CTS-V shoot

[JBova]

I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out for my very first shoot. Here are a few of my favorite ones from last weekend.

BTW camera is a Nikon D3200 with 18-55 kit lens

 

[minicoop1985]

There's some strong stuff in there, but there's also some stuff that could use a little extra. I like the idea behind the third, but the lighting seems a bit off. The one at the shipping dock is absolutely awesome in my humble opinion.

 

[BanditPhotographyNW]

I really like how aggressive the Caddy looks in the first pic though I would have maybe gotten lower and to the right a bit....But really some great shots in there...

 

[JBova]

Thank guys. Glad to hear I'm on the right track. Sounds like the countless hours spent watching YouTube vids and lurking this forum and others have helped lol.

There's also some stuff that could use a little extra

What exactly do you mean? Like in post?

 

[Shipman]

Im not a huge fan of all of them but there are a couple nice ones. I understand youre using a kit lens but adjust your focus points and DOF. Im not a huge fan of some of the edits, like in number 3 the car has an odd almost HDR overcast that just doesnt fit. Number 4, the colors are too overpowering especially in the grass. 5 is yhe best in my opinion. One piece of advice I have for you is be careful with your angles. I know people say get low but with cars that arent that low it hurts the shot. This car would look much better with more overhead shots, like looking down on the hood and grille. I would have shot the exhaust tips with the car angled and could show a nice DOF which would draw the attention to them, same with the V badge on the trunk. Be careful of your edits, they can ruin a photo really quickly. I hope this helps.

 

[JBova]

Im not a huge fan of all of them but there are a couple nice ones. I understand youre using a kit lens but adjust your focus points and DOF. Im not a huge fan of some of the edits, like in number 3 the car has an odd almost HDR overcast that just doesnt fit. Number 4, the colors are too overpowering especially in the grass. 5 is yhe best in my opinion. One piece of advice I have for you is be careful with your angles. I know people say get low but with cars that arent that low it hurts the shot. This car would look much better with more overhead shots, like looking down on the hood and grille. I would have shot the exhaust tips with the car angled and could show a nice DOF which would draw the attention to them, same with the V badge on the trunk. Be careful of your edits, they can ruin a photo really quickly. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the advise. I did take a couple higher up shots but i didn't really like the looks of it from up high/above. The first 3 were taken in low light which i definitely need more practice with. I'm planning on getting either a 35mm or 55mm lens whenever i can afford it which should help with DOF and low light photos, hopefully. I'm slowly learning what everything does in lightroom, only had it about 2 weeks. But i do feel like i may over-edit some of my pictures because i don't really know how everything will effect the picture. I do understand some like exposure, sharpening, saturation stuff like that but the tones, highlights, shadows I usually just move and see what it changes then set it to what i like then go to the next. I'll learn eventually.

 

[Shipman]

Heres a pic I did of a car that isnt low, this is an angle that I feel like compliments it without showing how high it is or the amount of wheel gap.


DSC_0057 by mshipman89, on Flickr

Heres another from a high angle. Im my opinion these help the car, if I went low it would have looked too weird.


DSC_0023 by mshipman89, on Flickr

A lot of car guys shoot with an 85mm so maybe that will help you.

 

[JBova]

ohh okay.. i gotcha now. I'll keep that in mind new shoot. Thank you. So you would suggest a 85mm lens over 35mm or 55mm for mostly car Photography? I'm planning on getting one fixed lens most likely f1.8 and maybe 18-105mm to replace my kit lens.

 

[Shipman]

I shoot a lot of cars. I had a 35 and almost never used it. I have a lot of friends that also do automotive photography and they love the 85. I have been using a 55-200 and a 10-20. I really want to get a 70-200 but Im not really ready to spend another 800 right now.

 

[JBova]

I shoot a lot of cars. I had a 35 and almost never used it. I have a lot of friends that also do automotive photography and they love the 85. I have been using a 55-200 and a 10-20. I really want to get a 70-200 but Im not really ready to spend another 800 right now.

I'll have to keep that in mind.. Thanks again.

 

[Shipman]

Not a problem, Im glad I could help.