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8 Seconds in Time

Posted by
Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 21 February 2008 in Transportation and Portfolio.

In case you're wondering....yes, that's me at the wheel and you can see that the car is moving from the dash dispay......the camera is mounted on a heavy tripod that's securely fixed into position in the back of the car so that the camera and car are moving as one, otherwise it would all be a blurry mess with an exposure this long.

The shutter is triggered with a wireless remote.

It was all a bit of a wild experiment that happened to work much better than I was expecting.

NIKON D40 8 seconds F/11.0 ISO 200 15 mm (35mm equiv.)

Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog

For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.

Double KK Photography from West Richland, United States

very cool photo

21 Feb 2008 7:54am

@Double KK Photography: Thanks very much!

«miguel.peixeiro» from Coimbra, Portugal

...very good result this 15mm.

21 Feb 2008 9:34am

@«miguel.peixeiro»: Thanks Miguel.....the lens is a Sigma 10-20 and is my favourite by far. Mounted on my Nikon D40 it converts to a 15-30mm so the exif is showing that it's at its fully wide setting.

HESTER from Spain

Increbile captura! Enhorabuena! De verdad me ha sorprendido. Me ha gustado muchooo!!

21 Feb 2008 9:52am

@HESTER: Thanks very much Hester!

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

This is so totally cool! I love your adventurousness with the camera; each day you give us different types of pictures and they are always refreshingly yours and yet always innovative as well. Keep up the good work!

21 Feb 2008 10:56am

@GJC: Thanks very much GJC!.....I love experimenting with this new camera and it's great to get such positive reactions about the results.

Helma from Tehran, Iran

WOOOW ! Amazing shot ... Great captured and very nice photo ... thanks.

21 Feb 2008 11:14am

@Helma: Thanks very much Helma!

Allan from Corby, United Kingdom

Nicely done. Love it.

21 Feb 2008 11:46am

@Allan: Thanks very much Allan!

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

Experiment successful! I love this shot.

21 Feb 2008 12:40pm

@Viewfinder: Thanks very much Viewfinder!

MGarand from Yarmouth, United States

this worked unbelievably well! i have never seen a long exposure taken inside a moving car like this, what an excellent idea. well done!!!!

21 Feb 2008 1:24pm

@MGarand: Thanks very much Mathew....I'm really pleased that you liked it!

bm from Budapest, Hungary

Terrific shot, really feels like speeding down the highway and the colors are just fantastic - I was thinking about trying this for a while now but haven't yet. Looking at your shot just made me want to really do it!

21 Feb 2008 1:29pm

@bm: Thanks bm!.....yes, give it a try for yourself. It isn't hard to set up; just remember to make sure the tripod can't move and the camera is securely fixed in place, otherwise you'll end up with just a blurry mess as the camera bounces about (its a lot safer too :-)

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

Hell, you're brilliant! Very futuristic looking as well, well for me anyway. And you're on the wrong side of the road and of the car lol

21 Feb 2008 2:03pm

@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine!

Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia

That is a fine and very unusual photo. Your work paid off in sheer interest.

21 Feb 2008 2:14pm

@Michael Skorulski: Thanks Micheal!

Jason Kravitz from Brussels, Belgium

wow - this is very cool - great experiment!

21 Feb 2008 2:15pm

@Jason Kravitz: Thanks Jason!.....I'm really pleased you liked it.

Nick Passantino from Bronx, United States

quite a setup for this shot.. and it was well worth it. great result

21 Feb 2008 2:31pm

@Nick Passantino: Thanks Nick!

greg from Denver, United States

great idea and execution.. what's causing the light streaks up above the road? streetlights?

well done!

21 Feb 2008 2:47pm

@greg: Thanks Greg!....the light streaks up above the road are from the lights illuminating the motorway (freeway)

Betty from New Jersey, United States

Great experiment, wonderful shot!

21 Feb 2008 3:04pm

@Betty: Thanks Betty!

Ron from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

Great stuff, Ian! I think my favorite piece of the shot is the view in the left-side mirror – it's just a cool little picture within a picture.

21 Feb 2008 3:11pm

Putter from Belgium

Wow, what an incredible shot. Looks like a still from a weird sf movie. Love it!

21 Feb 2008 3:19pm

CraHan from Koolkerke, Belgium

Pure genius. It feels like a timewarp sequence from a sci-fi movie or something :D

21 Feb 2008 3:40pm

lucie from san francisco, United States

fabulous. good idea!

21 Feb 2008 5:00pm

Jan from Bruges, Belgium

Great experiment indeed. Looks like a cockpit of a space aircraft

21 Feb 2008 5:04pm

Stefan Thaler from Thiersee, Austria

Wow, great shot, exellent capture!

21 Feb 2008 5:05pm

alex centrella from fresno, United States

outstanding work...would be a great stock image. !

