One of the most important things when photographing dramatic headlight trails is the position of the camera.
For this image, I placed my camera higher than the headlights by setting my tripod to about 140–150 cm. This angle allows the light trails to flow naturally across the road and creates a stronger sense of movement.
While the shutter is open, I hope as many cars as possible pass through the scene, but that part is simply a matter of luck.
I did not use an ND filter for this photograph. However, if traffic is light, using an ND filter is one way to keep the shutter open longer and capture more light trails in a single image.
It also helps when different types of vehicles pass by. Passenger cars and trucks have headlights at different heights and often different colors. Those variations make the light trails more interesting and give the final photograph a stronger impact.
