failing horribly

[matt62485]

my recent night shots have been full of fail lately. i really don't know what I'm doing wrong but they seem to be abnormally noisy at iso200. ive tried shooting in both raw and jpeg. switching to jpeg actually helped some, but i still think theres more noise than should be.

im trying to work on my lighting. shooting my car is very difficult for me for some reason. i cannot nail the reflections to save my life. very few times can i get the angle i want w/out seeing a reflection of me/camera in the shot. :blushing:

i know these aren't very good, but im looking for things to improve on. besides obvious reflections in the second picture, poles sticking out the car on 2 and 3 (can clone em out i guess) and the noise.

heres a few to C&C please.

1.

2.

3.

 

[Tulsa]

I expected alot worse before I scrolled down. I think 1 is pretty clean, I like it, the roofs could be a bit lighter, but I think you are doing good
I am not wild about most car shots so I will not comment on those.

 

[matt62485]

I expected alot worse before I scrolled down. I think 1 is pretty clean, I like it, the roofs could be a bit lighter, but I think you are doing good
I am not wild about most car shots so I will not comment on those.

thanks. i lightened the roofs, honestly it didnt look right, clashed w/ the sky (maybe it was just poor PP practice on my part though) so i toned them back down.

comment away at the car shots, i like hearing other peoples opinions. my car is a PITA to shoot. for me anyways

 

[AG74683]

comment away at the car shots, i like hearing other peoples opinions. my car is a PITA to shoot. for me anyways

Exactly what I was going to post, it looks like a very hard car to take a good photo of. Is it like a metallic paint or something?

Number 1 looks pretty good to me, however I think it would have been better if just one building held the focus.

 

[Dean Baron]

I think cropping out the upper left in #2 would make the photo pretty good. Composition looks good, just that overhang in the upper left is distracting. I dont think the view in #3 is good, but I dont know enough to suggest a better view. Don't take what I say to heart, I'm no expert, just things that I would've done differently.

 

[creisinger]

It would be a lot easier for us to see a portion of the first image at 100%. The size you posted makes it virtually impossible to spot noise. In fact it appears that there is no noise so I don't understand your problem with it.

Night shots aren't particular easy as the different light intensities can give you a migraine when trying to figure out shutter speeds.

Yours looks ok to me.

As for the car: You already noticed that this is a toughie. As most cars are (when clean) very reflective it's a pain in the b*tt to get the lighting/reflections all correct.

Try to find a spot in a garage - preferably empty garage where people don't get too nosy and move your car forth and back to get it under the right lights. Ideally have a friend behind the wheel while you direct him/her so you can see the reflections from the camera's point of view.

I bet you'd go nuts trying to park the car yourself figuring out the the high lights aren't in the right spot.

As for trying to find an angle where you can't see yourself... - good luck! There will be always something that indicates that "you are there". Do it in post and clone yourself out of the reflection - done.

Most importantly you have to get the light and the reflections right. This is not an easy task so "patience you must have young Skywalker" (or something like that).

Good luck!

Pics look good!

 

[srinaldo86]

Perhaps your lighting of the vehicle is too poor and is overpowered by the light(s) in the background. Also, in #2 it looks like it could use a good bath, some tire shine, and coat of wax.
Not bad photos at all, but I would just try to find a dimmer lit background and find a way to illuminate your car a bit more.

Thats just this humble noobies opinion.

By the way I LOVE Wilmington, I'm actually from Raleigh and use to go down there all the time to my house in Wrightsville and UNCW.

 

[matt62485]

comment away at the car shots, i like hearing other peoples opinions. my car is a PITA to shoot. for me anyways

Exactly what I was going to post, it looks like a very hard car to take a good photo of. Is it like a metallic paint or something?

Number 1 looks pretty good to me, however I think it would have been better if just one building held the focus.

thanks. and yes very very metallic. its got TONS of flakes in it. such a PITA. way worse than my buddies black car... no flake

I think cropping out the upper left in #2 would make the photo pretty good. Composition looks good, just that overhang in the upper left is distracting. I dont think the view in #3 is good, but I dont know enough to suggest a better view. Don't take what I say to heart, I'm no expert, just things that I would've done differently.

hmmm, i see what ur saying. i pondered it but thought the crop was too tight, figured it would help the pole sticking out the car look a little more in place. not a good defense but hell.

It would be a lot easier for us to see a portion of the first image at 100%. The size you posted makes it virtually impossible to spot noise. In fact it appears that there is no noise so I don't understand your problem with it.

Night shots aren't particular easy as the different light intensities can give you a migraine when trying to figure out shutter speeds.

Yours looks ok to me.

As for the car: You already noticed that this is a toughie. As most cars are (when clean) very reflective it's a pain in the b*tt to get the lighting/reflections all correct.

