18 replies to this topic

[SSIKness666]

Hi all,

 

On 28-6-13 I did my first ever single car photoshoot on a work mate's MY04 WRX.

 

The only post-editing I've done is cropped the images.

 

My photography acronym is: eVp photography

 

IMO these 4 are the best and so if you'd all be so kind as to vote, that'd be much appreciated!

 

#1

 

#2

 

#3

 

#4

 

The full album can be viewed HERE

 

Aside from the owner, you all here at subyclub are the first to see my photoshoot results and I am very proud to share them with you

 

I am an amateur photographer who is self taught with the help of some web articles, Dummies guide to using the D90, and my eyes and own imagination.

 

Camera: Nikon D90

 

Lenses used: 35mm 1.8f prime lens, 55-300mm lens, all with polarizing filters attached

 

I hope to do a B4 at some stage, just have to find someone in SA who owns one.

 

I am very keen for more photoshoot opportunities if any members from SA are interested. I hope to attend the Hunter Valley Cruise in the future.

 

Thank you for viewing everyone, I'm very eager to read all the criticism you have to offer

 

 

 

 

[Liberty]

I voted for #2. For me it looked the best. #1 needs more lighting and just looks like the photo was taken with a good phone and #3 lacked something. I feel that #4 is how most car pics are taken, it doesn't feel as good as #2. Out of the four though, #2 and #4 tickle my fancy most.

[Adam]

2 would win if it wasn't a wierd angle!

[skillionaire]

Flatten out #2

[argi]

#4

[Dimeb4g]

i vote 2 and 4

 

1 is under exposed and needs a separation light from the dark background...

2 has a interest because of the angle, and twisting your frame like that helps the car fill the frame better... if being a tad picky i would have turned the wheels the other way.... and perhaps reduce the twist of the lens somewhat... background is effective...

3 first thing i saw was the MG25 sign sticking out the top of the cars roofline... (too many years with PICKY newspaper editors paying off here...) but it was the first thing i saw... detracts from the car...

4 woulda worked if you had kept the color of the surface it was sitting on the same... either all dirt or all tarmac...

its attention to detail that makes a wow shot... spend time looking at every little thing before you click the shutter... it will make you a better photographer in no time...

[mark300]

i vote number 2
however i feel the wheels need to be turned the other direction. also, has it had any post editing? as it looks like the white is wrong when compared to other photos, and needs to be flattened out

[Shaz]

Number 2, but I would rotate the image so the road is even horizontal, turn the wheel the other way, maybe warm the image a bit.

[Dylan]

Everyone talking about number twos... Jeez.

 

#3 gets my vote, except for the back of the car being out of focus.

[vicelore]

3 FTW..

[SSIKness666]

I voted for #2. For me it looked the best. #1 needs more lighting and just looks like the photo was taken with a good phone and #3 lacked something. I feel that #4 is how most car pics are taken, it doesn't feel as good as #2. Out of the four though, #2 and #4 tickle my fancy most.

 

 

I was using the default in-built flash on maximum setting though I want a speedlight flash to aid with illumination. What did you think about the background and how the poles taper back in the distance?

 

Thanks Gary

 

2 would win if it wasn't a wierd angle!

 

 

I'm all about bringing interesting angles to a shot. Next time I will play around with perhaps less tilt, as I have been told before that too much tilt can kill a shot. IMO it wasn't overdone.

 

Thanks.

 

Flatten out #2

 

 

#4

 

 

Thanks Argi, glad you liked it. I especially like this shot because of the effort I went to, to get the slightly bird's eye view, and it showcases lots of the car; front bar, bonnet, velocity generator (rear roof diffuser), wheels, and wing.

 

i vote 2 and 4

 

1 is under exposed and needs a separation light from the dark background...

2 has a interest because of the angle, and twisting your frame like that helps the car fill the frame better... if being a tad picky i would have turned the wheels the other way.... and perhaps reduce the twist of the lens somewhat... background is effective...

