Picture taking advice?

[Need For Swede]

Just make sure there are some booooobs somewhere in the pictar

[macminter]

Originally Posted by Ursan

...often many of you forget about the macro function.

I agree with this. Macro can be used on many car photos, and is very handy regardless what you might shoot.

Using some macro on these shots.



Again, more macro, especially useful on the emblems or L-Plates.



But, even more important, is lighting. Where this picture didn't turn out amazing, because of lighting. Now, a reflector, or light flash would make it better.. (I couldn't move the car, and there was a truck on the other side.) Also, this is an example of getting down to shoot the car, so it's not a plain eye-level shot.



When you shoot into the light.. Sometimes it looks ok; as long as the hood, roof or windows aren't blinding the shot, but other wise no. This one is debatable, if you're going for a sort-of sleeper look.


And, for photography, this is my favorite example I've got uploaded. Not many reflections of other cars, planted in the middle of the frame, good lighting to your back, wheel turned, showing back wheel, and background easily worked with in PhotoShop. My only issue, is, it's eye-level, if I had gotten down lower, it would be a much more dramatic shot.

[340GL]

don't use macro for taking pictures of things a few feet away. that's not what it's for.

[brakedust]

Nice Ford!

[brakedust]

Originally Posted by 340GL

don't use macro for taking pictures of things a few feet away. that's not what it's for.

Depends on the MM of the macro Glass.

[340GL]

Adding to the discussion about what angle to shoot from, here are a couple of examples of shooting at the same level as the car's waistline or about halfway between the floor and the top of the roof:





It's probably my favorite angle.

[340GL]

Originally Posted by harrisonfry

Depends on the MM of the macro Glass.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean the focal length? Why would that have a bearing on whether you should be using "macro" mode or not?

I'm not trying to be an *******; I genuinely don't follow what you're saying.

[charnock]

Automotive photography is great, I love it. Some of the stuff people have mentioned about burning out the image by leaving your lights on are good points


Just a boring vectra, the sea looks flat as its a 30second exposure. very little post camera editing believe it or not. lit from the test button on the flashgun with a diffuser on it to spread the light a bit more evenly. Lit evenly by 3 flashes and one from above.

Another source of light I've found usefull is a 6million candlepower hunting light.








a few pictures I am happy with. The thing that anoys me the most is dodge pictures on tbricks. Just light your cars proper pleeeeease composition needs to be good too, I find the use of odd angles can throw people off a bit so tend not to use them too much. geting pictures from anything other than eye-level is usualy a plus tho.

threephin, that rig shot is great how have you made your rig?

[brakedust]

911 and 1 Alfaholics shot.








I have lots of other automotive if you wish to see. Or would like a shoot?

[brakedust]

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[brakedust]

1

[charnock]

love the first rolling shot nice subjects too

[ok9yo]

Good post. Hopefully I can get a few of my pics shown here.

[760T man]

Originally Posted by rancidponymilk

Get photoshop and learn to use it.

GIMP works fine too. Been using it for years. Free yet tremendously powerful open-source alternative. Not QUITE as good as photoshop, but you're not paying $800 either.

Originally Posted by rancidponymilk

Taking all your pictures at stupid angles is not artistic, its just annoying.

What bothers me much more than weird angles is when people under- or over-expose ALL their pictures, then say they're doing it as a "style" - saying that is "artistic" is just a cover-up for not knowing how to take a damn picture.

That and the fake HDRs that look nothing at all like a real High Dynamic Range photograph, which is simply a merge of three bracketed exposures taken on a tripod. The point is to retain detail in the highlights and shadows in high-contrast situations that are difficult to properly expose. The fake images fail miserably at even imitating this.

[fishinablender]

wow this is sick

[fishinablender]

I dont know if its just me, but this Porsche looks longer than normal, almost kind of "stretched". I dont know if its just the angle, photoshop, or even just that particular car, but how do you get that look/effect?

[nrdub]

Originally Posted by fishinablender

I dont know if its just me, but this Porsche looks longer than normal, almost kind of "stretched". I dont know if its just the angle, photoshop, or even just that particular car, but how do you get that look/effect?

