I'm trying to take pictures of cars, at night, with the headlights on.
I've seen a few pictures that have accomplished this
I have a dslr, Canon Rebel T1i to be specific,
and I'm new to the slr scene.
I've looked up and I've found that bright light filters, and/or ND filters could be a solution.
CLP filter did not work for me, and I say that because I've noticed a few forums have said "TRY using a CLP filter".

I really need to figure out how to make this work, and if you know, or have an idea, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

 

I say low ISO, f/8 or higher, play around with the shutter times. Then work on post processing the best one, may have to edit layers to get the desired effect. You can take a pic with the lights off, then on, merge together and delete unwanted halo effect around headlights leaving them on.

Do you have any of your attempts?

 

i don't, i deleted them all, but all my attempts are pretty much as follows:

Low shutter speed = Ok headlights, but blacked out car and background
High shutter speed= Can see car, but headlights washes out most of the picture, leaving me with a car, and a big bright spot of white in the middle

I even tried different f-stops, and i put on a CPL filter, since...well, that's the other filter i got in a UV/CPL pack, and i was hoping it'd might help.

I'm trying to avoid photoshopping, and my friends and I all meet up with people at night, so most of the cars have their headlights on, plus, i really want to be able to do what that photographer (rezs4jen) did, along with other photographers too.

Isn't there a light filter i could get?

 

If you got a ND filter you would probaby have the same issue, being that it just blocks out the light in the image a certain amount and you would just compensate by having a longer shutter speed to get back to a normal exposure.

The only way I can think of doing it is to have 2 exposures and Photoshop them together.

Or maybe put on some kind of filter/gel/tint right on the headlights themselves

 

hey you're the guy who commented on my photo earlier today...in case you haven't seen my response, here it is:

pertaining to the image i use as my avatar:

don't let the image fool you -- it was really daytime when i took this shot. therefore, the lights weren't nearly as bright as they would be in the night

so i took this during the day, then post-processed it in Photomatix and in Photoshop, basically combining what I did in Photomatix with what I did in Photoshop. I adjusted the brightness, blacks, contrast, shadows, highlights, etc. to achieve what you see in the end.

 

I order for that picture to possibly work - see headlights on, but yet see no light coming out of the headlights, I would say it has to be a daytime shot, yeah.

Not to mention, it is pretty even lighting, and looks like a vertical shadow under the cars. Can't explain the lights on the bridge, but I think an underexposed daytime shot is a good start.

- Frank

 

That's some sick skills, how long did it take you to get where you are?

 

That example pic in your first post, the headlights weren't on. The parking lights were... they're much dimmer, and more easily exposed.

 

thanks

well the photoshoot that goes along with my avatar was taken in November 2007...and i got my DSLR in September 2007...so those turned out pretty good for only 2 months experience...though i have to admit the time of day and lighting outside was pretty good that day...

i've learned a lot since then and still do every time i shoot something...and i'm not nearly as talented as a lot of the people who frequent this forum, but just playing with different settings and shooting constantly helps out a lot...

 

Ive wanted to achieve that effect too on my nikon D60 but now that its almost winter I havent brought it out anymore to play with it