ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Awesome page... OK, I guess there is no such thing as bad bokeh then huh. I'm awaiting that 50mm prime. Man, what sucks is that I have to wait till Sunday to do some test shots, as that's my next day off. Damn, I can't wait. Maybe I can work on some night shots, but... One thing's for sure, I need a tripod. Wanna try some long exposure shots too. Should have gotten that remote from B&H too. I know I forgot something. What really shocked me was just how much better a photos focus is when using a point and shooter with a tripod.

gr?

I've seen some terrible bokeh from third party lenses so it is possible =)

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

OK, played around with the camera yesterday.

None of the "snapshots" were post processed, only resized. Need to build up skills to get to the "photograph" category.

This shot was taken with the kit lens at widest possible focal length (18mm), which causes distortion:

A shot of the wheels. Softness due to unsteady hands (no tripod). This is the thing, I feel, that I must most work on when I don't have that tripod. Again, taken with kit lens.

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Got the EF-50mm F/1.8 II lens. Cheapest you can get from B&H for less than $80. Also got the Bogen Manfrotto 718B tripod which supports up to 5.5 lbs and weighs merely 3.1 pounds, along with some inexpensive Hoya filters.



First off, let me just say that if you have any Canon Digital SLR and just starting out like me, this is an amazing lens for the price. These pictures were taken with overcast skies and at sundown. It also started raining. With that in mind, I was extremely happy with the results, even though, again, conditions were not the best, hence they are hardly photographs. Most of the shots were taken with wide-open apeture (1.8) as I was trying mostly for Depth of Field (blurred background) shots. Will try at smaller apetrues next time.

leemik

iTrader: (2)

nice shots man.. i like 1st tripod shot, the gauge shot & the one with the side of your car from the rear with the rims.. looks hot You should start numbering your photos if you want people to comment on them..

You should also have been able to take that blurry shot of the rim without a tripod.. it looked like there was enough light.. try lowering your f-stop.. or increasing your ISO so that you can use a faster shutter speed (to avoid the shake) lowering your f-stop will also give you better DOF..

--mike

taurran

iTrader: (18)

First off, very nice Z. I'm really digging the color combo of the body/wheels and the painted cwest lip.


Just something I've noticed from many car shots around the web... How would you all define a nice "partial" shot of a car? Apologies to the OP but I'm going to use your pics as examples. Some of the shots here just seem to me to be a little "claustrophobic" meaning the car is boxed in at odd angles and just leaves me as a viewer feeling "trapped".

I actually consider this a lot when I'm taking shots and sometimes it seems that it might subconsciously force me to be more limited in the angles I shoot at. Due to this I usually try to take in the whole car unless I'm going for a tight shot with really tight depth of field for an "artistic" closeup.

Check out below to see what I mean:

Images with odd angles leaving me feeling "trapped":



Images with close crops that have a more natural feel:





Keep in mind I'm not trying to criticize in any way, just that we're talking photography now, and its something I'm interested in discussing since we have some of the more avid photographers on the forum present.

Should I be more willing to go in and chop up the car and only get certain areas in the frame? Also, am I correct in noticing that sometimes its taken to the extreme in automotive shots, in certain cases unneccesarily?? Input? gr?

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Thanks man. Someone should start a Automobile Photography 101 thread, or a "Taking better Automobile Photo" tread. I'll number them the next time.

Yeah, I know that lowering F-stop values (opening apeture) gives you DOF. Been trying it with the Fuji for awhile as the F11 has manually adjustable apeture and shutter speed. But I didn't know that focal length and just the physical distance from lens to subjet greatly affects DOF as evidenced by some of the shots. I kept trying to get a greatly blurred background with the whole car in the shot. I guess this is nearly impossible? I'll post a photoshop later of what I mean.

There's just so many things that go into a shot... and there's different ways to compensate for low light/too much light... you just forget about things like ISO to compensate for exposure. On top of settings, there's composition to worry about. That's the one thing with the SLR though, higher ISO yields way less noise. Photography looks so simple... I see a shot of yours, and I want to replicate it on my car right. And then you find **** out about distortion at lower focal lenths (wide angle), using flash in conditions where it seems like flash is not needed, etc, etc.

