Rig Photography Sharing/Tips

[Teshi]

Right, hope all is well. Now one thing most photographers always wonder, I did myself is how people take motion shots from extreme angles or what type of rig they use to actually go about doing it. Hopefully this insight will show you, without use of Photoshop to add the blur. Most rig photographers are very reluctant to supply information on how they do it. Here is a just a general guide.

First of all, you need a car rig of some sort. Now there are thousands of variations on this ranging from a 6ft pole with a magnetic base to mount on the undercarriage of a car or a suction based system positioned on the bodywork. Some can be bought, others purchased.

Here is mine - The Pro Mount SM8 kit via Fast Films


As you can see, its a pre-built rig and then just gets put together on a car via suction cups.

Stage one
Decide on where you want to take the photo from and take a test shot or two. Make sure it is an obtainable photo. After all, you do not want to damage your camera in any way.



Position the camera once complete and take another shot or two. Adjust accordingly.

Stage 2
Set your camera up. You want a nice and slow shutter so lower the ISO as much as possible, use a small aperture so something like f/16 or f/22 if it is real sunny or use filters such as a ND8 filter. Your aim is for a slow enough shutter speed so anything like 1/10 to 30 seconds maybe suitable.

Remember, at 1/10 the driver may need to drive a bit quick. 10mph should be suitable. Make sure you give the driver instructions eg maintain a full lock, go on my signal etc. Remember, you will be in control for this.

Longer shutter speeds such as 10 seconds allow the driver to move slower so you can keep up and also minimise any vibrations or shake.

Stage 3
Set the camera up on a self timer or if you have a wireless remote, set the camera to burst mode, get the driver to start and capture away. Try about 5-10 photos for each rig shot as the will be a result of some sort of camera shake due to surfaces.

Once done, you should have a simple yet clean result.


This was a simple setup but remember, more complex setups may require additional edits later.

Such as this type of setup


Before motion shot was taken


During the shot


The sharpness and the front bumper is extracted from the first photo as too much of the suction cup makes it difficult to simply clone out.

Finished verson - [LINK]

Remember, this is only a guide and not responsible for your camera or car. :P I am still learning so any extra information or experiences are more than welcome.

[TWiTCHY]

Useful info! Always wanted to do this.

[Speedtrap]

FInally Good to see you in here at long last:

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by Laszlo

Dude, thank you for sharing this - wow... amazing!!! I'd be so scared that my camera would drop...

At nearly £3000 worth of camera gear, yeah I was pretty concerned too, but the company who make the rig also supply to Top Gear so if the production team have faith in their gear, so do I. Plus its insured.

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

Useful info! Always wanted to do this.

Give it a go. I am pretty sure others maybe muttering about this since its usually a "trade secret" which I think is bull.

Photos like this are appreciated better one you know or see the work being put in.

[Carrera RSR]

Mitesh

Superb write up. Looking forward to hooking up with you soon. We are having a meet in the South West, any chance you can make it?

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180809

I am considering a more basic set up for my DSLR and video camera. Won't get the angles your rig will achieve but it will let me try out settings and practice with less time in setting up and less cost.

http://www.cameragrip.co.uk/acatalog/info_290.html

Keep posting up some further work

[Jeff231]

Very nice set up! Mine is similar but only have 2 suction cups on the hood. This isn't mine but it's the exact same set up.



And one of my photos:



I cheap way to do not full frame car shots but have the rig look with the wheels is have someone drive the car slowly while you hold your tripod full extended against the car and take a long exposure. Same as a rig but won't have the full car in it, still fun do with wheels and such though.

[Teshi]

That is an interesting mount system but I really wouldnt trust my 5D on a magic arm. Also, upon closer inspection, how well does it handle vibrations?

Good work so far.

[Jeff231]

The magic arm has worked perfectly with my D50, but then again my D50 is fairly light compared to higher end Dslrs. Vibrations are sometimes a real pain, especially if the road is a tiny bit bumpy, but most of the time I can pull off good rig shots at any shoot. I really want to buy a sigma 10-20mm (not sure if it's exactly 10-20), so I don't need to use as long as a boom. Right now it's about 10feet long while using the kit 18-55mm lens.

