Tackling drive by photography

The majority of the time, I’m a big believer in story telling and waiting for those special ‘in between’ moments to occur.  I love to capture the little details and am more than content to just watch and wait for a story to unfold.  Sometimes, however, for whatever the reason, it just feels like there isn’t enough time in the day and it seems the older my kiddos get the more time we seem to spend in the car, heading out to various sporting and play dates.

Trips in the car with young kids (in our car at least!) usually involve some version of ‘Mum Karaoke’ (I won’t be winning any awards there by the way!), games of ‘eye-spy’, ‘twenty guesses’, and general refereeing of the back seat banter with not much time left for gazing out the window.

Trips in the car without kids are few and far between and more often than not, include just me and the radio on the way to work.  And then there’s those rare moments when there’s another adult in the car with you and you don’t have to drive!  Of course at times like this there’s still lots to talk about but thankfully us ladies are fabulous at multitasking.

Unfortunately, not every trip allows for those ‘random photographer stops’ but as soon as I’m in the passenger seat I love to try and capture some of that beauty on the go!

Approaches to Drive By Photography:

The two main feelings that can be conveyed through drive-by photography are basically those that look like drive-by images and those that don’t.

Images that look like drive by images:

• May incorporate the use of slow shutter speeds, and some sort of element of motion blur.
• These images may also include part of the car, adding to the contextual information available to the viewer.
• Crops may be more ‘artistic’ and include fragments of objects/scenes.

Images that don’t look like drive by images:

• Shutter speed will generally be effective in freezing motion.
• Composition may appear more thoughtful and deliberate.
• No evidence of the interior of the car will be present.

Drive by Photography is not only a fun tool to keep you entertained on long car trips, it can be a fantastic way to capture the feeling of leaving a place behind – or of new beginnings. Some even argue that psychologically, drive by photography can be almost meditative in terms of letting go of expectations and being open to endless possibilities. Whatever your motivations, it’s worth a try.