I'm not exactly sure if this is the case for this pic but the distance you are from the car can make it appear longer or shorter. Idk if anyone already posted this (sorry didnt read the rest of the posts if this is a repost)

close up = longer



far = shorter or stubbier

sorry, not the best example or pics but you can kind of get the idea. the angle changes based on how close you are to the object

[FatLobes]

If you have Pop out windows, pop-em-out. raise contrast, you dont always have to focus every thing, and if you have a dent or "bad spot" cut it out
check out

[NChoy]

Take the lens cap off.

Seriously, maybe other folks have mentioned these things, but I'll add my photo advice anyway.

- Best to shoot in the shade (or on an overcast day)... harsh reflections and bright sun are never good for anything metallic.
- If the windows are tinted, put them up. If not, put them down.
- Wash the car.
- Hose down the ground underneath the car. You'll get some pretty cool reflections and a "professional" look to the pictures with this little trick.
- Watch your background... make sure it's not distracting. Also ensure whatever angle you shoot at doesn't have a light pole sticking out of the roof of your car.
- Use a neutral-density filter if you have one... this will cut down on any reflections or hot spots (when you're dealing with chrome or glass, there's a lot of hot spots!)

[Two245Turbos]

This was taken with a wide angle lens. You can start to see the distortion near the edges. I tried to lift the exif from the image, but wasn't intact...as for nrdub's reasoning of "close=longer and far= shorter", doesn't fly as it is all a matter of focal length and angle.

[Lua]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

1. FOR THE LOVE OF ****ING GOD KEEP YOUR CAMERA LEVEL TO THE GROUND.
2. Avoid the 'temptation' of HDR. Avoid it like the plague. I make no judgements as to anyone's ability with a camera, but 99% of all attempts at HDR look like ****. This is not me exaggerating. 99%. ****. If you think you need jump on a dumbass bandwagon to make your photos look good, then you also need a ****ing baseball bat to the head.

Actually, HDR shots can help fix certain lighting situations. If you want a picture of your car with the ocean in the background, and the sun setting next to the car, HDR imaging will help show the car and the setting sun in the background. It won't make it perfect, but HDR imaging is far from a fad, it's a great way to get an awesome quality picture.

But as far as tips for shooting, they've pretty much all been said. Use a tripod at night, no flash, adjust your f-stop and shutter speed accordingly. I like to use low ISOs all the time, because at night, you can get noise pretty easily in pure blacks if you're shooting at 800 or so (depending on the camera). Also, try new stuff; I see all the same front end and back end shots. Taking pictures from the top of an overpass or something would be cool.

Edit: Also, adjust your white balance. Every digital camera I've ever played around with (including point and shoots) will let you adjust your white balance. It really helps!

[Lua]

Originally Posted by fishinablender

I dont know if its just me, but this Porsche looks longer than normal, almost kind of "stretched". I dont know if its just the angle, photoshop, or even just that particular car, but how do you get that look/effect?

It looks like either a wide angle lens (20mm or something), or it could have to do with the focal length. If you're using a focal length of 60mm, the subject is going to look flatter against the background than the same picture @ 30mm.

[carnut1100]

Playing with ****e balance can really help.
I sometimes "warm up" a picture by setting white balance to Cloudy.

As for the photos of cars with lights on, if you are using a film camera you can set up for a multiple exposure, take your long exposure shot of the car to expose correctly, the turn on the lights, and stop down or run a shorter shutter speed, either way take the exposure down 3 or 4 stops and expose again for the lights, they will be lit, but under exposed so they will not blow out the pic.
This works better than setting a really long exp and having a mate sit in the car and flash the lights...it keeeps anybody else out of the pic and keeps things solid tripod shot.
Could probably use basic HDR techniques to do it with digi too.

[Electricpandaz]

Im no master of car photography but I do shoot formula drift and other events, when they are in town. And usually its best if you have some sort of alternate light source like i did for this picture. I used a drop light, and a super white battery powered camping light. This let me leave the lights on while still getting a good capture of the side of the car. Maybe you could try this? Another idea would to have a flash gun, you can rent those from those rent a shack places and just post it up somewhere interesting to give ur car the light it needs in the dark.

[Hemily]

If you're trying to make the picture look cool though, location is as important as all the other tips, a location can do a whole lot for the whole look of the picture, i actually set out to test this with some cars.

bland boring car (my moms car to be exact :p )
but a somewhat interesting background, mix together, and you suddenly have a interesting shot, despite boring car of boringness.