Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: I need some pointers for taking pictures at my drive-in

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Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 02-17-2012, 02:19 PM:

I would like to take some photos at our drive-in for marketing purposes and I'm hoping to get some ideas for interesting angles and so forth.

For what it's worth, I have a DSLR camera with a tripod. I have a 28mm f/2.8 and and 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6. Plus some other choices.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-17-2012, 04:08 PM:

When I think of drive-in theaters a few images always appear in my mind, like a large fairly close view of the screen perhaps off at an angle. When I was just a kid I played in those little playgrounds some drive-ins had directly under the screen. From that point of view the screen was gigantic.

How about setting up the camera and tripod outside under the projector port while showing a movie? A long exposure could show plenty of stars in the background and make the projector beam very bright.

Another possible tripod trick: take a long exposure shot from somewhere in the back of the lot while vehicles are leaving. You'll have lots of interesting red streaks lighting up the area. If you have a really good steady tripod you can take multiple exposures and lay them on top of each other for editing in Photoshop.

Does the theater have a good sign? I remember lots of old drive-ins having lots of neon on their signs. You can take such photos from a variety of angles. It might be good if the drive-in screen is visible in the background, even if it's just the steel frame on the back of the screen.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-17-2012, 05:54 PM:

Take a long exposure of the lot at night from the back of the lot looking toward the screen.

Use a high power flash or a couple of ganged M2 flash bulbs in large reflectors spaced a couple of feet apart on either side of the camera.

Set the shutter to B and the sync to X. Use a tripod and cable release, of course.

Trip the shutter, set off the flash bulbs and lock the shutter open for a good 15 to 30 minutes.

The flash will expose the near objects and, hopefully, catch a few people moving around the lot. The long exposure will expose the dim, far away areas and, hopefully, let you catch some star trails in the sky.

If it all goes well, you should get that classic drive-in movie shot of the cars all pointing toward the screen.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-17-2012, 08:35 PM:

Sunsets! Stars!

Here's a crappy scan of a snapshot that I took in 1999 or so at the Fork Union DI in Fork Union, VA. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I just put the camera on the hood of my car. The result is nothing great, but, given time and a willingness to experiment, you could probably come up with something amazing.

Better yet, hire a professional photographer. He could probably get more good shots in an evening that most of us could get in a year.

I do like the neon sign idea as well. One possible issue: how will the photographs be reproduced? The type of photograph that looks good in a newspaper advertisment is not necessarily what would look best in a high-quality magazine ad or on a photographic quality enlargement. The sunset idea would not work for a B&W newspaper ad; the sign idea would work much better for something like that.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 02-18-2012, 09:57 AM:

Try checking out some of the images on Cinematour. My tours of the Hwy 18 Outdoor in Jefferson, WI and the 61 in Maquoketa, IA should be helpful.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-18-2012, 11:06 AM:

If you have a way to get up high beyond the screen -- say, on top of a neighboring building -- maybe a shot from behind the screen (but off to the side a bit) would be cool. If you did a long exposure, you might be able to see the beam of light coming out of the booth and the cars in the lot. Don't do this on a night where you only have 3 or 4 cars! [Big Grin]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-18-2012, 11:09 AM:

Scott,

Yeah, like that!
Admittedly, you were just dicking around but that's the thing I was thinking about. A flash would have filled in the cars in the foreground. A long exposure would have filled in he stars in the sky and the background detail.

Julius Schulman's photo of the Case Study House #22 (The Stahl House) was taken with a combination shot similar to this.

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/shulman/