Ajax Towing

[Loose Canon]

So I was digging around in my toy box this morning looking for something to play with and I ran into these! Forgot I had them!

Little boys like to play with trucks! I had bought these some time ago with the intention of maybe photographing them. I never did. Until today!

I thought of what might be a fun way to do it and maybe learn something along the way.

I’ve tried this technique a time or two outside a studio environment, but never really did get too involved with it.

I’m too easily amused!

f/8
0.4 second shutter
ISO 1250
One light fired through a small soft box off to camera left.
One frame.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[GBO25]

It's excellent. Now you'll have to go out and buy a Lego city or something similar for a scale backdrop.
Why aren't there trailing highlights from some parts of the subjects -like the highlights from the front of the truck for instance?

[Donald]

Excellent bit of work, Terry. Well done. And illustrates what can be achieved with a pretty small set up but lots of imagination, knowledge and skill.

[Loose Canon]

Thank you guys!

Graham I’m still wrapping my head around this whole thing! I think they are there and especially if you follow the blur trail lines. I have some other shots that are defying my own feeble ability to comprehend and I’m still waterboarding the shots to get the information I need!

My preliminary thoughts are that it has to do with how fast the toys are moving, where the highlights are located in relationship to the more colored parts of the shot, the timing on the shutter, and the flash setting as regards power output. I have some strange ghosting, transparencies, and just generally stuff that I hadn’t counted on seeing. But on review of basics of timed shutter releases it makes sense.

[IzzieK]

Very creative as usual, Terry. One problem though, in real life if that is really a tow truck, it wouldn't be allowed to travel THAT! fast with its cargo, don't you think? The shot speed is pretty much like traveling on Germany's autobahn????

[Loose Canon]

So uh…

Exactly what is it about the shot that makes you convinced that the truck is moving at a high rate of speed Izzie?

From the beginning of the motion streaks to where the truck was “stopped” was almost half a second. That by the shutter speed.

55 mph is 80.6 feet per second. Half a second is 40.3 fps. The truck appears to have traveled approx. twice its length in the 0.4 sec shutter release time.

If the truck is 20’ long in real life that would indicate the speed to be about 55 mph. A 20’ truck bed alone would not necessarily be unusual which would make the truck even longer thereby moving even a bit slower than 55 mph, not counting the 1/10 sec from 0.4 sec to 0.5 (1/2 second).

We have more modern versions of this truck on the highways around here all the time doing way more than 55! They, just like any other vehicle, are allowed to travel the posted speed limit, which on the closest highway to me is 60 mph. Faster once you get out of town.

But I’m a long ways from the Autobahn!

Or either that or its a NASCAR tow truck!

[Kaye Leggett]

Beautifully done, as with Donald, I applaud your imagination with such simple tools.

[deetheturk]

Great capture Terry

[Loose Canon]

Hi Kaye, David!

Thank you for coming in and commenting.

Fun shoot! I got to play with the camera stuff and the toy trucks! No reason at all I can figure why the two would be mutually exclusive!

All us little boys love playing with our toy trucks!

[FootLoose]

That's pretty cool, Terry. Have you tried it with something really shiny, like a toy motorbike?

[Loose Canon]

Thank you Greg.

I haven’t tried with anything else in the studio. Well except for the time I messed up and Ruined Life for Everyone! Probably because I don’t have a cool toy bike that is shiny (probably have to be a Harley) in my toybox!

You have one?

[FootLoose]

This is the closest thing I have, Terry - an almost picture of an unidentifiable body on some kind of bike. Lol. The motion blur in your image reminded me of this.

[bnnrcn]

Great shot Terry

[cuilin]

sweet shot! i've a got a couple toy cars that i bought to shoot, but none quite as interesting as these. the streaks give another dimension to the shot. well done.