3 first thing i saw was the MG25 sign sticking out the top of the cars roofline... (too many years with PICKY newspaper editors paying off here...) but it was the first thing i saw... detracts from the car...

4 woulda worked if you had kept the color of the surface it was sitting on the same... either all dirt or all tarmac...

its attention to detail that makes a wow shot... spend time looking at every little thing before you click the shutter... it will make you a better photographer in no time...

 

 

Jack was kind enough to tell me about 'light painting', although essentially I do want a SB-910 Nikon speedlight flash.

 

Regarding the MG25 sign I completely understand as I am a preacher of cutting out unnecessary objects that detract the viewer's eye from the main subject, however when cropping I didn't want to compromise on the scenic background and I felt it added to the whole composition nicely. That, and the pole was always going to be in the shot regardless of how much I cropped it down from the top.

 

I see the validity in your comment on keeping to one surface type. I would love to do some tunnel photos and time lapse night time photos on a highway.

 

Thanks for your feedback

 

i vote number 2
however i feel the wheels need to be turned the other direction. also, has it had any post editing? as it looks like the white is wrong when compared to other photos, and needs to be flattened out

 

Flattened out? As in the camera tilt? As I said in the introduction, no post-editing has taken place aside from cropping. I am inexperienced in digital photographic manipulation/editing and also wanted to keep it natural looking.

 

Number 2, but I would rotate the image so the road is even horizontal, turn the wheel the other way, maybe warm the image a bit.

 

 

I will definitely experiment by having the wheels turned the other way next opportunity I get, however I was very precise with how much wheel angle I wanted eg. how much tread showing etc.

 

Can you please elaborate further on 'maybe warm the image a bit'?

Thanks.

 

Everyone talking about number twos... Jeez.

 

#3 gets my vote, except for the back of the car being out of focus.

 

 

Yeah I know, I didn't expect that one to be rated so highly.

 

#3 is my favourite; IMO good balance of background, car, angle and height (or in this case lack of. I was laying underneath the bollards across the road in sniper position)

 

Apologies the rear end is slightly out of focus. I found myself focusing on the rims for most of the shots. I'll keep it in mind and next time will try for a more even focus. All focusing was done manually btw.

 

3 FTW..

 

 

Thanks, I'm quite fond of #3 too

 

 

 

What did you all think of the rest of the album? I have a further 20-30 pics yet to be put up but I was impatient in wanting to share my efforts with you all that I just picked the best ones.

 

Would you like me to crop and upload the rest?

 

Is there any further feedback someone gave offer me?

Thanks again for viewing, I had a very fun time taking these photos as it was my first full opportunity to demonstrate my own personal touches.

 

Note: all focusing was done manually.

[Dimeb4g]

I wouldn't be apologising for the rear being out of focus... It's not technically out of focus... It's what's called bokeh, which is the part of a photo that is out of the focal plane.... Which in lehmans terms means you had too open an aperture... Or even more simply out, you chose to low a number on the aperture value of the exposure...

Can I ask what settings you used? Did you shoot it in p or Auto mode?

[TittySprinklez]

I voted for #2. For me it looked the best. #1 needs more lighting and just looks like the photo was taken with a good phone and #3 lacked something. I feel that #4 is how most car pics are taken, it doesn't feel as good as #2. Out of the four though, #2 and #4 tickle my fancy most.

 

+1 on what he said lol

[Shaz]

Hey mate, by warm, I meant increase the temperature of the photo in post. It seems to have alot of "blue" in the photo to speak. 

 

I'm sure the more experienced guys could elaborate further.

[Morgan]

Yah.. Needs WB attention.

And also horizontal lines. Makes the photo much more 'readable'. I usually skip straight past crooked pics. Makes my head hurt.

