One of the genres in Sports Photography or action photography is Motorcycle Rolling shots. Rolling shots are shot using a tracking car from which the photographer shoots the subject of the motorbike or car. Practically both need to be at the same speed and side by side, or in close proximity. The subject is photographed handheld and at relatively slow shutter speeds so that the background and foreground blur enough to give a sensation of speed whilst keeping the car or motorbike sharp.
In this article, Wisnu, a Singapore Sports Photographer will go into detail about how to set up everything that needed to create the perfect rolling shot! Stay tuned guys!
Scouting Area
The most important element in this shooting. Consider the area that has quiet traffic and a big lane. This is for your own safety. Choose the nicest background in the area. In this shot, I used a lot of trees and greenery for the background. The important thing that you need to check is the sun and lighting direction.
However, this would potentially be illegal on public roads in your city. In fact, shooting from an open car window may also be illegal if you don’t have a seat belt on or if you are protruding from the car so be mindful to avoid doing that.
Setting Up Gear
The goal here is to get the motorbike as clear and as sharp as possible, so you need to use a small aperture. And the challenge here is, you need to use slow shutter speed on the moving car that rolls on bumpy roads. If you have vibration reduction on your lens, enable it. But you don’t have a choice, your hand needs to be steady in this photo session. So the key is, you have to find the slowest shutter speed which will give you a decent amount of blur in the background whilst your hand is steady, but also to keep the aperture number that makes the bike and the rider sharp. I recommend a zoom lens here as opposed to a prime because you’ll need the ability to zoom in and out on the car quickly and easily.
Communication
Although you already discuss the shoot in advance, ideally you need to be able to communicate with the riders during the shooting so it will be easy to give them instruction. In this kind of situation, Bluetooth two ways communicator always comes in handy.
Last but not least, safety first. Make sure your car’s door is locked. Use your camera strap. And always be mindful of your surroundings. Try a different angle to get more variety of shots. That’s it! This is a really fun session of shooting. Sport Photography is considered a dangerous genre in photography. So, be safe! And enjoy your roller adventures!
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