Self portrait

mercphoto

I've been playing around with a new way to shoot cars. I'm wondering if I like this because its a cool shot, or if its simply because its a shot of me driving my car. Perhaps this should have been a whipping post entry instead?

gus

G'day bill...im a sucker for heavy contrast. I like the idea but you (in my opinion) need to be looking into a strong afternoon sun with bugs on your teeth so to speak & a huge smile with sunglasses on or something. The photo needs something in it to go 'kapow'...you get my drift at all ?

Ever seen Fear & Loathing in Las vegas ? That sort of stuff im thinking.

mercphoto

Good ideas Gus. I'll re-shoot soon. One thing I did find with this type of shot was how many I had to take to get one or two keepers. Exposure issues were the biggest problem, with some shots just having too much contrast in them to come out right. The Canon seems to get fooled easily with part of the scene is very bright and the other part very dark. Me staying perfectly still for 1/3 a second was another issue.

WrenTheBlurry

Cool shot you took there, Bill. I like the angle a lot, as well as the nice blurred background versus the sharpness of you and the car. I can imagine it was a difficult photo to get!

That said, I will concur with Gus that it would have even more impact if you had

a huge smile with sunglasses on

, perhaps slightly leaning forward in a teeth-barred, IAMGOINGSOFASTANDLOVINGIT kind of moment, heh. But doing that of yourself would be even tougher!

happy day,

wren

gpphotos

i totally agree with gus...i needs just a little something else, otherwise it looks like the camera tipped over and pressed the button

you weren't wearing much of a facial expression, so maybe do something with the face? of course, bugs in your teeth works too this shot doesn't need much to be REALLY cool...i love the concept...i wish i could try it myself, but i ride a motorcycle.

edit: also, put your head back up on the head rest, it'll make you look more relaxed i think.

mercphoto

WrenTheBlurry wrote:

I can imagine it was a difficult photo to get!

I think once I figure out all the mechanics it will be easier. Shot with the car rolling about 15mph, clutched-in. Tryin to prevent engine vibration, road vibration, etc. Shutter priority at 1/3 second shutter for a good blur. ISO 200. Canon 17-40/4L set to 24mm on a 1D Mark II. A three-stop neutral density filter was the only way to get that long a shutter on a sunny day. Camera was in the footwell on a three-axis Bogen head mounted on plywood. I barely had room for the camera, the quarters are very tight. A 20D and a 10-22 would be an easier fit. And a shutter release cable on a 2-second delay.

I think if I go wider on the focal length I might get all of the steering wheel. I will also get more stuff I don't want, which will require a crop in post-processing to keep only the stuff I do want.

Will try sunglasses. Will not try the bugs though.

DavidS

Cool shot. I like the angle.

pathfinder

mercphoto wrote:

I think once I figure out all the mechanics it will be easier. Shot with the car rolling about 15mph, clutched-in. Tryin to prevent engine vibration, road vibration, etc. Shutter priority at 1/3 second shutter for a good blur. ISO 200. Canon 17-40/4L set to 24mm on a 1D Mark II. A three-stop neutral density filter was the only way to get that long a shutter on a sunny day. Camera was in the footwell on a three-axis Bogen head mounted on plywood. I barely had room for the camera, the quarters are very tight. A 20D and a 10-22 would be an easier fit. And a shutter release cable on a 2-second delay.

I think if I go wider on the focal length I might get all of the steering wheel. I will also get more stuff I don't want, which will require a crop in post-processing to keep only the stuff I do want.

Will try sunglasses. Will not try the bugs though.

If you were travelling significantly faster could you not get away with a much faster shutter speed and still blur the background?? SHooting with a real wide angle lens at 1/50th sec should not be too blurred from vibration should it? Not sure I really understand the need for 1/3 sec exposure. How about 45-50mph on a new, very smooth asphalt surface?

Neat idea for your image, Bill.