[Melv]

Hi there, also a freelance photographer myself. Sometimes it can be a bit hard shooting a white vehicle at times. Your set is a bit underexposed, but then if you shoot exposed correctly or a tad over, it washes out the lines of the car. Do you post process? If not, should start getting into it.

Composition is pretty good, in my opinion, you fill the frame a bit too much at times. Try to use the rule of thirds, that is always a general good rule to follow when framing up your shot.

[Liberty]

I was using the default in-built flash on maximum setting though I want a speedlight flash to aid with illumination. What did you think about the background and how the poles taper back in the distance?

 

Thanks Gary

 

Ah ok. They might look good artistically, but I wouldn't mind whether they were there or not.

[Dimeb4g]

Jack was kind enough to tell me about 'light painting', although essentially I do want a SB-910 Nikon speedlight flash.

 

Regarding the MG25 sign I completely understand as I am a preacher of cutting out unnecessary objects that detract the viewer's eye from the main subject, however when cropping I didn't want to compromise on the scenic background and I felt it added to the whole composition nicely. That, and the pole was always going to be in the shot regardless of how much I cropped it down from the top.

 

I see the validity in your comment on keeping to one surface type. I would love to do some tunnel photos and time lapse night time photos on a highway.

 

Thanks for your feedback

 

 

what i'm referring to is initial composition, not cropping or framing... there would be plenty of other locations to shoot that angle i'm sure...

removing something like that from your frame before you actuate the shutter is one of the key differences between a great photographer and a good one... just some food for thought...

[SSIKness666]

I wouldn't be apologising for the rear being out of focus... It's not technically out of focus... It's what's called bokeh, which is the part of a photo that is out of the focal plane.... Which in lehmans terms means you had too open an aperture... Or even more simply out, you chose to low a number on the aperture value of the exposure...

Can I ask what settings you used? Did you shoot it in p or Auto mode?

 

 

I used my 35mm lens on auto mode in the car park to activate the flash (need to read up on how to do it in the advanced exposure modes)

 

I used my 55-300mm lens on 'A' mode (aperture priority) and Auto for all other shots, the only exception being that I used my 35mm lens and set it at 1.8 f-stop to achieve the depth of field in the photo of the fog light covers.

 

Thanks for a 2nd round of in depth critique

 

Yah.. Needs WB attention.

And also horizontal lines. Makes the photo much more 'readable'. I usually skip straight past crooked pics. Makes my head hurt.

 

 

The tilt of the camera used is a personal touch I like to bring to car photography, giving them a sense of character.

 

I will try my best to incorporate horizontal lines where possible for next time.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi there, also a freelance photographer myself. Sometimes it can be a bit hard shooting a white vehicle at times. Your set is a bit underexposed, but then if you shoot exposed correctly or a tad over, it washes out the lines of the car. Do you post process? If not, should start getting into it.

Composition is pretty good, in my opinion, you fill the frame a bit too much at times. Try to use the rule of thirds, that is always a general good rule to follow when framing up your shot.

 

 

Cool I saw your photos in your build topic.

 

No I don't do any post processing aside from cropping but it is something I think I'll look into.

 

I am aware of the rule of thirds but I was too concerned with filling the frame with the main subject; the car. Perhaps next time I will have my rule of thirds lines displayed in the viewfinder to help me frame my shot better, and perhaps incorporate more background into the photo, though it was a conscious decision to frame the subject from the start.

 

Thanks for your analysis

 

what i'm referring to is initial composition, not cropping or framing... there would be plenty of other locations to shoot that angle i'm sure...

removing something like that from your frame before you actuate the shutter is one of the key differences between a great photographer and a good one... just some food for thought...

 

 

Yeah I completely understand what your saying and I will definitely take it on board for next time

 

You might have noticed a small twig obstructing the view of the skirts in photo #2. I did take the time to prepare shot by getting the car's owner to remove unnecessary objects from the frame but somehow I missed this..

 

 

 

Thank you for everyone's comments, keep them coming!