Rolling car photography

Rolling shots of cars are the act of taking photos of the car or vehicle when it is running. It is very significant in car photography as it visualizes the motion of the car or automotive. Expert photographers love this process of car photography to showcase their skills and creativity. 

Taking rolling shots may seem a little bit difficult for beginners, but it will add more adventure for car photographers. With some practice and patience, one can obtain very good results. This activity requires some special features and settings on the camera as well as arrangements for the photographer for capturing position and orientation. 

Source:petapixel.com

In this article, I will mention essential camera settings as well as techniques for creating stunning rolling shots car photography.

Why take rolling shots

Cars or vehicles are made for speed or motion. At rest, shots express its beauty and color. However, it is more desired to get the snapshots that describe its speed or motion. So rolling shots are required to visualize the dynamism of the vehicle. Rolling shots of a car with a blurred background look really amazing and have a great demand in car photography.

Camera settings for the rolling shots(rolling shots car photography settings)

There is no golden rule for camera settings for the rolling shots of cars. As mentioned by the expert photographers, it is more of a technique or practice than a mere adjustment of the camera settings. One can get clear rolling shots at a slower shutter speed of 1/20s and others may get it with more shutter speed like 1/70 s. also the ISO setting and focal length may be different for people. For someone who wants to try rolling shots for the first time, is suggested to have the below camera settings:

Larger Aperture setting (F/4) or more, slow shutter speed like 1/20 or 1/40, and ISO setting as 100 to 150 Lens focal length 24-70 mm. Shutter to be set on burst mode. You can use a wide-angle lens for more crispy rolling shots. All you need to do is practice a lot with this lens which is one of the best lenses for car photography.

One thing that is important here is in-built camera stabilization which is a must to have the feature of the best camera for rolling shots. If you have this feature with your camera, you should not bother much about the camera shaking issues, to produce crispy and stunning rolling shots even without using a gimbal stabilizer.

Procedure for taking Rolling shots(how to do rolling shots car photography)

Rolling shots of cars may be executed in many ways with a different set of equipment and technique.  However, below two procedures are commonly used.

1. Rolling shots using a Rig: 

You need some special rig to be attached to the car and adjust camera settings before attaching it to the rig. You need a lot of pieces of equipment for this process. This process has less risk and less involvement of people. You cannot change the setting while the car is moving.

2. Rolling shots using another car:

You need another car with the same speed for example 40- 70 miles an hour. The person in the camera car may focus the camera through the window or can move his head outside the window to capture the snapshots. Hence this process has got some risks for the person taking photos. 

Pls, go through the video by the car creative for further illustration.

One should be careful about taking high-speed rolling shots. the photographer can change the camera setting while the car is running, thus can check quickly for perfect settings.

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Safety measures for rolling shots

Taking rolling shots is a somewhat risky activity, therefore, requires some safety measures to take for both the capturing car and the subject car or vehicle. Hence the shooters need to take measures for their own safety, road safety, and vehicle safety. Many spectacular photos can be taken by maintaining safety and traffic rules. You can watch below tutorial video for more information;

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get rolling shots of cars?

You can use another car to follow the subject car. The best camera settings for rolling shots are –

Aperture-F/4.0, Shutter speed- 1/20 to 1/40, ISO-100 to 150, Lens focal length 24-70 mm. Select the camera in burst mode. Wide-angle lenses(focal length below 35 mm) are preferred for perfect rolling shots of cars.

• How do you take pictures of moving cars?

You can use another car which is called the camera car and start shooting the object car. Both cars run at the same decent speed like 40 Km/hr. The camera can better be fixed with the car or handheld for taking snapshots. Take snapshots in burst mode to get the best rolling shots. But you need to follow the traffic rules on road for safety.

• What filter should I use for car photography?

You can use a circular polarizing filter or ND filter for still car photography and rolling shots. These filters are used to eliminate the light reflection from shiny and glazed objects and give clear and attractive images. One can also use a UV filter to protect your camera lenses from harmful radiation.

• How do I get the rolling shot on my iPhone?

It is possible to get nice rolling shots by using your iPhone. You need to select the live photo option and put the flash on. Then start to take photos of the moving car. when it is done, open up the photos app and select the long exposure option to get the rolling shots.  

Conclusion

Although rolling shots is a somewhat tricky task to execute in the beginning, you can practice several times with different camera settings and different locations, while maintaining the safety rules. This process can deliver some unique and eye-catching images of the car in motion. 

One should not stick to the settings mentioned here and try it with some other settings as well. Because one should always keep in mind the 3P (Practice, Patience, and Passion) to become an expert and successful in photography.

So what do you think about this article?

Feel free to share your experience with rolling shots if any.