Hyper Driving: Long Exposure Experiments from the Driver's Seat

This is a timelapse experiment made from long exposure photos taken while driving — a moving canvas of light, reflection, and vibration.

It started with a question: What if I could capture the look of motion from inside the car, intentionally? I’ve taken handheld night shots while riding before, and some of them came out surprisingly good. This time, I wanted to build a setup that could do it with purpose. Rig the camera. Set the exposure. Let the light play.

I used a Fuji X-T2 and mounted it roughly by the driver’s shoulder. The tripod was stabilized in the back seat, with the top sticking out between the front seats. Not ideal, but solid enough to get going.

Reducing vibrations was the biggest challenge. I found that matching the vibration frequency of the car helped reduce relative shake — at least enough to keep the dashboard relatively sharp. Still, it’s not perfect, and the windshield was another issue entirely.

Even after a solid wash, every little smudge or scratch showed up. If you’re trying this, polish the glass first. Lesson learned.

The full drive was about 30 minutes — 15 minutes one way, turn around, and 15 minutes back. I did a few test rounds to dial in the frame and exposure. The first couple runs were just tuning: drive a few blocks, stop, check the shot, adjust, drive again.

Once the setup was close enough, I committed to a full run. At the turnaround point, I checked focus and settings again, then started a fresh sequence on the way back. That return trip ended up being the keeper.

The result is a blend of chaos and structure. Light streaks, traffic signals, dashboard glows, the rhythm of the road — all collapsed into a pulse. The windshield artifacts give it texture, almost like film grain.

It wasn’t meant to be perfect. It was meant to see what would happen. And that it delivered

Things to improve:

• A better vibration isolation mount
• Neutral density filters for daytime attempts
• Different lens choices for focal length variety
• Cleaning the windshield like it’s going into surgery