My Recent Pics....Opinions please...

[BlondeRoxy]

I'm new to car photography and would like to see what others think of these pictures I took recently.

[Ads]

[jamesbjenkins]

Lots of clutter in these. The pictures are about the car. I don't want to see a busy building in the background. Try to find ways to be unique! Most car pictures all have the same "poses", so don't take the easy way out.

[Tony S]

Busy backgrounds, too early in the day with harsh overhead lighting. Wait for the sun to be lower in the sky, so either early morning or late afternoon. You might be better off shooting on a very overcast day to cut down on harsh reflections in the glass and paint, use the cloudy sky as a giant softbox.

[Mot]

I agree with the previous comments but I'd also like to add two more easy improvements!

It looks like all of these were taken from the same height. I'm guessing you just walked around the car taking shots from different angles without actually playing with height and perspective. You could try shooting from lower down than normal or even higher up, an angle that we wouldn't usually see.

A circular polariser will also help cut out some of the distracting reflections on the body work, not all of them but it helps!

Practice, practice, practice!

Edit:

I also played around (for 5 minutes) with some editing. I never do car stuff so it looks hideously over-done but it shows what can be done!

randomcar (1 of 1).jpg

I cropped out the distracting background, desaturated the distracting colour to make it look silly, oversaturated the blue, added too much clarity and added too much sharpening.

[PatrickJamesYu]

Photographically I don't see anything significant about these pictures.
They look like pictures I'd see on Facebook of somebody who just got their new car, and did some quick snapshots on their camera.
Use basic photography theory and stuff into play.
Since you're not really "capturing a moment" with car photographs like these, you have to use composition to your fullest.

Rather than worrying about the backgrounds and stuff, think more into the car.
Framing is a nice for automotive photographs you should look into.
Use a longer lens, and shallower depth of field to start.
Try shooting in the shade, or during 'golden hour' or whatever you might call it.

I agree with what somebody else said with being different
But I think you should learn the basics before branching off.

I try to shoot cars, though I am not that great at it yet, or anywhere near a professional level.

C+C Automotive Photographs. Outdoors

[myeyedea]

Watch Top Gear UK, they make interesting shots/vids of cars.

[gsgary]

Watch Top Gear UK, they make interesting shots/vids of cars.

But the 3 stars of the show are ****ers

[Mot]

Watch Top Gear UK, they make interesting shots/vids of cars.

But the 3 stars of the show are ****ers

Come on! James May is okay! I think the only reason they appear like that is because of how fake it is now, it has almost become Americanised in that sense with the bad acting and excessive explosions.

I would agree that it would be a great way to learn about different ways to shoot cars.

[KmH]

There are a lot of distracting reflections in the glass and on the body of the car.

A Circular PoLarizing (CPL) filter can help control those reflections. The angles between the camera, the light source, and the surface being photographed are important. Cars have surfaces at many different angles making the lighting of them an exercise in compromises.

The easiest way to light/photograph a car is to put it in a light box.

Oh, and you started your thread in the wrong foum section, so I had to move it.