On The Road

Travel Photos From The Car by Harold Brown

photography from moving vehicles

A great number of travel photos I take when traveling are from the car as we drive along the highways. Sometimes from a rolled down side widow, but most often through the windshield. This type of picture taking is far different that the planned artistic captures that we see in travel magazines and websites. However, pictures from a moving car can be as challenging as the setup and preparation for that once in a life time picture at sunrise or sunset. Reflections, glare and motion become the challenge and post processing tools become essential. A higher shutter speed becomes important, as well as avoiding anything close to the car as it will be blurred. Head on shots through the windshield are good for closer scenes as there is typically less blurring. Be ready to crop out unwanted foreground or parts of the car when working on your photographs. I usually get a picture of the driver as well, we are all part of the experience.

Travel Photos From The Car

Here is a video of the temple in Sagar as we drive by it in the car. It is in the first few seconds of the video, but keep watching to see rural India. A few days later we drove by it again, but this time I took the still shots with my Nikon D90 that you see above.

Through the windshield of the car as we drive through Mirjapor toward Delvada on Maroli-Chhinam Rd.

Below is a great read from Nikon Rumors about photography from moving vehicles. I suddenly feel vindicated about my photo site pictures and some great pictures exist along the way to your final destination.

Nikon Rumors "The Photo I missed"

There are a lot of good tips in the post and many are actually what I do when traveling, if you are serious about getting better shots it is well worth the read. If you look at my post from 2013 take note that all the pictures and video were shot from a moving vehicle (except for the fashion shots). Get out and see the world.

 
Hyderabad Nursing Home


Panorama - On The Road in Iowa by Harold Brown

Panorama - On The Road in Iowa

A panorama of the exciting landscape of Iowa. Look, it is actually pretty cool, but it goes on for a hundred miles.

I had scanned about 100 slides from a 1973 trip to the Badlands and notice that a few of the pictures actually formed panoramas. A few minutes later thanks to Photoshop CS5 I had a panorama of a view from the car window. Looking at the pictures I remember that this scenery went on for dozens of miles on end. The pictures brought back a lot of forgotten memories of the trip.

Captured the world and a life time of memories. Use your camera and photo document your life.

On The Road – Mbombela Rural by Harold Brown

Another example of what you can see while "On The Road". Driving in South Africa in Mbombela Rural we stopped by the roadside to see "Old Joe".

On The Road – Mbombela Rural
On The Road – Mbombela Rural
On The Road – Mbombela Rural

The sign in the picture above explains the story of Joe and his contribution to building the highway that was completed in 1927. Joe was obviously a great man to be loved by his co-workers so much that they put this stone in place to honor and remember him.

Taken on our drive from Joburg To Kruger Park

As I mentioned in my first "On The Road" post sometimes the drive from one place to another can lead to some interesting finds. Old Joe is certainly one of those rare finds that isn't a destination and many people will never get to see when visiting South Africa.

The map below shows where you can find Old Joe

 

On The Road – South Dakota by Harold Brown

On The Road –  South Dakota

Taken through the drivers side window of a 1972 Chevy Nova in July 1973. We were driving to The Badlands National Monument. Note the side view mirror in the lower right portion of the photo. I scanned the 35mm slide using my Epson V700. The trip was so long ago that I don't know exactly where in South Dakota the picture was taken, but I do know that we entered the Badlands from the north on route 240 after exiting I-90 near Cactus Flats.

On The Road - National Highway 9 by Harold Brown

On The Road - National Highway 9

On The Road - National Highway 9

Nikon D90 - ISO 200 - f/6.3 - 1/160

I captured the above picture from the car window on my way to Abdullapurmet, India. Motorcycles are a common sight and often the families main transportation.

The background of the picture captures perfectly the visual appearance of old Hyderabad and the blue gray skies of the area.

On The Road - National Highway 9

The above photo details: Nikon D90 - ISO 200 - f/8 - 1/250 - 18mm Focal Length

On The Road - National Highway 9

Click on the pictures above to see a bigger version and more information about the photo. It's all about the journey.