2008/11/02/DSC_0185-54.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/al/alok/2008/11/02/DSC_0186-55.jpg

EDIT: Damn, Solberg posted while I was uploading :D
 
nismohks said:
i was using the M mode on my camera. should i instead set it to Night mode or Tv for the camera to set the aperture? thanks
Click to expand...

Yep, TV mode is shutter priority. You choose the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture on its own
 
hmm ill definitely try using the Tv mode as an alternative then.

another question is, WHERE should i focus on? i mean normally its obvious, but say i have 4 cars left,right fore and aft, how should i determine the best focus point? or should i use the camera and let it choose the autofocus point?

i find that some parts aren't as sharp in my photos, but that may be to do with the aperture as well.....

should i use the internal flash at all?
 
Alok said:
If you have a tripod, and if you like to experiment a lot, then set your camera up for a 25-30 second exposure, get a flashlight and an A4 sheet of paper, release the shutter, and then walk around the car without entering the frame. You'll get an eerie effect like this from mine:

[AWESOMELY cool pictures]

EDIT: Damn, Solberg posted while I was uploading :D
Click to expand...

so what you do is put the paper in front of the flashlight and walk around?
 
nismohks said:
hmm ill definitely try using the Tv mode as an alternative then.

another question is, WHERE should i focus on? i mean normally its obvious, but say i have 4 cars left,right fore and aft, how should i determine the best focus point? or should i use the camera and let it choose the autofocus point?

i find that some parts aren't as sharp in my photos, but that may be to do with the aperture as well.....

should i use the internal flash at all?
Click to expand...

What I do is usually shine the light on the closest car and then let the camera focus. I then flick the switch into manual focus and take the photo

cl191 said:
so what you do is put the paper in front of the flashlight and walk around?
Click to expand...

Essentially yes, in the pics I posted, i had my cellphone lamp, but usually flashlights have much focussed lighting and you want diffusion, hence the paper.
 
nismohks said:
YOUR CELLPHONE LIGHT CAN DO THAT??? WOW

so u just gradually panned the phone left and right during your exposure?

should i even use the flash on my camera at all? and if so, first curtain or second curtain sync?
Click to expand...

Yea, the sony ericsson w810i has a relatively strong lamp

I would try the onboard flash as well. Since I consider myself an artist, I fuck around until I get the right look, so you could just try just about anything... :)
 
It's also worth noting that if there are street lights around and you plan on long exposures you will NEED a lens hood on. It seems weird because it's dark but I've had this problem in the past. Good luck :).

*EDIT*

I said street lighting but this really applies for any lights outside.
 
Alok said:
Yea, the sony ericsson w810i has a relatively strong lamp

I would try the onboard flash as well. Since I consider myself an artist, I fuck around until I get the right look, so you could just try just about anything... :)
Click to expand...

wow... just a w810 and you can do that...

im definitely bringing my budget LED torch and a piece of paper next time! im surprised that even with a piece of paper blocking the lights, the affects could be that good!

also, i DID use a lens hood, however that was merely just out of habit... :p
 
Alok's pictures are so full of win it isn't funny anymore.

How you get that effect just walking around randomly flashing a lamp at the car is beyond me, but the result belongs in the AWESOME thread
 
I have to also add that this lighting method somehow gives good colors. Very unusually for me, those pics are straight out of cam, bar resizing
 
Alok said:
What I do is usually shine the light on the closest car and then let the camera focus. I then flick the switch into manual focus and take the photo
Click to expand...

Yep, I realized that I have to do just that in order to get the camera to focus. It feels somehow strange to bring a flashlight to a shoot...
 
nismohks said:
Alok, was there any street lighting in that photo, or is it just purely w810 lighting?
Click to expand...

Nope, that was on top of an uninhabited hill with no street lamps. The lights you see are the diffused lights in the atmosphere from the city on the other side of the hill.
 
LeVeL said:
Yep, I realized that I have to do just that in order to get the camera to focus. It feels somehow strange to bring a flashlight to a shoot...
Click to expand...

You can use the built in flash to assist auto focusing.
Or just use the distance scale on the side of the lens and do it manually.

(probably. Depends on your gear.)
 
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