Yes, it can be done quite successfully!

When we’re on the road, my husband refuses to stop the car on the side of the road/highway for a number of reasons. Being in a hurry is one of the reasons, but mostly it’s about safety. You might think that’s quite strange, but I live in South Africa and even though it’s pretty safe in the rural areas, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when the kids are in the car.

I’ve also been known to ask him to stop the car in some strange places just so that I could get my photo for the day, so I can quite understand when he refuses sometimes.

Anyhow, I’m digressing…  as a result of the above, I’ve become quite, no, very good at taking photos from the passenger seat while the car is moving (and sometimes even while I’m driving) – and moving at high speeds too!

I find that the best quality photos come out if you…

1.  Make sure the shutter speed is as fast as possible.  If you’re using a point and shoot, change the setting to Sports mode.

2.  Attach the lens hood to cut out the glare, if it’s sunny outside.

Farm in the Freestate

3.  Keep the camera as steady as possible.  You can buy little camera cushions to lean the camera on (they’re used in Game Parks so that you can take photos from the car without using a tripod).

Nature taking over

4.  If you’re driving the car and just HAVE to get that shot, it’s quite easy to rest the camera on the steering wheel and aim it in the general direction of the object that’s of interest. It’s best to do this in peak hour traffic or in a traffic jam so that the car is going really slowly.

Here’s an example of a photo that I took while I was driving.  I was going extremely slowly because of the traffic.  In fact, I took both of these shots with my point and shoot (it’s almost impossible to take photos from the driver’s seat with a DSLR)

Power

Street Lights

And lastly, take LOADS of shots!  At least one of them will be perfect.

Jeanette is a South African working mother of 2 very busy boys. She’s been taking a photograph every day since June 2007 and you can watch her skills improve at Photography by Jeanette.