On top of that, you need a goddamn ladder for some of the top down shots.

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for the comments. That's why I posted them, for them to be criticized by the more experienced photographers here. There are alot of new SLR/DSLR users here that I've noticed, and I thought I'd document my foray into "better photography" so that it can help others out with their new cameras too.

I thought this shot of the car had a nice sky In hindsight, this other pic was the better "snapshot"


Does that seem alot less claustaphobic, just with more front wheel? Or would the better automobile shot be with part of the grill in the pic? Again, I'd like to see an "Auto Photography 101" thread started up just for this kind of stuff, where we can discuss stuff like 'automobile photo composition.'

gr?

One suggestion I usually throw out to those starting out in automotive photography is to put a little more distance, if possible, from your background and the vehicle if you are looking to blur it out.

I have a few replies in a thread over on the S2000 forum that gives a few tips on positioning, framing, lighting, settings, etc: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...pic=430214&hl=

gr?

Everyone has their own unique style of framing. I generally keep mine simple. I break the car down into different 'zones.'

1) full front
2) full side
3) full rear
4) 1/4 front
5) 1/4 rear

Beyond the basic shots listed above, I have other smaller sections that I break the vehicle into:
6) full side wheel shot
7) wheel turned to one side and taken from the rear
8) headlight shot, usually in portrait mode with 1/2 of the vehicle in the frame
9) rear spoiler shot (this doesn't work well with some cars due to the lines)
10) rear exhaust shot
11) various emblems at different angles

In addition to the above, I do assorted shots of the interior and engine bay but these I keep fairly simple. Here are two quick photo shoots I've done over the last 2 weekends to give you a visual idea of how I frame things, which is usually different than how the next person will frame the same car and setting.

Mitsubishi Lancer EVO:
http://asianguywithacamera.com/image...hi_Lancer_EVO/

Nissan 300ZX non turbo:
http://asianguywithacamera.com/images/Nissan300ZX_01/

Both of these took about 40 minutes total since the owners didn't want anything fancy or extensive. I keep the engine running the whole time since I am constantly having the vehicle repositioned and the wheels turned.

As far as more extreme angles, that's not really my style when I can control the time, location, and vehicle position. I do try weird angles but these are only at car shows due to the limited space, lighting, and bad reflections.

As far as a critque:

I'd take this shot taken about 1 foot back further so that you have the side mirror and the bottom of the wheel in the frame.

For the rest of the shots:

Lighting and exposure is good but the location isn't the greatest. My eyes look at the car, then the pole sticking out of the pass. side. Then my eyes wander to the yellow lines on the ground. Location makes a big impact on the image when you don't fill the whole frame with the vehicle.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Yeah, I am usually very wary of parts I'm chopping off of the car if I go in for close up shots. I just don't like doing it unless there's a specific object I'm focusing on. Usually I find myself stepping back a few times to get everything in. Im my opinion its better to get it all then get the perfect crop with photoshop than to limit yourself by a shot that doesn't give you room to play.

Thanks for the piointers there, as always much appreciated.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

They both seem a little tight to me. If I were taking this pic, I'd back out and get the whole car with a little less DOF. At that point, if you wish to do a close crop on the particular section of the car you can just drop it into photoshop and do your framing there.

spdemon12384

nice pics. the z looks madd clean

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Guys, thanks for the advice. Really helpful information. I do in-home service repair and everywhere I go, I'm looking for locations and such, and what would make a great pic. My eyes have opened, and I'm so much more aware of my environment. Photography has really opened my eyes to the beauty of such mundane objects and structures.

gr?- those are awesome pics. Hopefully, I'll be getting those quality type of shots soon. You bastards make it look so easy!

NA&CH

iTrader: (74)

Awesome car Advan buddy. Really looks great. I cant wait to get my car together/done. Wait I'll never be done

Pictures look great. You have such a beautiful backround. Hawaii. you me I really like how the car looks fully painted.

