Last week, I showed you how I shot at the MINI Driving Experience. Here’s part two…
Do you ever get too close?
Well, no, because I’m still here, writing. You’ve probably seen the writing on your car’s passenger mirror “Objects in mirror are closer…” That applies to looking through your lens as well. More than once, I was shooting a driver coming toward me to flick the tail out, only to find the car eventually filling the frame. It was CLOSE. The first time, I jumped up. In reality, the car was still many feet away, but it was a good wake up call.
I was splashed a lot too…
What camera setting do you use for rollers?
- A full tutorial is here, but in this case with the Z7, you want:
- Continuous focusing mode
- Aperture of f/4 – f/5.6
- Expose for lighting. Allow for an exposure that is long enough to capture blur, but short enough to avoid camera shake.
- Single shot per click. Some people have multiple releases per click, but I like to make sure the camera stays focused.
Do you mess up?
For every one good image, there are 5-6 bad ones. Tons of things are out of your control, like road bumps, sliding around the back, and the driver framed incorrectly.
Because the Z7 shoots at a very large full-frame size, it can lag when you’re doing rapid fire shots. That means you can’t always see the previews of what you shot, so it’s a little bit of spray and pray.
How to you stage the car on the track?
The MINI Driving Experience happens on a race track, but without the rumble strips, it doesn’t always look like a race track. To solve this, I placed the MINIs by striped barriers, or picked asphalt that had a lot of rubber marks. Sometimes, I sacrificed location for lighting – the setting sun provided beautiful back lighting.
Is there a difference shooting MINI vs BMW?
MINI as a brand has become more serious. One look at the MINIUSA website confirms they shoot their cars…exactly like BMW. So no, in this case, I shot MINI cars exactly as I would any BMW.
Any advice for doing a big shoot in a short amount of time?
- Plan as much as you can in advance
- Know what you’re shooting. Don’t forget details like wheels, or interior.
- Always try to save your best shots for magic hour
- Have fun!
Special thanks to RITTA for booking me! Also thanks to the MINI Driving Experience for having me down, along with Matt, Laura and the rest of the crew!
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I use Nikon camera bodies and lenses, a Westcott Ice Light 2, Manfrotto tripod, B + W filters and an iMac Pro to make the art you see here.
Email me at mike@machineswithsouls.com with any questions.
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