Ford Truck

[Skyclad]

Great ideas there. But the bold part would have to be excluded say if she was just walking down the street with nothing more than her camera in hand. All great ideas though.

But that doesn't mean that these wouldn't be ways to improve the shot. You can't take a mediocre shot and then say "well I wasn't prepared" well, then don't take the shot, noone cares what the excuses are. I don't mean this as harshly as it may read, just being very practical about it. I am not saying that the OP is making excuses by explaining the situation, they clearly came here asking for help. If you assume that no tips were possible, then that defeats the purpose of coming here to ask for help. ( make sense? ) Personally, I think that if the shot wasn't cutting the bumper off, this shot could probably be saved in Post Processing, but that doesn't mean you should make a habit of having to PP everything to death to get a useable pic.

I understand and totally agree with you. My biggest thing I wanted to know though all of this is what would one do. The truck is very nice with unique colors and presents a good subject for a photo opportunity. But being limited to only the equipment on hand while walking the street, do you skip such an opportunity just because you don't have 2 or 3 other lenses or a CPL filter or step ladder. I think that would be a shame if so.

Lessening the tilt and stepping back a few feet as to not cut off the bumper as well as enhancing the colors and other such tips are very valid and useful tips. All the other tips are good for future reference, but when walking about outside and shooting on the fly, a lot of those tips just simply can't apply. (But that doesn't mean they cant be kept in mind for future pictures.)

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

...but that doesn't mean you should make a habit of having to PP everything to death to get a useable pic.

I agree that PP should only be used to "touch up" minor faults or fix composition, ie. cropping... That is why I am not overly concerned with knowing more than the basics in PP.

Post processing should only be used to make a good image better... Not try to salvage a bad image...

That being said, this truck is NOT a bad image (IMHO). Although the composition could have been better to begin with...

Footnote for clarification...

According to Webster�s definition, composition is a putting together of a whole, the make-up of anything and/or a mixture of substance.

There are no rules to composition, only guides and extremely flexible principles that may help us to see more sensitively instead of in a hit or miss manner. The more aware we are of effective composition, the more satisfaction we may derive from photography. Learning to give form and balance by putting to-gether the elements harmoniously can help us see a subject in the strongest way.

 

[dreams of film]

Thank you for all your tips and ideas they are wonderful. As Burstintoflame81 saying I wasn't ready to take the shot is not an excuse but I really wasn't ready to come across that truck. I was walking with my 2 year old heading downtown, we couldn't cross the street due to traffic and The truck was parked on a section of street with no house fronts, the houses you see are from the street over so I have no clue were the owners where. I totally clipped the bumper and that was my error. Unfortunately for me I was out with my point and shoot fujifilm it isn't an slr so changing lens wasn't an option for me but I could have backed the zoom off a bit not much or I would have run into other problems with signs and a big moving truck that was pulled over behind it and the color is my fault also the filter used 85B is an orange filter. I can fix some of the problems with photo editing but not all. All your opinions are very helpful and will help me focus on composition more at the time. Thank you.

 

[dreams of film]

I took the only other shot of the same truck and cropped it, adjusted the colors as best I could with the free program I am using currently due to power source failure on my photo computer. I also added a vignetting filter to it to try and diminish the background. I haven't got a good working relationship with this free program. I am sure it would do what I want I just don't know how yet.

 

[Fatback]

If this was my photo, or I had a slimier one. I would do something a little like this.

I'm not that great of an editor, I'm sure somebody could do better. I leveled it out as much as I could, while trying not to crop out a huge chunk of the truck. I blurred out the house, It could be done better be I only spent a couple of minutes on it. I also ran it through Noiseware Professional, and removed any noise which also blurred the house a little more.

 

[burstintoflame81]

Footnote for clarification...

According to Webster�s definition, composition is a putting together of a whole, the make-up of anything and/or a mixture of substance.

There are no rules to composition, only guides and extremely flexible principles that may help us to see more sensitively instead of in a hit or miss manner. The more aware we are of effective composition, the more satisfaction we may derive from photography. Learning to give form and balance by putting to-gether the elements harmoniously can help us see a subject in the strongest way.

I know what composition is. But typically, you either go tight, or go wide on your subject, depending on the background and forground situation. When you go tight, but the edge of your subject is touching the frame, or being slightly cut off, it looks sloppy, plain and simple. There are no set in stone rules and there are always instances where it still works, but I would bet you everything I own, that if you had that shot judged by anyone with any sort of photographic experience that will be the first negetive thing they point out is.

I am in no way saying this shot is terrible. Its actually not too bad given the situation and camera used. BUT, again, the OP did not come here to get a pat on the head, they came for some assistance and to be pointed in the right direction.

Case in point...look at Fatbacks edit and look at the front of the truck being cut off.

 

[KmH]

I assume the truck isn't hers (or his) and doesn't know the owner, so let me ask you this KmH; What would you do.....

I wouldn't have taken the photo.

If I really wanted to photograph the pickup I would have tried to locate the owner and make arrangements to make photos of the truck at a better location.

If I couldn't locate the owner, I would have left my business card and a note on the pickup asking them to contact me.

 

[Morpheuss]

that is a beautiful truck. I would have done the same thing grabed my camera and got a picture of it before the owner drives away

 

[OrionsByte]

Great ideas there. But the bold part would have to be excluded say if she was just walking down the street with nothing more than her camera in hand. All great ideas though.

