I've gotten a few PM's lately about how to start doing rig shots. And I'm going to lend a helping hand. Anything after that, you're on your own. You cant be spoon fed all the time you know? Most photographers on this level will not like what I'm doing but ****'em. I try to give back what I take.


So here we go....How do I do my rig shots. First I start out with:


2 Avenger 1000
3 Manfrotto Super Clamp
1 Manfrotto Magic Arm
1 Custom T6 Aluminum Pole(the choice is yours)
Canon XTi (lightweight)
Canon 10-22f3.5 lens(Ultra Wide Angle)
Canon Remote Wireless Remote(wired is fine)


Pictures below are the Avenger 1000 suction cups that will suck harder then Angelina Jolie on a horny day. Along with the Manfrotto Clamps, which will grip better then a virgin jail bait's......LOL.




This is the infamous Magic Arm who many think they dont want to fork over the money for but it's not called Magic Arm for nothing. This is my exact setup below.




Once you get all that, the fun begins.


First setup your suction cups on the car: See below your one and only sexiness at work.


Make sure the suction cup is on there correctly. Over $1000 is depending on this(your camera and wide angle lens)




Now attatch your 2nd piece of pole if you have two. Clamp on the magic arm.






Now connect your camera and adjust and position the camera to how you would like your picture to come out. (slant, verticle, horizontal...etc)





Now this is the moment of truth, make sure everything is connected tightly and properly.


Now you are ready to go! Give it your best shot and it should look something like this. (The vignetting on the corner are caused by me using 2 filter's stacked on top of eachother to deal with shooting in mid day with overcast skies. Without it all you'll see is white.)



UNEDITED BESIDES RESIZE



If it makes you feel any better, that is only the easy part. The hard part comes when you open up that picture in your editing software and you say "HOW THE **** AM I GOING TO GET THAT RIG OUT OF THE PICTURE!" LOL. All I can say is have fun....cause I even hate thinking about it. In the end, it should look something like this. (These are two different picturs obviously, just had to scrap up an example quick)





So there you have it. Knock yourself out and dont forget those who helped out along to way to success!

 

Nice setup. I use the same equipment except the magic arm. I use a 484rc2 ball head instead. Works like a charm and I'm still able to get those setup low angles.

Here are my results:







Unfortunately, I don't have a setup shot with the camera off the rig. But you get the idea from this shot.

 

where do you guys find the avenger 1000 suction cups at? thats gonna be the only thing im missing

 

Big props to both of you guys for sharing techniques. For whatever reason, photographers guard their techniques like the Colonels secret recipe. I may have just been convinced to buy some more equipment As if I'm not already in the hole.

Amazing results.

TYC, again, your work truly impresses me. Calvin, that dual car rig shot is unique, while that 2nd shot is awesome.

 

THIS IS JUST INCREDIBLE

 

+1 to this! I couldn't believe how overly protective some people were about their damn setup. i know there's that want to stay ahead of the competition but my god, lol.

 

Thanks guys. Hope this can help some of you out there.

ahero4eternity, thanks for sharing yours. I saw yours on Hybrid and gave you props on it. Big ***** for riggin it up on a curvy road. I once did it downtown Minneapolis....man that was scary. Cops everywhere.

 

^^^OHHHHHH! So YOU'Re Hybrid's photographer? I was talking to a member of Hybrid about being one of their photographers and he mentioned a guy from NorCal that they use that is really good. He was right!

 

I took the shots with the rigs on them (hope you guys done mind) and did the editing part just to see how hard it is since I figure the rig shot itself would be the easy part. I was thinking the one with the clouds and a white car would be easier. It wasn't, here is my try.

BTW are you guys running the engine when doing this shots?

 

Believe the car is actually driving while the shot is taken. Otherwise, why would you both with the rig, not just stand in that position or use a tripod???

I'm not a photographer, but it's interesting to see how this works. I'm waiting for my car to get done for a photoshoot later this month. I'm thinking I'll hire Mike Maez if he's in town.

 

There is a trick to move the car while the engine is off, put it in neutral and let it roll.

The shot are not shot at speeds, at least the one I seen taken before (no more than 10 mph) just adjust shutter speed, ISO and use filters when needed.

 

Nice. Did you apply an HDR treatment? The car in my shot seems to be glowing.

I typically do my rig shots with the car running. It's only moving about 2mph, if not slower. On rare occasions I will throw it in neutral and push it (only if the camera is moving too much and I get a soft OOF shot).

 

Yes, I did a HDR treatment to your pic.

The reason I asked about the engine running is because looks like one of the pic picked up some of the engine vibration.

 

Hmmm... I see. Then I guess I don't quite get the point in the rig? Is it just to keep the camera moving at the same speed as the car? If you just want the car to be moving slowly and take the picture at that angle, aren't their easier/cheaper methods? I sincerely have no background in photography, I'm just trying to understand this, so I apologize if this is question sounds dumb, but it doesn't seem to make sense according to logic, unless there is other knowledge that makes it make sense.

 

not if you don't want the whole car to be blurry and out of focus.

 

I guess I was just thinking of 2 things:

1. I take pics with my $200 camera of moving objects that aren't out of focus or blurry, but maybe that has to do with distance.
2. If you were using a steady cam (free or very cheap) and paced the car while it was rolling in neutral, wouldn't you get the same effect?

Like I said, I know nothing about this, I'm just trying to use my limited understanding to make sense of why the expensive and time consuming steps if it doesn't need to be moving at speed. I always thought these pics were taken at higher speeds.

 

You see when you don't use a rig, you are a stationary object taking a picture of a moving object. The picture will not look the same.



When you use a rig, the camera and the car become one stationary object while every thing else is not. compare the 2 pictures and you will see.

 

What's the total cost of all the items for the rig? Not including camera and lens

 

mrg1981, you're overthinking this too much but this above ^^^^ is the perfect explination. Thanks MR X


marco, if I remember right about $350.

 

Been thinking about building one for a while now. Just gotta find a place to get a pipe.