First attempt, CC please

[fatnhappy]

Pics were taken randomly for fun at a dog park with my newly acquired Nikon D3100 18-55mm kit lens..

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

#1 background is distracting, front bumper is just fractionally out of the crop and there is some haloing around the trees.
#2 whoa there on the saturation.

 

[bazooka]

It's good that you're posting for critique. I hope you get plenty of helpful comments that you can learn from.

#1 The processing stands out to me. Heavy blue saturation on the left side, with a more natural daylight color on the right. There are strong halos in the sky. I'm afraid the processing is over the top for me and distracts from the image. I think you should focus more in creating compelling images than creating compelling processing. Look at the entire frame. There are other cars, pole, antennas, trees, that are not contributing to the feel of the image. Therefore, they are taking away from the image. It is my opinion that there is no "neutral" in photography. It either adds to the image, or it subtracts from.

Now I know what you might be tempted to say. "I was in a parking lot." "There were no other free spaces." "I can't move those other cars and the tree." This is a common reaction. A photographer can either make excuses, or a photographer can get results. Which do you want?

So CONTROL the environment. Go out and find an empty parking lot or a field. Choose a focal length that gets rid of all the unnecessary distractions that take away chips and pieces of the effectiveness of your photograph. Choose the time of day that best suits your subject. There are many things that you can do to control the photograph.

#2 Again, for me, the processing is over the top. I agree with Rotanimod that it is oversaturated. Notice how the white car has a big yellow spot on the door. This is from overcooking it. For me, HDR is a tool to use when the dyanmic range that you want to show exceeds the dynamic range of the medium. I do not feel it is something that is effective at making appealing "digital art".

You did better at simplifying the scene, however it is still quite distracting, particularly the distant goal post and fence behind the car. I don't care for the large building, but I could live with it.

I don't understand why you put the car under a goal but it's apparent you did that on purpose. What bout the goal relates to the car?

I think you should start out much simpler. Set the HDR aside for now and focus on composition. Take your car back out to that field and use the longest lens you have to get rid of as much background as possible. Get lower to the ground if you need to hide things behind the car. Use a narrower aperture to render out of focus the things that are visible behind the car if they do not benefit the image, or better yet, ensure that the things behind the car contribute to the image. If you want to try to use the goal to put the car in a sports setting, try to compose it in a way so that it is more obvious. Find a goal with a net, or some painted lines in the grass. It should be immediately clear what you are trying to communicate.

This is your starting point. I'm confident that if you take these things into consideration the next time you shoot, you will come back here with much more effective images. Good luck!

 

[bazooka]

I thought of something else that should have been obvious to me....

Go look at some high quality professional images of cars. Here is a thread of a guy who started out good, but continues to get better and better as he posts. He combines effective processing with solid composition, but notice how the processing doesn't attract attention to itself, but rather to the subject. Also notice, that he starts with an effective composition first and foremost.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-gallery/156045-mostly-automotive-my-photos.html

 

[raphaelaaron]

yeah, i really hate HDR, and this is one of the reasons why.

#1 - the camera tilt is forgivable here, because I understand that car photos are supposed to have some edginess to it. it could be okay, but i feel the car is too much in a distraction area. you have little leaves growing from the top of it, and other cars around it that draw the viewer's eye. it would have been nicer if it was more isolated, and in a more interesting spot than a parking lot.

#2 - i just don't think this is a good picture. not speaking about saturation, but everything else. the field goal makes it look offset, it's taken from an uninteresting vantage point, and the background is boring. try to take shots closer and from lower angles. and finally the saturation: just because you can, doesn't mean you should. bump the levels down. otherwise you're going to have pictures that look overly fake and weird.