But that doesn't mean that these wouldn't be ways to improve the shot. You can't take a mediocre shot and then say "well I wasn't prepared" well, then don't take the shot, noone cares what the excuses are. I don't mean this as harshly as it may read, just being very practical about it. I am not saying that the OP is making excuses by explaining the situation, they clearly came here asking for help. If you assume that no tips were possible, then that defeats the purpose of coming here to ask for help. ( make sense? ) Personally, I think that if the shot wasn't cutting the bumper off, this shot could probably be saved in Post Processing, but that doesn't mean you should make a habit of having to PP everything to death to get a useable pic.

I understand and totally agree with you. My biggest thing I wanted to know though all of this is what would one do. The truck is very nice with unique colors and presents a good subject for a photo opportunity. But being limited to only the equipment on hand while walking the street, do you skip such an opportunity just because you don't have 2 or 3 other lenses or a CPL filter or step ladder. I think that would be a shame if so.

Lessening the tilt and stepping back a few feet as to not cut off the bumper as well as enhancing the colors and other such tips are very valid and useful tips. All the other tips are good for future reference, but when walking about outside and shooting on the fly, a lot of those tips just simply can't apply. (But that doesn't mean they cant be kept in mind for future pictures.)

Personally, I would have taken the shot, but I don't expect every single shot I take to be a masterpiece. Rather, I expect them each to be a learning experience so that the next time I'm in a similar situation I might have some better ideas for making it come out a little better.

So the next time the OP (or any of us, for that matter) happens by a situation similar to the truck, many of the tips that have come up in this thread will likely come to mind in the moment, and perhaps we'll give it a little extra thought before we take the picture, to either compensate for the equipment we don't have with us or maybe decide to come back later.

As you get better, you'll be able to assess a shot before you take it and understand the limitations you're dealing with, and then you have to decide whether the shot is worth taking even if it's not "perfect."

 

[white]

The sloping angle really hurts the OP photo. Just getting the horizon straight and leaving some space left and right of the truck would have improved it.

The background is not such a big deal.

 

[Skyclad]

I assume the truck isn't hers (or his) and doesn't know the owner, so let me ask you this KmH; What would you do.....

I wouldn't have taken the photo.

If I really wanted to photograph the pickup I would have tried to locate the owner and make arrangements to make photos of the truck at a better location.

If I couldn't locate the owner, I would have left my business card and a note on the pickup asking them to contact me.

Thats a very valid answer, and I respect that. As for me though, I wouldn't skip on taking a photo. I think the truck is too nice of a subject (and as a truck in itself) to let the opportunity pass

But that doesn't mean that these wouldn't be ways to improve the shot. You can't take a mediocre shot and then say "well I wasn't prepared" well, then don't take the shot, noone cares what the excuses are. I don't mean this as harshly as it may read, just being very practical about it. I am not saying that the OP is making excuses by explaining the situation, they clearly came here asking for help. If you assume that no tips were possible, then that defeats the purpose of coming here to ask for help. ( make sense? ) Personally, I think that if the shot wasn't cutting the bumper off, this shot could probably be saved in Post Processing, but that doesn't mean you should make a habit of having to PP everything to death to get a useable pic.

I understand and totally agree with you. My biggest thing I wanted to know though all of this is what would one do. The truck is very nice with unique colors and presents a good subject for a photo opportunity. But being limited to only the equipment on hand while walking the street, do you skip such an opportunity just because you don't have 2 or 3 other lenses or a CPL filter or step ladder. I think that would be a shame if so.

Lessening the tilt and stepping back a few feet as to not cut off the bumper as well as enhancing the colors and other such tips are very valid and useful tips. All the other tips are good for future reference, but when walking about outside and shooting on the fly, a lot of those tips just simply can't apply. (But that doesn't mean they cant be kept in mind for future pictures.)

Personally, I would have taken the shot, but I don't expect every single shot I take to be a masterpiece. Rather, I expect them each to be a learning experience so that the next time I'm in a similar situation I might have some better ideas for making it come out a little better.

So the next time the OP (or any of us, for that matter) happens by a situation similar to the truck, many of the tips that have come up in this thread will likely come to mind in the moment, and perhaps we'll give it a little extra thought before we take the picture, to either compensate for the equipment we don't have with us or maybe decide to come back later.

As you get better, you'll be able to assess a shot before you take it and understand the limitations you're dealing with, and then you have to decide whether the shot is worth taking even if it's not "perfect."

I agree with this 100%

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I assume the truck isn't hers (or his) and doesn't know the owner, so let me ask you this KmH; What would you do.....

I wouldn't have taken the photo.

If I really wanted to photograph the pickup I would have tried to locate the owner and make arrangements to make photos of the truck at a better location.

If I couldn't locate the owner, I would have left my business card and a note on the pickup asking them to contact me.

Thats a very valid answer, and I respect that. As for me though, I wouldn't skip on taking a photo. I think the truck is too nice of a subject (and as a truck in itself) to let the opportunity pass

No, don't skip the shot if you just think the truck is cool. But the reason for taking and keeping shots has to do with the photographers intent. New photographers forget or don't realize how important backgrounds are, and how they can make or break an image. To me the OP photo is in the meh, why bother, category.

Cool truck? Sure is! Good photo? No.

Finding out who owns the truck, and offering a photoshoot? You betcha.
Finding a great location to do so? Pricelss.

That said I'll share this experience. I did exactly that, but still had a hard time getting great shots. Ideal background, can't beat it. The restrictions you can't see would be the modern house next door to the right of the old gas station which limited the angle in that direction. Also you would agree the crop on the left doesn't work so well. What you don't see is the corrugated modern steel building joined to the left of the garage. As if thats not enough, there was a large maple tree with fairly low branches right in front of the place. I was shooting from underneath it.
Is it a stellar photo? Not really.