Brand new to photography and taking photos for a website

[AussiePowersports]

Hi guys, I have been reading around here for a while but never had an account or posted.


I work for an online store, and we have recently redone our website which now includes the common full width banner at the top of the site. We want to take photos for that, but being unfamiliar with photography I am having a few issues.


For the moment I have been using panoramic photos, but they have been incredibly hit and miss, especially with my limited gear (I just have a Nikon D3100 and that is all).


I have been looking at wide angle lenses, would that be a better approach? Are there any decent ones within the ~$500 dollar range, or cheaper?


Thanks in advance!


I have this posted on a couple other forums.

 

[Overread]

Thread approved - I think your user name sparked off autowarning anti-spam thingies that we have running (hence why it didn't appear at first).

You say you're having problems, first up could you show us an example of what you're currently taking with the camera. Along with that go through your approach to taking the photo and how you're going about it from settings to setup and time of the day etc... The more info you give the more chance there is that it might be that there's an area of your method that could be improved. That might let you work without having to invest in more equipment and also avoids you spending a large amount of money and still having repeat problems because the problem lays more with the method than with the equipment.

 

[TheFantasticG]

How wide is your widest lens you have now?

 

[AussiePowersports]

Thread approved - I think your user name sparked off autowarning anti-spam thingies that we have running (hence why it didn't appear at first).

You say you're having problems, first up could you show us an example of what you're currently taking with the camera. Along with that go through your approach to taking the photo and how you're going about it from settings to setup and time of the day etc... The more info you give the more chance there is that it might be that there's an area of your method that could be improved. That might let you work without having to invest in more equipment and also avoids you spending a large amount of money and still having repeat problems because the problem lays more with the method than with the equipment.

An example of what I am currently taking is http://www.aussiepowersports.com.au/img/slides/HunterSlide.jpg (sorry about the iffy saturation, it was mainly a test). I am shooting at around 6pm which is still a bit bright here. f/7.1 1/20s and ISO 100. For these photos I just take a shot, move sideways a little then take another. My ability definitely is the biggest issue at the moment, as I had never even touched a camera before trying my hand at taking these and I while I have begun wrapping my head around stuff I still am most definitely a total noob. I was thinking a wide angle lens would be good as it would simplify things, as nobody where I work knows anything about photography haha.

How wide is your widest lens you have now?

I honestly don't even know how to tell, but it is the stock one on the D3100 which says 18-55mm, so hopefully that helps.

 

[Overread]

I would say the biggest problems in that photo are:

1) Lighting - the light is good on the quadbike, clearly showing the detail and not overshadowing it. However in the background with the trees the sunlight is clearly very bright and is acting as a distracting point. Consider shooting closer to the Golden Hours - the hour before and after sunset. The light will be softer and more diffused then and the sky will have a more pleasing shade in general. You might find that you'll have to use a slower shutter speed, but so long as you've a tripod you shouldn't have any trouble since you're subject isn't mobile.

2) Background; you're quite close to it and that makes it more promenant. You might consider trying to shoot from further away, however for a banner and showing the quad in a woodland environment its not bad to have the trees more dominant in the scene rather than pushed way into the background.

 

[runnah]

I'd do a composite image. Crop out the wheeler with a bit of foreground dirt rock and place it over a stock image of some scenery.

 

[runnah]

Like so. If you are good with photoshop you can shoot the wheeler in a studio (clean tires) and make it look like it's out in the woods. That was Honda, and yamaha do.

Excuse the 5 min shop.

 

[KmH]

Your widest lens is the 18 mm enfd of the 18-55 mm focal range your lens has.
Understanding Camera Lenses.

The 'Golden Hours' for doing photography are the hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset.

With the Sun low in the sky near the horizon the atmosphere is about 3 times thicker than when the Sun is overhead. It's like looking at a slice of bread from above and then edge wise.
The additional thickness of atmosphere absorbs more blue light making sunlight a warmer 'golden' color temperature.

Supplimental lighting that has the same color temperature as mid-day sunlight is then needed to keep product colors true.