MY FIRST REAL TRY ON CAR PHOTOGRAPHY (NEED FEEDBACKS)

[rein]

1)my background: Had my camera(rebel xti) for about 8 months,been reading on books/forums/tutorials etc. practicing alot. right now im just trying to learn.

2)did this shoot with my friends the other day,right now i am focusing on car photography(which is what got me into photography) learning and at the same time enjoying my hobby.

3) pls leave me FEEDBACKS and ADVICES, i shot these with a 18-55 standard lense and some with the 50 mm f 1.8

THANK YOU!

 

[cszakolczai]

the ones of the S2000 seem to be the best, the last one seems washed out, others seem a little overexposed. I really do like the 3rd one with the head on shot of the S2000, thats an awesome picture. The STI needs a drop badly as well haha. Overall I like them a lot, just a little bit here and there.

 

[Battou]

#1 and #4 look great.

With the exceptions of #1 and #4 the rest of your BGs needs some work or either shallower or deeper DOF.

#'s 1, 2, 3 and 9...the licence plate, I know the concept of removing the plate but the tactic you chose is detrimental, Use your cloning tool and scramble the tag numbers. #1 is gourgous except for that blob formerly known as a licence plate. A licence plate that looks legit but isn't has a better feel to it.

#2 is a little soft

#5 is a little over processed and washed.

#8 and #3 have good angles but the vehicle next to them should be moved for future reference.

#9....By all outward appearences the subject of that one is the licenceplate.....witch is scratch tooled out.

Your watermarking tactic is sound, I do like the placements of those, they are not impeding on anything.

 

[thinkricky]

Pino?

Awesome shots. love the S2000.

 

[Senor Hound]

You really nailed the white balance, kudos for that. Some of them could use a change of DOF like other said. I liked 1, 3, 4, and 8. I also like the location of the shot, its very "street racer," if that makes sense.

Also, if privacy is an issue, I would blur the licenses harder. I could make out the plate on a few, if you care.

I like the car on the end of the first photo. It looks like its just one flowing curve from front to back... What is it?

 

[ericmo]

You really nailed the white balance, kudos for that. Some of them could use a change of DOF like other said. I liked 1, 3, 4, and 8. I also like the location of the shot, its very "street racer," if that makes sense.

Also, if privacy is an issue, I would blur the licenses harder. I could make out the plate on a few, if you care.

I like the car on the end of the first photo. It looks like its just one flowing curve from front to back... What is it?

looks like the honda civic si, great series!

 

[Village Idiot]

#1 and #4 look great.

With the exceptions of #1 and #4 the rest of your BGs needs some work or either shallower or deeper DOF.

You really think that? I disagree with the technical aspects of the first.

You really nailed the white balance,

As long as nailed means off by a shade or three...

OP -

1 is extremely blown. So much so that the Civic doesn't have a fender line any more. The WB is also off. The closest car doesn't look so bad, but the two Hondas are yellow. You can fix this by adjusting the WB in PS, but doing it in camera is a much better idea. Having one less thing to fix in post is always better.

2 soft. Looks like you added some filter afterwards or had a foggy lens. Which ever it was, it was a bit too much.

3 not bad. WB looks good. Contrast is a bit high, but that's personal taste.

4 red.

5 red.

6 not bad.

7 WB looks a little off. I like the framing with the fence.

8 Not bad. Car in the background could go

9 Looks like a soft snap shot.

Biggest thing you could do to help is learn about lighting and either buy some equipment or learn how to position the cars under ambient and work with it so you get correct whites.

 

[Battou]

#1 and #4 look great.

With the exceptions of #1 and #4 the rest of your BGs needs some work or either shallower or deeper DOF.

You really think that? I disagree with the technical aspects of the first.

Not entirely, I just did not want to be a total asshat, I agree with you there are some issues with the first, I have a lot of head scratching going on with that one trying to figure out if it was intentional or not but none the less thoes two where the only ones I liked.

 

[rein]

thanks for all the replies, here is my summary of questions

1.washed out means?

2.all of those shots were under hard yellow lighting,which of my WB options would make it cooler?

3.i was kinda in a hurry taking those pics,(i guess i learned not too now,i was excited) Higher depth of field meaning higher F stop right? what would you guys recommend?

4) i have the standard and the nifty fifty lense. with this kind of photography, what lense/or tool should i need to get,to have better pictures?

thanks to all of you, youve all beeen helpfull

 

[Battou]

thanks for all the replies, here is my summary of questions

1.washed out means?

