Photographing a Motorcycle or Car from Another Vehicle
As a photographer who specialises in cars and bikes, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot some incredible machines. What’s not to like really for someone who loves all things with wheels and an engine. My favourite thing to do however is harness myself into the back of my van and dangle out of the back with my camera.. risky business!
I had the privilege of photographing a fully restored (by Pete Brown) classic Kawasaki Z900, owned by Rory, who is very proud if his achievement. He should be proud – it’s a faultless renovation, probably better than it came out of the factory.
In this blog I’ll give you an overview of how I do this and what things elevate my shots from the usual car to car/bike motion shots you see.
The Setup: Harnessed at Speed for the Perfect Shot
For this particular shoot, I needed to capture the Kawasaki Z900 in its natural habitat—on the open road. But to get the perfect shot I harnessed myself into the back of my van. Quite literally hanging out of the back at speed, capturing the joy and the spirit of a sunset ride on a newly renovated bike.
I’ve got to admit I do like a bit of risk. I race a classic Lambretta and I enjoy climbing. You might think they may not be that fast.. think again. HERE is one of my films from Cadwell Park.
How to Photograph a Bike at Speed
A usual way to shoot from vehicle to vehicle is to set the camera on continuous shooting using a fairly low shutter speed, this works really well. A good rule of thumb for shutter speed is if your going 30 mph use 1/30th second. If you’re going 40 mph use 1/40th second. Many of your images wont come out because of shake this is normal, so initially you may want to try a faster shutter speed. You will still get some blur and blur is what we need. Try and get a low down angle to really get the road rushing past. Using these techniques will give you a good impression of speed.
The mirrorless Nikon z 6ii is an ideal camera for this shoot as you can flip up the rear screen and still see the action. It’s great to see what you are doing using the screen as you need to get the camera as low as possible. Before mirrorless and when using the using a DSLR, I was guessing when the subject was in frame.
You can see the final shots below. The settings were : 1/40th and 1/50th at F9 and 200 ISO.
Using Studio Flash to Elevate Your Shots
This works in two ways. The first is to freeze the action and the second is to fill in the shadows. I’m sure other photographers use this technique, I’ve never seen anyone do it but to me it makes total sense. It’s a win win.
Without using the flash to fill in the shadows this shoot would not look anything like as good. Because the bike was predominantly backlit, it needed this fill light. The flash does not take over the ambient, it fills in the shadows.
If you do not have the correct studio flash, use a speed light , preferably off camera but on camera would work.
There are many more images using this technique in my automotive gallery.
I use powerful Elinchrom studio flash powered by battery. Each of my flash heads has it’s own battery so the recycle times are quick and the battery doesn’t run out of power mid shoot. Time is tight on shoots like these, they are on all pro shoots if I’m honest. This whole shoot including the portraits were shot in only an hour.
The Magic of the Golden Hour
Every photographer knows that lighting is crucial, and for this shoot, the timing was just right. The golden hour—that magical time just before sunset—offered the perfect soft, warm light. The golden tones not only enhanced the Kawasaki Z900’s paintwork, but also added depth and atmosphere to the rural landscape in Saddleworth.
Composition, Using the Rule of Thirds and Leading Lines in Photography
The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open. I like to place the bike and car as if it’s flowing into the image.
Leading lines are useful to use too, see if you can spot those in these images.
Recently, I gave a photography lecture for the BIPC in Leeds library highlighting these techniques. For a more in-depth overview on composition check my blog post from the lecture.
What Went Wrong and How a Professional Deals with Disaster.
As a pro you have to know your equipment and plan for every eventuality. I always have back ups of everything and sometimes back ups of the back up if they are important. That’s part of the reason why you should hire a pro and why a good one will charge a decent rate – the job has to be done, no matter what.
It’s been a long time, well over 10 years since I have had to revert to a plan B let alone a plan C like I had to do on this shoot.
I have 2 Nikon Z6ii’s that I use on every shoot, I replace them every year. I also have a back up Nikon D750. I also have 2 of every lens. I would like to think that this virtually guarantees that I wont get camera failure.
What did go wrong is that I temporarily lost my flash trigger! My van is a recently converted camper van , there is a space at the side of the seats/bed that is a total black hole. If something falls down there you have to take a panel off to get to it, I lost a graphics tablet for weeks. With the van rolling around on the bends my flash trigger fell down there.. a rookie error! Time was tight on this shoot so there was no time to retrieve the trigger or the light would have gone. It’s the first time I have used this new van for a bike/car motion shot, this error won’t happen again. So plan B was to hand, in the back of the van I had a spare trigger with a new battery in for this shoot. This lasted about 10 minutes until it failed. Plan C was to use my spare Nikon speed light flash and its trigger to set off the studio flash via the slave function. My spare flash had new batteries in too so they lasted the whole shoot. FEW!!!
It’s the most that has ever gone wrong with a shoot ever, however as I know my equipment inside out and had planned every eventuality the client was non the wiser.
Thanks to the support crew; Katy for superbly, skilfully and calmly driving the van. Without this these shots wouldn’t be anywhere near as good, she intinctively knew exactly where to place me on the road to capture the perfect shot.
Thanks to Claire for doing the behind the scenes footage for this blog post and for my Instagram. I will very quickly gloss over the fact that she was pretty daring to get the coverage, next time we will harness you in too Claire you nutter!
Get In Touch
If you’re a proud owner of a supercar, classic car, vintage bike, or classic scooter, and want to showcase your machine in a way that tells its story, I’m always up for the challenge so GET IN TOUCH. Whether it’s harnessing myself into the back of a van or waiting for the golden hour, I’ll go the extra mile (sometimes quite literally!) to capture your vehicle in its best light.