What other plans do you have for the car? Keep it up buddy. and keep it clean

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

I'll have better Hawaii shots soon. Hopefully, some landmarks and stuff. Next up is the Nismo Exhaust (hopefully soon). After that, sway bars... This is my "old lady," so wer'e going to be tied at the hip forever. Seriously, this car will be in my garage forever...never getting rid of her, so modding will be a "lifetime" thing. If my future other "old lady" says to get rid of it, I'll get rid of her.

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

Goddamn, I can't stop taking pics. Tried some night shots... Just need to stop rushing and be more aware of the surroundings... and remember to take of the polarizer for night shots. I'm always seeing things that I don't want in the shot when I get it on the computer

All shots taken with the kit lens. EFS 18-55mm f/3.5. None taken with flash as the stock flash is too weak. Need to buy an upgrade

1. The gutter running down the center of the "snapshot" ruins what would be a great photograph... at least for me.


2. It was hard to control the amount of exposure of the car, in relation to the exposure of the soda machine. Wish the framing was better.


3. I wish I had this shot with the car straight on and the camera a little higher.


4. Love this pic, but the passing car had to give that red blur running in front of the car. 30 sec exposure.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Lookin good. Nice lighting, especially in the 3rd pic. My biggest problem is finding good multi-colored lighting that gives it a nice "3 point" look.

I really like the last shot a lot. It turned out great. The streak in the foreground doesn't look TOO bad, but I probably would have taken a good amount of shots just to be sure. I might have tried to back up as far as I could and cranked it up as close to 55mm as I could to see if I could "grow" the backdrop a little, but I'm sure you were tight on space. I think that pic would be a lot better if you could crop it down closer to the car in photoshop to fill up the frame more.

From taking night shots, I usually take quite a few more from each angle with slight adjustments in the focus (never rely on manual), and aperature, and exposure. I usually don't bother with full manual mode and just leave it on AV or switch it over to TV for longer time lapse shots like the last one. 5-10 pics at least from each angle and I'm usually able to find at least one usable shot out of those (but not always).

You don't wan't or need any sort of flash for this situation. It really has no place in this type of shot so don't worry about it. The biggest trick is to get the focus perfectly on, have a solid tripod, and rely on the 10sec timer or remote shutter to get a perfectly still shot. You probably already knew that though judging from your pics. It also doesn't hurt to use some afterprocessing sharpening filters and techniques to make those lines really pop.

I'm still working on my own, so others with more experience can probably give better feedback. Good job on the pics, though.

ctwentytwo

iTrader: (9)

I actually take a crapload of shots. Each of those "snapshots" has at least 30 variations of apeture/ISO/shutter. Still trying to find the sweet spot at different times of the day. That last pic though, I tried at ISO 1600 for most of the time. Didn't see the noise until I got home. The small screen really fools you sometimes. Next time, I'm bring my laptop. Did you know you can control the camera with your laptop? BTW, they were all shot by pressing the shutter. I forgot about using the timer... I was just thinking about it yesterday, when I was bummed about not including the remote in my last order from B&H. I'm going to retry those last 2 shots tomorrow, now I have a better idea of what settings to try, instead of being all over the place. BTW, they were taken with Tv (time value/shutter speed) setting. Took your advice earlier in this thread. Altough using full manual lets you try different stuff. I want to try that long exposure at big apeture (f1.8) on the 50mm lens tomorrow, and see how that turns out.

BTW, using Photoshop, or any other image editor won't help me on my photo skills. All those pics are without post processing. It's what comes out of the camera for me! I know my way around image manipulation pretty well, and that would be way too easy! Heck, I'd get DOF, and super sharp pics on every shot no problemo That's no fun.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Image after-processing is the best way to make a great shot excellent. It's a huge part of having "professional" quality photos, but by no means will it totally turn a bad shot into a good one. I'm not necessarily talking about airbrushing out defects or removing trees, either. I'm talking about color balancing, sharpening, and accentuating the already present aspects of the photo.

I guess its alright to skip it if you're looking for constructive criticism, but doing without it completely isn't advisable.