car photography question

[rhall54]

My boyfriend is really into cars and is always taking me to car meets and whatnot. The guys there are always wanting people to photograph their cars..

I would love to.. but when it comes to cars, I know nothing!

What makes a good car picture?

what time of day? lighting? background? angles?

Anyone have any advice?

 

[budskiphotography]

ok, so Im pulling this from another post just so I dont have to retype it (im lazy)

alright, let break down my rules about auto photography

1. location
2. location
3.LOCATION!- Ideally you want to place the car in the environment it belongs, for example a race car on the track, a high end car in the city, SUV at an off road location and so on... of course there are expections.

example: here is a race car..

and exception, this is another track car but because it had a rack and bike on it I wanted to give it more of that "west coast beach" feel so I found a colorful wall that complemented the car..

RULE #4- always show 2-3 sides of the car and try to make it somewhat even, like so...

of course there is an exception to this too, like direct side shots or front shots

RULE #5 cut the wheel on front angle shots, dont show tire but instead turn it towards you and show the face of the wheel...

RULE #6- cesta time, if you going to shoot outside do it at dusk or dawn

alright one you've mastered the basics of shooting the car THEN you can start editing, but never go heavy. Sometime just simple dodging, burning and contrast really does the trick... you always want to try to keep the car as it looks.

(yes I know I have horrid reflection on the hood)

 

[budskiphotography]

oh, for angles, low is good.

 

[rhall54]

thank you!

here is a picture my boyfriend took of his car..

any comments?

 

[budskiphotography]

a wee bit more contrast to make that red really pop. Also you really have to pay attention to color selection to make sure its clean or else it can make it look like ass (like rear of the car and the front of the bumper) oh and tell him to be a man and get a hard top! (jk)

also if you want take a look at my flickr, I have tons of auto photos that might help you get and idea of the "style" of it. oh and look at car magazines, it will give you plenty of ideas.

 

[MikeBcos]

Budski, has some very good advice, as well as that though, don't just shoot the whole car, look for details and shoot those. At most shows the cars are too close together and you don't get to choose your background, you'll get some decent snapshots but no real good photographs of the cars. I have a couple of cars I show and I have hundreds of photographs of lines of cars, they all look the same from year to year, but then I have the shots where I get creative, they look much better.

 

[rhall54]

a wee bit more contrast to make that red really pop. Also you really have to pay attention to color selection to make sure its clean or else it can make it look like ass (like rear of the car and the front of the bumper) oh and tell him to be a man and get a hard top! (jk)

.

oh trust me he's been looking at hard tops! lol but he goes through cars like crazy so.. I've talked him out of it.. i think haha.

but thank you for the advice.. and I'll def look through your photos!

 

[budskiphotography]

oh trust me he's been looking at hard tops! lol but he goes through cars like crazy so.. I've talked him out of it.. i think haha.

but thank you for the advice.. and I'll def look through your photos!

ha, sounds like most guys. My current one is the one Ive had the longest.. two years, its also my 12th in my 8 years of driving.

 

[jwsciontc]

ahhhhh the s2000 is my dream car, i think backgrounds and sharpness are the 2 bgigest things in car photography

 

[Toxic Toast]

ive heard and feel free to correct me if im wrong, but arent polarized filters good for shooting cars too? to cut back on any glare.

 

[budskiphotography]

ive heard and feel free to correct me if im wrong, but arent polarized filters good for shooting cars too? to cut back on any glare.

yep, I dont us mine all the time though. It really good when the headlights are on to cut back on lens flare and such.

 

[rhall54]

yea I've known him for 2 years and he's had 8 cars.
cobalt ss, an integra that blew up lol, an older civic hatch, a del sol, an 06 si, neon srt4, some sort of bmw, and now the s2k.

 

[rhall54]

ive heard and feel free to correct me if im wrong, but arent polarized filters good for shooting cars too? to cut back on any glare.

awesome. i just bought a tripod and that was my next investment.

 

[Chillaxed]

if you have a wide angle lense you can get closer to a front corner or back corner and still get two sides of it, it makes an interesting effect.

 

[jwsciontc]

fisheyes are always a sick effect on cars