Just a POS Neon (Car Guys ITT)

shady195 · Jul 10, 2012

Shot a buddy of mines Dodge SRT4 last night, not stock by any means and is extremely fun to drive, and has no issues putting your stomach into your throat when you push the loud pedal.

First time shooting a black car, and while there are many things after taking the shots and loading them up into Photoshop/lightroom I wish I had seen at the time or things I wish I had done differently, I'm overall actually much happier with this shoot than I thought I was going to be. Considering its a black car, and some of these were at night.. I think I did pretty good, especially with the second to last one

I am aware this first one is completely under exposed, it was a "teaser" shot for a few people.. dident want to show off all the details in the car, wanted the garage to be in light but the car to be almost silhouetted

Skyclad · Jul 10, 2012

First off.. too many photos in one post for most to critique on. Usually you want about 3 to 5 per post or else many wont bother with this many. But here is my unprofessional run down.

1. I was almost going to say way underexposed, but then read your reasoning for it. It's nice, but I think it would have been better if it was a picture of the side of the car like that. Though being a garage, I know its not possible. I think just a hair more exposure would help

2. Is nice, but the background is too overexposed and I think a tighter crop would be better for it.

3. Is almost my favorite. Its the light on the ground behind it that takes away from it. If it was all shade like how #4 is, then that would be perfect.

4. The angle of the camera or the carn not sure which, but it bothers me for some reason. Just cant put my finger on it.

5. I think would have been good a little more centered.

6. Is good, but I think a little more DOF would have done good. And the green lights on the left I find odd.

7. Doesn't do much for me. I think waiting till it got a little darker out would have been better for it

8. Maybe less sky and more foreground would have done good

9. Doesn't do much for me either.

10. Nice, but not quite enough light on the car.

11. Another nice one, but I would have gotten just a little closer to the car I think.

shady195 · Jul 11, 2012

Thanks for your thoughts Sky, reason I posted so many is hardly seems anyone actually says anything, I always get a ton of view in my threads, but even when I only post a few I get views/likes and maybe a few nice shot responces. I hardly expect anyone to critique anything anymore.

Some of your critiques I agree with,, while others are a matter of taste like #2.. was going for the over contrasty blown out look, some like it.. some dont.

Like I said theres things I know could have been done better, i keep tearing apart my own photos and notice 1-2 little things wrong that I dident notice yesterday.. Live and learn right? Im just proud overall because I thought it was going to be a total and utter nightmare

Skyclad · Jul 11, 2012

Even with most of my photos ive posted (not that I have that many) a lot of them either get no responses or just a couple comments. Thats just the nature of the forum. And you shouldn't rely on how many responses you do or don't get. As you stated, with what others like, its all a matter of taste. What truly matters is that you like them. Though, feedback is always nice.

Even though there are a couple that didn't do much for me (and thats just me), I still think they are all well taken pictures. Of all my pictures I have posted, the only ones I have that I think would be in the same caliber as these photos were the ones I took of the train. Hopefully I can achieve that level again, then again after that. Noticing those one or two things today that you didn't notice yesterday which you though were wrong will only make your next photo set that much better.

TiltShift · Jul 11, 2012

The bottom one looks quite dramatic, I like it! Not the car though

BlueMeanieTSi · Jul 11, 2012

I'm having a hard time with the distortion and the angles. UWA distortion a lot of times works with certain cars/angles but to me stretching the center of the car like that and making the wheels no longer round really kills it.

shady195 · Jul 11, 2012

Oh the last photo I just posted, Im not all that happy with it.. Its actually an HDR shot with each exposure having the polarizer turned to get rid of certain reflections and to keep the sky in check in terms of exposure, I think the car itself in terms of the exposure and ammount of detail given its a black car is pretty damn good, but for whatever reason I had a massive brain fart and messed up the positioning of the car with the building in the bacck so half the car is in one background, the other is in front of the building, that all in itself ruins the photo completely for me. It was more of a fun shot, while UWA is hardly good practice, sometimes I just like the effect of it.

That is probably the worst photo of the set that ive edited IMO

BlueMeanieTSi · Jul 11, 2012

3 and 4 show the same distortion.

amolitor · Jul 11, 2012

The first one is the only one that's worth much.

The rest are just pictures of a car. Not that there's anything wrong with pictures of a car, obviously this is a thing that matters to the owner, so some nice documentary photographs isn't a bad thing. They're not GREAT, but this is partly because the standard of photography for cars is insanely high -- the manufacturers spend serious cash. The backgrounds you have are by and large not terrible interesting, and you haven't got 12081298 strobes around the thing placed by guys with Nobel Prizes for Lighting Cars.

The first one has an idea, and a good execution of the idea. It's not so much a picture of a car as it is a photograph as a whole. Well done.

Gaerek · Jul 11, 2012

shady195 said:
Thanks for your thoughts Sky, reason I posted so many is hardly seems anyone actually says anything, I always get a ton of view in my threads, but even when I only post a few I get views/likes and maybe a few nice shot responces. I hardly expect anyone to critique anything anymore.

There are two types of photos that get the most replies:

1) Really Good Photos
2) Really Bad Photos

Photos that are technically good, but otherwise somewhere in the middle get the least replies. So, take heart in the fact that your photos aren't really bad.

As a side note, if I see more than 3 or 4 photos in a thread (and I'd prefer 1 or 2, honestly), I usually don't reply as it's difficult to give good feedback on each and every shot.

Having said that, they are all generally good shots. In #2 the background is too overexposed, and really takes away from an otherwise nice shot. I like the angles you've used, they're keep my interest, and the HDR isn't overdone.

shady195 · Jul 11, 2012

Damn, must be my best photos yet then, most responces I think ive gotten.. usually im just stormed by like notifications in the top haha

As far as HDR goes, I hate HDR as to what its become.. I see it so much now in an over dramatic fashion it drives me nuts, 6 is midly overdone for my tastes, but I really liked that shot.. and it seemed no matter what I did with 1 or even a couple exposures I couldent get it to come out how I wanted, so I used all 6 exposures I had taken, IMO the biggest give away is the fog lights.. but overall its a cool shot, not to overdone. The last one, which is probably the worst overall shot, i think is the best in terms of the HDR ive done, as im still somewhat new to it.

Appreciate all your responses, I appreciate bad critiques when its done proper and not just knit picking BS just to find something wrong with someones photos.

An an Amateur photographer and hobbyist I think im moving along quite well, and can only get better