Tokyo Drift

I like driving regardless of whether I’m in the driver’s seat or the passenger’s seat.  I enjoy watching streaming cityscape especially at night in Tokyo.  Urban music at full volume punctuated by the exhaust sound from my old Peugeot.  It is one of the most relaxing moments to me and this is one of the reasons I like to shoot at night.  I relish the process of a 30 to 60 minute journey to my selected photo shooting location while enjoying the lights from the city and the blaring music.

On one particular day, I was caught in the rain en route to the place where the architecture that I wanted to shoot was located and was forced to change the plans; I almost gave up taking any photos that day.  I had an aha moment, why not shoot cityscapes from a moving car?  Luckily I had a small compact camera with a mini-tripod, so I placed it on the dashboard of my car.  Yes, I was lucky enough to have a substitute driver too;  a friend of mine who accompanied me that day, the poor guy.

One of my earlier cruising photos taken with my smallest compact camera. Shibuya, Tokyo.

Since that day, I have been fascinated with this concept and subsequently I have taken hundreds of photos on the way to and from photoshoots.  Most of them, however, went straight to the trash bin on my PC, but some went public on Flickr, Google+, and some other photo-sharing websites.  So this month, I’m going to share with you some tips that I have discovered so far.  Keep in mind, I’m not a tech guy or even a pro photographer, so there might be some missing technical info. My apologies in advance :-)

Keep the Windshield Clean

I shouldn’t have to include this first piece of advice here because it is fundamental whenever you drive, but here it is anyway.  Funnily enough, I often forgot this part, but one should carefully wipe the windshield clean of grease, water stains, mud, anything that will creates unwanted spots or diffused reflections in your photos.

Do you see the dirty reflections in the top center?  Keep your windshield clean if you don’t want this to happen to your images. Route 246, Setagaya, Tokyo.

The Smaller Camera You Use, the Better

Actually it depends on what type of car you are traveling in.  I’m not sure, but if you own a big Land Cruiser style of vehicle, you may not have to worry about the camera size.  However, if you have a smaller dashboard, you’ll need to find a small camera to fit the available space.  If your dashboard isn’t flat, you’ll need to find a slip-proof mat to mount the tripod on.  You will also need to have a small tripod that can go relatively or completely flat.  The tripod in the photo below is the one I often used when I mainly used a small compact digital.  It can’t support big cameras but it is very portable and easy to carry.

I really loved this small fellow but it now spends most of its time in my drawer.

For bigger cameras, I recommend a clamp pod.  I first bought this with a different use in mind, but later found out that it can also go flat and it’s strong and stable enough to support my m4/3s camera.  However, it’s about 800 grams so it is not light enough to carry around in my bag.

I now use a Panasonic DMC-GH2 and a LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm/F3.5-5.6 for cruising. I have to detach the lens hood for it to be accommodated in the narrow space between the windshield and the dashboard.

Exposure Time between a Half Second and One

If you want to have a completely blurred image, you can go with longer exposure.  However, for crisp in-focus images, you should go with the shortest exposure time possible.  I find that the exposure time between about a half second and one second works very well.  This allows you to shoot an image where the view in the distance looks clear but the resultant image still has the zooming lights all around it.

Don’t Select a Wide Open Aperture

I like bokeh shots, so I tend to adopt wider apertures when I shoot at night, however under these circumstances the story is a bit different.  I prefer to have images that are focused on almost everything in the frame, and it’s nearly impossible to get a right focus when your car moving quickly.  The higher your F-stop is, the better chance you’ll have of a properly focused image.  Keep in mind that as you raise the F-stop, your required exposure time will increase.  On the other hand, if you use a compact digital camera, you can go with wider apertures because the depth of field of compact cameras is usually greater than SLRs due to the sensor size.  Also I strongly recommend using manual focus and not auto focus (AF).  AF often doesn’t function properly at night especially when you are moving.  For this reason, I always set my focus before I start to drive, and never have to look back at the focus ring once I’ve started shooting.

As is shown in the the image above, using a remote control is also a great idea.  You don’t have to reach out for your camera for releasing the shutter.  You can sit back, enjoy the music and the cityscape, and release the shutter as many times as you want to.

The exposure time was 0.6 seconds. Roppongi, Tokyo. Also,driving around 40 kmh (25 mph) gives results that I think are nice.

Find a Street Full of Lights

As you can see so far, most of the images posted here are taken in the busiest streets of Tokyo, which are always full of lights from cars, street lamps, and buildings along the streets.  So go out on the busy streets around your area if you have any.  If you are in Tokyo, I recommend that you go out on weekends, not on weekdays.  On weeknights, the streets are always jam packed with taxis.  So chances are that you’ll be in the middle of a heavy traffic, grumbling to yourself how you I take “cruising” photos while sitting in a stationary car.

This is what I got when running between the lines of trees with Christmas lights strung in them. Roppongi Hills, Tokyo.

You’ll Never Get a Nice Result on a Bumpy Road

To me this is unpredictable, there might be ruts, patches of repair work on the asphalt and these will impact on your shot.  I always shoot several photos at a time in action mode, hoping to have at least one usable image.

Bump, bump, bump … Some people may like this image but I don’t. Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Follow a Vehicle While Shooting

If there are cars in front of you, maintain your speed and distance from them so as to keep them at the same focal point in the frame.  Then, you’ll get something to draw people’s attention with the zooming lights.

This was the first time I followed a police car.

Following a bike might be a good idea too.

Wet Asphalt Gives Nice Reflections

I don’t often take “cruising” photos on a rainy night, because I do this on the way to and from photoshoot locations, and don’t go out on a rainy day.  But if you find a spot that has nice reflections on rainy days, try “cruise-shooting” there.  I’ve heard that older types of asphalt give better reflections, while the newer types don’t. The newer ones, apparently, are designed to rapidly absorb surface water.  Be extra cautious though, because those nice reflections mean a slippery road surface.

One of the toughest things to do on a rainy day is  to keep the windshield devoid of rain drops.  You will likely need to keep the wiper on all the time, so it’s hard to get the right timing for releasing the shutter.  So trying this right after the rain might be much easier for you.

I wasn’t flying in space. To get this, I had to ask the driver to stop the wipers for a moment.

The techniques I have shared with you here will vary depending on what equipment you use.  But I hope your inspiration has been fueled a little by now.  If you enjoyed reading about this technique, please leave a comment below.  I want to hear your voices.