21 Feb 2008 5:46pm

amy from Rocky Mountain House, Canada

OUTSTANDING!!! and down right brilliant!!! Plus this on the spotlight page!! You even have a pana roof which gives more trail lights... just freakin' amazing Ian... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

21 Feb 2008 6:05pm

Michael Rawluk from Prince George, Canada

It certainly does work. Excellent.

21 Feb 2008 6:14pm

danthro from Suburbia, United States

AWESOME! I know I always love your shots, but this one really stands out (with "Southport Pier in Winter"). i'm just not used to seeing the driver on the right though ;) great composition, color, everything.

21 Feb 2008 6:15pm

Betsy Barron : www.thebetsy.com from Glenmoore, United States

yeah, that's a once in a lifetime shot - love it!

21 Feb 2008 8:58pm

standley from brou-sur-chantereine, France

Great experiment. Wonderful result!

21 Feb 2008 9:43pm

Daroru from Amagasaki, Japan

!!! Fantastic result!

21 Feb 2008 11:40pm

JoeB from Brampton, Canada

The moving and captured motion, and the colour its just a great shot.

22 Feb 2008 2:40am

Barbara from Florida, United States

An extremely cool shot. Great work.

22 Feb 2008 3:28am

Damon Schreiber from Toronto, Canada

Wow, that's totally sci-fi!

22 Feb 2008 3:53am

tom from Germany

That is really cool. Has a touch of science fiction.

22 Feb 2008 5:58am

Bernhard from Wr.Neustadt, Austria

Nice experiment and good realisation. IMO the hands are a bit too blurry, but I know this would be a very hard improvement to make. I like it.

22 Feb 2008 7:29am

Stu from Kyoto, Japan

Very, very cool and well executed. Superb idea. Bravo!

22 Feb 2008 8:48am

Daniel from Stranded in Kenmare, United States

pretty nice

22 Feb 2008 5:09pm

MOHAMMAD from BANDAR ABBAS, Iran

wow great

23 Feb 2008 5:20am

Michael from Wuppertal, Germany

Stunning way to get a capture! How did you fixed the tripod- did you used the safety belts?

23 Feb 2008 6:17pm

@Michael: Hi Michael....yes making sure the tripod couldn't move was important for safety and to minimise blur of the parts of the image that are inside the car......when the car goes over a bump at high speed the camera and the car need to move together.

Wysterior from Kloten, Switzerland

Awesome super shot !!! Breathtaking !!!
Cya Wys

23 Feb 2008 9:36pm

Pouhou from Apeldoorn, Netherlands

fantastique shot and incredible idea

23 Feb 2008 11:35pm

daniel kurniawan from solo, Indonesia

great framming ian.. your photographic skill now is more than a great photographer

24 Feb 2008 6:26am

Ina from Krugersdorp, South Africa

Congratulations on being futured on the front page! You did a great job here.
Very creative.

24 Feb 2008 10:15am

shahab from Qazvin, Iran

Stunning work!Beautifully done!

24 Feb 2008 2:47pm

blackivory from Singapore, Singapore

Great idea, and a wonderful photo to go with it!

24 Feb 2008 3:24pm

Twelvebit from Victoria, United States

Great idea. I like it. Saw some images like this on JPG Mag awhile back, were they yours?

24 Feb 2008 8:49pm

@Twelvebit: Hi Twelvebit!....I loaded them onto JPG at about the same time as here and this one is now up for sale on the Alamy stock photo site. I've just started loading some of my better D40 photos there.

My ambition is to see some of my photos get published so decided to actually do something about it

lucie from san francisco, United States

this one is the best of the two. great idea.

26 Feb 2008 5:02pm

Jeff from Honolulu, United States

Interesting processing...with good results.

26 Feb 2008 5:30pm

Oswegan from Lake Oswego, United States

Really wierd. I like it.

27 Feb 2008 7:10pm

Ian from Singapore, Singapore

This is superb!!! I like it a lot

28 Feb 2008 2:53am

Alexandros from Kefalonia, Greece

That's amazing!
That's something I want to do for a long time but haven't found the way to stabilise the tripod in the car yet...

29 Feb 2008 9:16am

Eleftheria, 9 years old, from Athens, Greece

Amazing photo!

5 Mar 2008 9:38am

Japanalia from Yokohama, Kenya

Such a futuristic look!!!! (You vight be a visitor from UP THERE!) Amazing what you did here!!!I feel drawn inside it!

8 Mar 2008 1:11am

sahand from Tehran, Iran

Nice Shot

17 Apr 2009 7:34am

Milhi from Caslav, Czech Republic

It's crazy image. Very fajn

15 Sep 2010 4:22pm

NIKON D40
8 seconds
F/11.0
ISO 200
15 mm (35mm equiv.)