Good evening,
So I realized after publishing the last blog that I am late on it and owe you all one. So car trails were brought up. Once you know how to do them they are easy and it becomes more placement of the subject and background than anything else.
The main needs are a steady camera, a long exposure, cars, and a darkish location.
Here is an 8 s exposure at f18. The camera was sitting on the median and I used a self timer because I did not have a remote.
Ideally a remote shutter and a tripod will be added. It gives some more control over the image. Instead of being limited to guessing on when a car will come into the frame, like I did in the above image, the shutter can be triggered when you want without disturbing the camera. Having a tripod will let you place the camera where you want for the image you are trying to create.
Below I had a tripod and remote shutter. So I was more focused on other aspects of the image than just when the car was coming into the frame. I knew the Milky Way and Luxor light were in the frame. I also placed the bush, that is illuminated by my tail lights to give the image more depth. On a side note that is not the sunrise, it is the lights from Las Vegas.
A tripod mounted 30 second exposure. The car was traveling relatively slow so I did a longer exposure.
I have not gotten a really good capture of it but keep in mind that flashing lights from emergency vehicles can add a bunch of interest to a car trail image.
While getting ready to pull out I saw the flashing lights coming my way so I quickly grabbed my camera and set it on my dash, no timer and I had to stop it from sliding around on the dashboard. Not a sharp image it does show the lights well though..
So have fun with it. Grab your gear after nightfall and find some cars hopefully with their headlights on.
PS if you have any questions about photography that you want me to tackle let me know in the comments or through the contact page.