Need Help For Automobile Shots!

soonercrew · Nov 23, 2009

im getting ready to shoot some shots of my cars for the upcoming barrett jackson auction. they require the photos to be 1mb or larger, i am assuming this means that they can be blown up extremely big without being distorted???
anyways... im extremely amature! i will be using my newly purchased nikon d90. i have 3 lenses: 60mm (i assume this is a portrait type lens) 12-24mm and i think a 55-200mm (pretty positive thats correct). i have no flash at this time. i plan to take the photos outside in-front of an old wooden bridge with a wooded and rock background...
i guess im looking for advice on how i should set the camera up to take the particular size photos they are asking for. any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
thanks,
scott

Kylerood · Nov 23, 2009

1 meg is tinyyyy if youre shooting your car in raw (which you should, if you are post producing at least) the files will be north of 15mb.

Dont worry about the size of the image i dont know much about car photography but maybe someone else will goodluck!

soonercrew · Nov 23, 2009

not even sure what raw is...lol... im that new!

Gene1219 · Nov 23, 2009

You will be fine if you just shoot it in a jpeg. (you may have problems uploading it to barretjackson's website as they my only accpet bmp, gif and jpg)

make sure that the backround is not to distracting from the car itself. You're shooting a product not making art.

What kind of car is it?

WimFoto · Nov 23, 2009

do a 'car' search in images. just to inspire you when it comes to backgrounds etc.

soonercrew · Nov 23, 2009

we have 3 cars going...
69 camaro ss/rs 396 convertible triple black
72 camaro z28 all original car pewter silver
86 camar iroc z28 89 original miles burgundy

so should i just shoot them in automatic mode? or is there another setting i should use?
i will definetly look at other automobile shots before commiting to our original plan. i also thought some shots downtown in some old alleys against old brick wall that are full of graffiti would look cool too???

robertwsimpson · Nov 23, 2009

I hope the lighting is good where you're shooting!

I'd use either the 60mm if it's got a wide max aperture, or the 55-200.

the longer zoom you use, the less perspective distortion you'll get on the car. If you use a wide angle, you'll end up with pictures that look all bulbous and nasty.