I like your tripod set up, seems real steady.

[UdubBadger]

another thing I've heard of (and really want to try when I get a chance to) is to follow the car in a Jeep/SUV with a pop up rear window and use a gorillapod tripod on the edge and shoot from inside the trunk (and possibly shooting out the rear seat windows as well). that way you can get full car shots of the front and sides of the car... possibly even the rear too and have full control of the camera on the fly (plus its less of a risk of having it smash into pieces all over the street.





kinda like this...

[snipersix]

is the suctions of that thing really strong? I'm afraid of using such, cause I don't want it to fall and destroy my camera while the car is moving...

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

another thing I've heard of (and really want to try when I get a chance to) is to follow the car in a Jeep/SUV with a pop up rear window and use a gorillapod tripod on the edge and shoot from inside the trunk (and possibly shooting out the rear seat windows as well). that way you can get full car shots of the front and sides of the car... possibly even the rear too and have full control of the camera on the fly (plus its less of a risk of having it smash into pieces all over the street.





kinda like this...

obviously you won't get those cool "low slung" angles but... I think it's gonna be really cool when I try it.

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by Jeff231

The magic arm has worked perfectly with my D50, but then again my D50 is fairly light compared to higher end Dslrs. Vibrations are sometimes a real pain, especially if the road is a tiny bit bumpy, but most of the time I can pull off good rig shots at any shoot. I really want to buy a sigma 10-20mm (not sure if it's exactly 10-20), so I don't need to use as long as a boom. Right now it's about 10feet long while using the kit 18-55mm lens.

I like your tripod set up, seems real steady.

Thats the thing, each camera and lens combo totals up a different weight. I have to ungrip my 5D in order to keep weight down. Does get a bit much. Yeah the Sigma 10-20 will work great for you.

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

another thing I've heard of (and really want to try when I get a chance to) is to follow the car in a Jeep/SUV with a pop up rear window and use a gorillapod tripod on the edge and shoot from inside the trunk (and possibly shooting out the rear seat windows as well). that way you can get full car shots of the front and sides of the car... possibly even the rear too and have full control of the camera on the fly (plus its less of a risk of having it smash into pieces all over the street.

Speaking of that, i tried a similar concept mounting my rig inside the car between the seats and did some time lapse based stuff.



T'is most fun.

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by snipersix

is the suctions of that thing really strong? I'm afraid of using such, cause I don't want it to fall and destroy my camera while the car is moving...

Well I am always walking or running beside it to catch it in the event of failure. Plus it is insured so thats another bonus for me.

I have tried the suction cups on my floor and i could easily tear a hole in the Earth with these things. Same when applied to a car. They could easily rip a body panel off and im confident in their hold.

I am supposed to be in BC over the next week depending on work so ill try and bring it down if I can.

[snipersix]

Originally Posted by Teshi

Well I am always walking or running beside it to catch it in the event of failure. Plus it is insured so thats another bonus for me.

I have tried the suction cups on my floor and i could easily tear a hole in the Earth with these things. Same when applied to a car. They could easily rip a body panel off and im confident in their hold.

I am supposed to be in BC over the next week depending on work so ill try and bring it down if I can.

Great, mind if I check it out

[mistry]

Great rig you've got there, I've brought a few things to try this using some glass suction cups and an extention pole, just not had the time or the weather to test it fully.

Anyway, Hope I'm not thread jaking, but I've done something similar with a tripod inside the car. I sat in the back with the tripod set-up as best I could and got someone to drive. These pictures here are 15 second exposures.

[big pimp]

love those last couple of pics!

giving me ideas!!!

@ Teishi - is that Peppernick in your second photo?

[darkphantom]

what is the exposure set to in those last pics?

check out woot.com they have those tripods at times

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by big pimp

love those last couple of pics!

giving me ideas!!!

@ Teishi - is that Peppernick in your second photo?

Hehehe, yes that it. Met most of these guys via Evotechnik.

[Teshi]

Originally Posted by darkphantom

what is the exposure set to in those last pics?

check out woot.com they have those tripods at times

Very last pic posted above looks awesome! 10mm on a 30D for 15 seconds. Impressive.