Newbie Night Shot Questions

[Grandpaw]

I have a question, I will be taking motion night shots of cars tonight and wanted to know what settings I should use. I have a Canon 350d with the kits lens and a Tamron 70-200. Which lens should I use and what settings? Im stumped since its going to be motion shots.

Can you explain a little further what you will be doing? Will the car you are taking a picture of and the car you are riding in BOTH be moving and if so will it be at the same speed and same direction? How fast will you be moving and how far apart will you be? Jeff

[TristateViP]

Can you explain a little further what you will be doing? Will the car you are taking a picture of and the car you are riding in BOTH be moving and if so will it be at the same speed and same direction? How fast will you be moving and how far apart will you be? Jeff

Hi Jeff,
From what I understand it will be a 3 lane highway and all cars will be going at it pretty much like a cannonball run type thing. I should be within a few feet of the cars from the passenger seat. All cars will be going close to the same speed and in the same direction

[Grandpaw]

Hi Jeff,
From what I understand it will be a 3 lane highway and all cars will be going at it pretty much like a cannonball run type thing. I should be within a few feet of the cars from the passenger seat. All cars will be going close to the same speed and in the same direction

Then the 18 to 55 will be the right lens in my opinion. The 70 to 200 would be of no use. You could take it along in case the situation changes but I don't think it will be needed. What is stopping you from using a flash at that distance? You would be able to use a smaller F stop and the depth of field would be greater. The background would not be blurred but you should get a good shot of the car, Jeff

I would think that if you and the car you are taking a picture of are going the same speed in the same direction that just about make the car just as if you were both standing still or like you were panning the shot as earlier suggested. Myself I would think 1/60 or faster would work.

Around here we have Cruisin the Coast each year and when they ride like that they usually drive relatively slow to show off their cars. Most of the time they hold up traffic due to the speed they drive, maybe it is different where you are!