Picture taking advice?

[sbabbs]

Location, location, location...

If the junker 240 won't make it there, take part of it.

[Wilford Brimley]

win

[ElBertoPolvo]

take your pics however you want to...its all about what you like......

[brakedust]

s

[benknowsbest]

best thing you can do is experiment.
if youve got a dslr, get a couple of off camera flashes. lighting is key, and having some flashes lets you control the lighting.
what i do is put the camera on a tripod and take multiple exposures with the flashes in different locations, then merge all the layers together in photoshop.

result:




others: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3390328...th/5134620749/

obviously, not everyone has access to a dslr and flashes, so youll be needing to use available light. the best light happens at sunrise and sunset. its soft, has good tone and comes in at an angle. unless you want a silhouette, you'll want the side of the car youre photographing to face the sun. make sure youre at an angle where you don't get your reflection or shadow on the car. the best looking photos (IMO) have the sky reflected in the windows.

another thing you can do is wait till its a bit darker, put the camera on a tripod, and take a long exposure (30 seconds or so). walk around the car with a light of some kind and shine it at the parts you want to highlight. experiment with different coloured and shaped lights, lighting different areas and moving the light around at different angles.

the most important part is to experiment, practice, and keep at it. theres is no formula on how to take a good car picture, or on how to take a good picture of anything for that matter, there are merely things to keep in mind as you experiment.

good luck!

[gfco_321]

I think i made every single mistake pointed out in this thread but i still think it looks cool

I took in the middle of nowhere between Chile and Argentina.

[Volvo Heretic]

I've got some old instant camera photos that I have tried to scan, but they came out real grainy. What is the trick to doing a better job? How much resolution should i use and what size should the picture be to post on this forum through Photo Bucket or is it just trial and lots of error? I have no negatives. How about just taking another picture of the photo with a digital camera?

Here is a digital photo of a picture, much better than scanning.

[Hagar17]

Just burn some f*ckers house down!

[vivalavolvo]

This was actually done in total darkness. I did a 15 second exposure and ran around with a manual flash "painting" the car. I did this with a point and shoot too.

[760T man]

Josh, that's pretty ****ing badass.

[aibast]

here is a tip, try to leave off background objects out of the picture.

in this one the blue barrel ruins it. Also polarisation filter helps a lot when taken pics of a car and in other situations.


This picture is taken with polarisation filter


also small aparature can help you, leaving the background more out of focus.

[vivalavolvo]

Originally Posted by 760T man

Josh, that's pretty ****ing badass.

Thanks

I wanna go back one night and do it again. It's in a park under the 476 over pass, the cops let us alone with a confused look when we tell them what were up to when they swing by lol.

[volviefinks]

my 94' 960 i just purchased. not the best photo op. but i will find a place soon.

[propav8r]

Mooresville? Welcome to another NC bricker! Nice ride.

[Finnish240]

Im trying to take cool pics. Sometimes I've got some luck



Here focus is in the ground, looks nice, but didn't got what I wanted.

[ButterflyBrakeChecker]

Originally Posted by gfco_321

I think i made every single mistake pointed out in this thread but i still think it looks cool

I took in the middle of nowhere between Chile and Argentina.

You think your picture looks cool because it is! While you have not made the car the subject, like most people are giving advice for, the narrative (sorry, I'm an art major) is great. You are showing the viewer a piece of your journey in South America and the landscape is just as important as the vehicle.
Also, you pulled off the road; good move, especially on that blind hill.
I like that the horizon line is just below or at the bottom of the windows. Not sure if you did this on purpose but having the sky in the windows brings the (under-lit) car into the viewer's attention. I do think it would be worth brightening the car a little in Photoshop; just a little.
BTW, who the heck were you gonna call when it broke??

[Da Fox]

Originally Posted by aibast

...
also small aparature can help you, leaving the background more out of focus.

I just want to point out that it's a larger aperture that helps, but larger aperture = smaller number. Knowing this makes a difference.

Fox

[Matt]

Taken with an 8sec exposure:


...and with a 15sec exposure:


There was ~20ft between the cars, but the light wouldn't reach the black Golf.

[Matt]

Taken with an 8sec exposure:


...and with a 15sec exposure:


There was ~20ft between the cars, but the light wouldn't reach the black Golf.

[gdogg16]

The gatorade bottle is a nice addition.

[Karl Buchka]

Originally Posted by gdogg16

The gatorade bottle is a nice addition.

Maybe it's a VW thing.

Originally Posted by Matt

Taken with an 8sec exposure:

...and with a 15sec exposure:

There was ~20ft between the cars, but the light wouldn't reach the black Golf.

Looks like you could be running a lower ISO. If you're already keeping the shutter open for 15 seconds, then what's a few more seconds?

[gdogg16]

If you want to shoot rolling shots, match your shutter speed to your vehicle speed and voila.
1/60 at f4.5

DSC_3281.jpg by KeysarPhoto, on Flickr
1/60 at f5

DSC_3260.jpg by KeysarPhoto, on Flickr

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

Maybe it's a VW thing.



Looks like you could be running a lower ISO. If you're already keeping the shutter open for 15 seconds, then what's a few more seconds?

The iso is as low as it can go at 100, might as well do a 30sec shutter, haha.

[sbabbs]

Bigger aperture produces less depth of field(Stuff that will be in focus). Smaller little aperture camera eye creates a greater depth of field, but it flattens the image.

This is all basic film photography stuff if you ever took any real film camera classes. Now days with the digital cameras, it still applies if you can adjust your aperture with your digital camera.

There is also the circle of confusion that every lens has...

[Two245Turbos]

Here's an example of wide open aperture(lower#) from the 50 1.4 @1.4. Note how shallow the focal plane is.
EXIF intact.