Tried getting some shots of my car today...

[Parkerman]

Wasn't a great time of day to take pictures, A little less sun would have been nice.. lol. Was around 2pm that I took the pictures, Waiting a little later i believe would have looked better. Whats your opinion?

1.

2.

3.

4.

 

[Sideburns]

Nice car...but the noon-ish sun isn't workin for ya. Kinda washed parts out, and made other parts shadowy. I think the backdrop also didn't help, cause it probably threw off your metering unless you used a gray card.

 

[bango707]

would have looked much better lighting wise if it was shot at magic hour.
Im not really sure if I like the background that much. I think the second shot would have worked well with the car closer to the foreground but maybe thats just me. Softer light tends to work much better with specular objects like cars. You will nail it next time!

 

[Parkerman]

Yea, I've gotta find a decent spot/time to take pictures. I know nothing about a gray card, but... I plan to read up on it due to how much I'm hearing. I just bought the D40 on the 13th. So I've got a ton of learning to do.

But, I was driving home from class, saw this place [Old wal-mart] figured i would try. As soon as i got out of my car and i saw how the light was hitting it.. I knew it would turn out how I wanted, But i snapped afew off anyways for the hell of it.

Bango, what time would you say "magic hour" is?

 

[smcaskil]

From this article:

In photography, the golden hour (also known as magic hour) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day when a specific photographic effect is achieved with the quality of the light during these hours.


Typically, lighting will be softer (more diffuse) and warm in hue, and shadows will be quite pronounced as a result of the sun being so close to parallel with the horizon. This is because the sun light is traveling further through the atmosphere and coming from a less harsh side angle, instead of straight down. The golden hour is a mild version of alpenglow, as described by Galen Rowell.


During the golden hour, highlights are less likely to be overexposed, because the direct light of the sun is less intense compared to the diffuse light of the sky. In landscape photography, the warm color of the low sun is considered desirable to enhance the colours of the scene.


In the middle of the day, the bright overhead sun can create too-bright highlights and long, dark shadows. The degree to which overexposure will occur will vary as different types of film and digital cameras have varying dynamic ranges. This harsh lighting problem is particularly important in portrait photography, where a fill flash is often necessary to balance lighting across the subject's face or body, filling in strong shadows that are considered undesirable. However, during the golden hour, such shadows are less pronounced.

 

[fatsheep]

I think #1 is the best by far because you got closer to your subject.

 

[Parkerman]

Yea, the first shot and the side shot were two of my more favorite ones. The front shot stood out a little more to me though.

I will try a different time of day next time hopefully. Maybe pick up a gray card too.

 

[That One Guy]

this may help for those middle of the day shots- sunny 16 rule