Some advice for upcoming shoot

[McLaren]

For the past month (and then some), a buddy & I have been trying to get a photoshoot for his car. We finally have another date set & I'm, to be quite honest, a bit nervous.

For one thing, we are going to be doing rolling shots, or attempting to. I have never done rolling shots before, and I will be shooting out the back of a convertible, or that is the plan. The camera I'm using is a durable Nikon D40X w/ a Sigma 18-200mm lens. Motion shots are ones I am still learning & below are my closest attempts.

The first was shot on the auto mode.

According to EXIF:

Focal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
White Balance: Auto

This next one was shot on a manual setting.

Focal Length: 200.0mm (35mm equivalent: 300mm)
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: +0.33 EV
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto

I do realize that I was moving along side with the car in the first shot unlike the 2nd where I was stationary, but is there anything I should change in the camera settings such as shutter speed, aperture, etc.?

I'm also open to any other tips when doing these types of shots.

Our 2nd plan is to shoot in a hangar. It shouldn't be too different from any other indoor photo, so I'm more curious as to what kind of shots you guys might go for if given the "backdrop". We will more than likely not be moving the car around more than 1 or 2 times (if that), so we may be just shooting front/side view. I have a few angles in mind myself, but very open to your own.

If any of you do have some experience in this environment as well, I'd love to hear your experiences.

 

[Cano]

when you are shooting car to car, try to go to the lowest shutter speed you can attain while holding your camera more or less steady. I normally shoot at about 1/40 of a second with the apperture set sky high. This way the picture will show SPEED. It will be a lot more dramatic... but you can expect to have a low keeper ratio. If you don't have a problem going at highway speeds while holding out off a car, you can easily shoot at 1/60, maybe even 1/80 and the pics will come out ok, but really, the more dramatic the better.

I shot this:

at 1/40 while hanging out the window of my dad's Voyager. We weren't going very fast but the thing looks like it's flying, even with those wheels. I'm plenty sure the ones in the car you'll be shooting will have a more agressive style and, thus, will provide an even higher sense of speed. Look for backgrounds with lots of horizontal stuff to emphasize this even more.

 

[McLaren]

Thanks Cano. Been practicing a bit around here using your tips. 👍

Shoot's coming up next Saturday. No other advice guys?