Try to find a spot in a garage - preferably empty garage where people don't get too nosy and move your car forth and back to get it under the right lights. Ideally have a friend behind the wheel while you direct him/her so you can see the reflections from the camera's point of view.

I bet you'd go nuts trying to park the car yourself figuring out the the high lights aren't in the right spot.

As for trying to find an angle where you can't see yourself... - good luck! There will be always something that indicates that "you are there". Do it in post and clone yourself out of the reflection - done.

Most importantly you have to get the light and the reflections right. This is not an easy task so "patience you must have young Skywalker" (or something like that).

Good luck!

Pics look good!

appreciate it. i did noise reduction on all these... 1 isnt bad at all ill admit that. the car shots is where it gets anooying.

good suggestions, thanks a lot :thumbup:

 

[matt62485]

Perhaps your lighting of the vehicle is too poor and is overpowered by the light(s) in the background. Also, in #2 it looks like it could use a good bath, some tire shine, and coat of wax.
Not bad photos at all, but I would just try to find a dimmer lit background and find a way to illuminate your car a bit more.

Thats just this humble noobies opinion.

By the way I LOVE Wilmington, I'm actually from Raleigh and use to go down there all the time to my house in Wrightsville and UNCW.

lol. i really hope ur being sarcastic w/ the bolded above. dude it just got washed, tires are shiney as all get out and its been waxed twice?

i think it look fine besides the chips on the front and a couple bugs from the ride out

 

[JeramyJ]

I really like number 1. The car shots look good too. As mentioned likely tough to shoot.

 

[srinaldo86]

Perhaps your lighting of the vehicle is too poor and is overpowered by the light(s) in the background. Also, in #2 it looks like it could use a good bath, some tire shine, and coat of wax.
Not bad photos at all, but I would just try to find a dimmer lit background and find a way to illuminate your car a bit more.

Thats just this humble noobies opinion.

By the way I LOVE Wilmington, I'm actually from Raleigh and use to go down there all the time to my house in Wrightsville and UNCW.

lol. i really hope ur being sarcastic w/ the bolded above. dude it just got washed, tires are shiney as all get out and its been waxed twice?

i think it look fine besides the chips on the front and a couple bugs from the ride out

Perhaps its just the lighting or my screen but your tires looked washed out, and the chips/bugs are what I was referring too. It's just the tires and the front end that look dirty to me. The more I look at the tires I can see the glare from the tire shine but parts of it just look gray.

 

[creisinger]

...lol. i really hope ur being sarcastic w/ the bolded above. dude it just got washed, tires are shiney as all get out and its been waxed twice?

i think it look fine besides the chips on the front and a couple bugs from the ride out

I think you answered that one yourself.

I also wanted to mention that the car looks a bit dirty but if that's the cleanest you can get, you better clone those suckers out...

 

[matt62485]

...lol. i really hope ur being sarcastic w/ the bolded above. dude it just got washed, tires are shiney as all get out and its been waxed twice?

i think it look fine besides the chips on the front and a couple bugs from the ride out

I think you answered that one yourself.

I also wanted to mention that the car looks a bit dirty but if that's the cleanest you can get, you better clone those suckers out...

hahah the front bumper is a bug magnet, but i shouldve cleaned it when i got there. thanks :thumbup:

Perhaps your lighting of the vehicle is too poor and is overpowered by the light(s) in the background. Also, in #2 it looks like it could use a good bath, some tire shine, and coat of wax.
Not bad photos at all, but I would just try to find a dimmer lit background and find a way to illuminate your car a bit more.

Thats just this humble noobies opinion.

By the way I LOVE Wilmington, I'm actually from Raleigh and use to go down there all the time to my house in Wrightsville and UNCW.

lol. i really hope ur being sarcastic w/ the bolded above. dude it just got washed, tires are shiney as all get out and its been waxed twice?

i think it look fine besides the chips on the front and a couple bugs from the ride out

Perhaps its just the lighting or my screen but your tires looked washed out, and the chips/bugs are what I was referring too. It's just the tires and the front end that look dirty to me. The more I look at the tires I can see the glare from the tire shine but parts of it just look gray.

ahh ok, i gotcha man. thanks for the C&C i appreciate it

 

[creisinger]

...hahah the front bumper is a bug magnet, but i shouldve cleaned it when i got there.

No it's not a bug magnet - you're just driving too fast

 

[pharmakon]

Like #1, but my only nit is that the left side of the front building looks a lot more modern than the rest of the scene, I would have tried to crop that out. Not sure what was to the right of the second building but youmight try reframing the whole shot a little to the right.

As mentioned be someone else already I don't see an inssue with noise at this resolution.

Can't see #2

#3 I like the car, but the angle of the shot not so much.