# How-to: take moving car shots with a digital camera **URL:** \ **Category:** SON240sx Automotive\ **Created:** [November 9, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252 "2003-11-09T18:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gonad](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gonad/32/5481_2.png) [@Gonad](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Gonad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/1 "2003-11-09T18:57:20Z")
Another tip is that if you know the car is gonna be at a certain point on the road, focus on that point and get ready as the car enters the field-of view. This way you can grab closeups. I did this at the Signal event and managed to get a few good snaps (see my site for pics)… And now, a bunch of pics of FrEaK and his buddy, tearin up their local roads. A drift team in the works. My suggestion, “The Dirty Drifters” (copyrighted) :mrgreen: ![http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak1.jpg](http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak1.jpg) ![http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak2.jpg](http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak2.jpg) ![http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak3.jpg](http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak3.jpg) ![http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak4.jpg](http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/images/misc/freak/freak4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Gonad](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gonad/32/5481_2.png) [@Gonad](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Gonad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/2 "2003-11-10T21:57:23Z")
I think one major factor missed out by `Freak (and indirectly pointed out by SHIFT\_SR20DET) is the camera quality/res. All the pics on my site are taken with my bro’s camera, a Nikon CookPix 995, which is a 3.2MP camera I believe. 🙂 I think Freak wanted to show how to prepare for snapping that perfect pic. Most important being timing and steadiness. His camera is limited in power, hence the grainy/low-quality picture, so I can’t blame him for that, but his technique is there, and guess practice will only make it perfect. And yes, I vouch to delete the useless posts in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/2X/b/b7170c8eddc0b95ece6b88172b2f416a08489a45.png) [@system](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/3 "2003-11-12T09:44:57Z")
ya iahve to agree, you can haev a great knowhow of what you need to do to take a good pic. but if your cam sucks ass then your results will only be so good. i want to try to take some pics with my cam and see how they turn out. i only have stills. Kodak ls443 ---
**Author:** ![Gonad](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gonad/32/5481_2.png) [@Gonad](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Gonad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/4 "2003-11-12T10:06:15Z")
Look at the pics I took on my site. I’m no professional. All I know is to point-and-click. There is only so much you need to know to use a digital camera. Freak sent me the original pictures (I cropped the ones I posted here) and they look horrible. Surely it’s his camera. I’m gonna be out Sunday takin some ‘drifting’ pics (well my buddy will be). We’ll see how that turns out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![polex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@polex](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/polex)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/5 "2003-11-12T10:39:17Z")
The composition should be good even if the camera is bad. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/6 "2003-11-16T18:53:33Z")
my philosophy… take as many pics as you possibly can and throw out the bad ones… my camera is complete and utter poo… i paid $80 for it… and i only use maybe 10% of the pics i take. the rest never see day light. but once in a while you snap a beauty with a bad camera, those are the ones you keep. i cant wait to get a good cammy… perhaps for christmas… i carry mine in the breast pocket of my jacket and wip it out all the time for picture fun… i grab pics of nice cars on the street when they are driving by… people tend to be surprised that i happen to have my camera on me ---
**Author:** ![Gonad](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gonad/32/5481_2.png) [@Gonad](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Gonad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/7 "2003-11-16T19:28:19Z")
Sure you keep camera in your pocket for those moments. :jerkit: Heh, jokes aside, I have thought of keepin a camera with me in the car for maybe same reasons as bing stated above, and in case, if EVER, in case of accident, it would prove very useful (like to use in court and whatnot). ---
**Author:** ![1gq2nv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/7feea3/32.png) [@1gq2nv](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1gq2nv)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/8 "2003-11-17T07:31:56Z")
Posts deleted for being OT. if you have any question or comments about the deletions please forward them to me. DRE ---
**Author:** ![1gq2nv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/7feea3/32.png) [@1gq2nv](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1gq2nv)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/9 "2003-11-17T08:03:30Z")
one of the most important things to understand in photofgraphy is the importance of composition and placement of the focal object. These concepts ap[ply to all forms of design and imagery (photography, painintg, digital comps, layout etc…). There are tons of book sout there that will prove to be extremely helpfull. Here’s some tips: 1. Get close to your subject–avoid large background areas. 2.Use the Rule of Thirds–Divide the screen into a square with 9 equal boxes. Place a focal point (eyes, horizon line) about 2/3rds of the way across the vertical screen and at either horizontal line. 1. Simplify the background–to eliminate visual noise. Watch for distracting objects in the background. 2. Shoot up or shoot down, rather than at a straight on angle if you want some emphasis to your photo. 3. Face your subject to the center. 4. Determine appropriate lighting and make adjustments. 5. Take lots of pictures! One more thing, the beauty of digital photography is the it’s realy easy to adjust/ manipulate your images using a photo editor such as Photoshop or photopaint, but with low quality inages it’s very limited. Also check out the following links for some great tips on action shots, also applies to cars. [http://www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/techniques/archive/action.jhtml](http://www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/techniques/archive/action.jhtml) The trick with car photography is to capture the flow of the car, which is very easily done with drifting, because you know where the car is going to go. Try to capture the acr as it’s sliding into the picture, centre the camera onto the corner nad sanp away as the car enters, the best pictures are going to the be the ones that have the car off centre, either as it’s entering the FOV or lleaving it but still showing the whole subject. Something like this: ![http://forums.son240sx.ca/album_pic.php?pic_id=94](http://forums.son240sx.ca/album_pic.php?pic_id=94) ![http://forums.son240sx.ca/album_pic.php?pic_id=92](http://forums.son240sx.ca/album_pic.php?pic_id=92) Tire smoke or gravel isa great elemnt that can be used to caputer the motion of the car, and if you can get the trails of smoke as the car drifts it will really help defining the movement, especially for drift pics because a lot of times it’s hard to tell in which direction the car is moving. DRE ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bing/32/7211_2.png) [@bing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/10 "2003-11-17T10:45:13Z")
> [@Gonad](#): > > Sure you keep camera in your pocket for those moments. :jerkit: > > Heh, jokes aside, I have thought of keepin a camera with me in the car > for maybe same reasons as bing stated above, and in case, if EVER, > in case of accident, it would prove very useful (like to use in court and whatnot). yeah G, thats another reason i try and brign the cammy everywhere… soon i want to have a better camera, nothing huge, but i would also like to be able to shoot video with sound. i’ll keep my current poo camera in the car and the good one will be brought out on nights where we are planning some particularly photogenic events. ---
**Author:** ![Gonad](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gonad/32/5481_2.png) [@Gonad](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Gonad)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-take-moving-car-shots-with-a-digital-camera/80252/11 "2003-11-17T12:27:11Z")
^^ That’s when you run em over in your next drift attempt and scare the living daylights outta him. 🙂 Also, some cameras have auto and manual switches very close together so always make sure you in Auto mode (if you not good with Manual yet). My bro has this on his camera and sometimes I forget it’s in M and when I go to check the pics, they turn out all outta focus and blurry.