2.all of those shots were under hard yellow lighting,which of my WB options would make it cooler?

3.i was kinda in a hurry taking those pics,(i guess i learned not too now,i was excited) Higher depth of field meaning higher F stop right? what would you guys recommend?

4 i have the standard and the nifty fifty lense. with this kind of photography, what lense/or tool should i need to get,to have better pictures?

thanks to all of you, youve all beeen helpfull

1.washed out means? - Lacking or weak in color, unnaturally Pale


2.all of those shots were under hard yellow lighting,which of my WB options would make it cooler? - Not in my field.......I have no answer for you

3.i was kinda in a hurry taking those pics,(i guess i learned not too now,i was excited) what would you guys recommend? - No, Patients...take your time, if some one wants you to take pictures of their car they will want it done right not fast. take it slower and get it right the first time.

Higher depth of field meaning higher F stop right? - No, deeper DOF is higher F/#, higher the F/# the sharper the background is, the smaller the F/# the more shallower the DOF.


4) i have the standard and the nifty fifty lense. with this kind of photography, what lense/or tool should i need to get,to have better pictures? - Lenses and tools can only take you so far, practice makes perfect.

 

[Parkerman]

Washed out means it no longer has any detail... Blown out.. Over exposed.

Not sure about the WB, I pick the one that works best with afew test shots.. and if its not good enough i correct in lightroom or PS.

F22 would have a great DOF, where 1.8f would have a shallow DOF [giving you the blured background]

You getting an off camera flash would be good. The main thing is your lighting. Try to take some pictures during the afternoon sometime.

 

[reignmkr]

Pino?

Awesome shots. love the S2000.

The term is pinoy but I'm sure it was a spelling error.

Great series of photos BTW.

 

[Village Idiot]

thanks for all the replies, here is my summary of questions

1.washed out means?

2.all of those shots were under hard yellow lighting,which of my WB options would make it cooler?

3.i was kinda in a hurry taking those pics,(i guess i learned not too now,i was excited) Higher depth of field meaning higher F stop right? what would you guys recommend?

4) i have the standard and the nifty fifty lense. with this kind of photography, what lense/or tool should i need to get,to have better pictures?

thanks to all of you, youve all beeen helpfull

Washed out = over exposure. You camera settings were letting in too much light. You have to keep colors in mind when shooting. White objects that are the main focus of the shot can become easily overexposed if everything else is exposed properly. White is bright, this it what it does. Black can do the opposite. You can have under exposed blacks with all the other colors being the same. It's because White reflects all light and black absorbs. Also, if you meter off of black or white, it can throw the exposure off for the rest of the shot.

What type of light bulbs? Flourescent? Sodium? etc? I don't know what settings you have on your camera, but you have to match them to the lights. If they're standard parking lot lights, they're probably sodium, but that leaves an orange tint to them. The top photo almost looks green. Green is flourescent, but I doubt that's what you were shooting under. I could be wrong.

More DOF = higher f/ number. Shooting a single person, f/5.6 is decent. Shooting a group I usually use f/9-f/11. The car would probably be in that range as it's a larger object. Remember to shoot for effect though. You sometimes want a shallower depth of field and a wider aperture. Also, keep in mind that the distance from the object to the background can affect the blur. If you're shooting a car that's completely sideways from 10' away, the whole thing will most likely be completely in focus at f/11. If you shoot from the front of the car, getting a little of the rear sticking out, at 2' away with f/11, the rear of the car may be blurred a bit. It all has to do with distances and perspective.

The tough question. Want to do professional car photography? Buy three or four mono lights, appropriate accessories, the materials you need to bounce the light, and a wide angle lens, and have most of your lenses with at least a constant aperture of f/2.8. That's probably about $5000 or more.

best thing to do is start reading and decide which way you want to go. You can truthfully light a car with three or four speed lights and some cheap e-bay radio triggers (as long as they're working for you) and only spend $300ish. Your lens is fine. It's extremely sharp when stopped down and you have two feet to zoom with.

If you want to start learning a few things about light, try:
www.strobist.com
http://www.lighting-essentials.com/
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/

Those are some good resources and there might only be one or two articles that pertain specifically to car lighting, but learning lighting in general will help you substantially.

 

[emo]

the S2K shots stands out for me.. BTW the sun on the watermark reminds me pinoy's national flag.

 

[rein]

YES IM FILIPINO

thanks for the answers

to sum it up

for single car shots 5.6 apertre works, for group ones 11 higher, right?

i am fine with my lense, for now...

300sh for some lighting gear? can you give me links please?

thanks again