exotic car project, photos stemmed from other thread

[neliconcept]

thanks brian, some counter points that i should have pointed out, unfortunately this class sucks so much that hes making us shoot in jpg so that we have to print directly from the printer using the card reader to use all meta data.

i hate the grainy ness but i was shooting at 1600 to 3200 iso without a flash, now that i have a nice flash and soft box, i may be able to shoot faster with lower ISO to reduce that noise crap.

I use the rule of 1/3s a lot but in these cases (except the engine shot, that should have been on the thirds or on the third of thirds) i like headlights being in the middle for some reason, and the lambo brake, well i wish the other 3 had the full name in, but that one gives more to what the car is instead of the others that had gini at the end lol

[mastacox]

thanks brian, some counter points that i should have pointed out, unfortunately this class sucks so much that hes making us shoot in jpg so that we have to print directly from the printer using the card reader to use all meta data.

Ah, well it makes sense for a photography class so you're forced to use correct exposure techniques rather than massive Photoshop skills. You may be able to tweak the JPEG settings in your camera to help with the noise/grain and some of the white balance issues, I'm sure you're very familiar with those settings so you might consider messing with them. What camera are you shooting with again? A 5D?

i hate the grainy ness but i was shooting at 1600 to 3200 iso without a flash, now that i have a nice flash and soft box, i may be able to shoot faster with lower ISO to reduce that noise crap.

You know, if you were using a tripod or other mount for the camera, you wouldn't have to shoot at high ISO either, you could just shoot slow shutter speeds. Shooting with a tripod would probably help a lot with your exposure/lighting issues.

I use the rule of 1/3s a lot but in these cases (except the engine shot, that should have been on the thirds or on the third of thirds) i like headlights being in the middle for some reason, and the lambo brake, well i wish the other 3 had the full name in, but that one gives more to what the car is instead of the others that had gini at the end lol

Well the rule of 1/3's isn't an end all be all for all pictures, but I do find myself drawn to well implemented 1/3's photographs in most cases, as well as pictures with good contrast, good leader lines, and well implemented DOF.

I think you can get a little slide-card or table that will estimate your total DOF based on your sensor size and aperture, you might consider trying to vary your DOF to capture just the subject and blur the background for better "pop." Professional photographs always tend to stand out from "lesser" photographs because the subject is in-focus, and the rest ain't. What's the widest-aperture lens you have?

[mastacox]

Also, when you're using that flash my tips would be:

A) NEVER shoot with the flash mounted on top of the camera pointing straight forward unless you're doing a closeup macro shot. Try and bounce the flash off of the ceiling, walls, whatever. Direct shine from the flash will create ameteurish-looking shadows IMO.

2) If you can, having the flash off to your left or right on a stand pointing at an angle with the subject might give some cool/dramatic shadows.

III) If I had to choose between using a flash or mounting to a tripod and using a slower shutter, I'd choose the tripod as long as the light is aesthetically "good."

[neliconcept]

Also, when you're using that flash my tips would be:

A) NEVER shoot with the flash mounted on top of the camera pointing straight forward unless you're doing a closeup macro shot. Try and bounce the flash off of the ceiling, walls, whatever. Direct shine from the flash will create ameteurish-looking shadows IMO.

2) If you can, having the flash off to your left or right on a stand pointing at an angle with the subject might give some cool/dramatic shadows.

III) If I had to choose between using a flash or mounting to a tripod and using a slower shutter, I'd choose the tripod as long as the light is aesthetically "good."

i used off camera hot shoe with soft box, creates nice light... i used the flash directly with softbox for interior shots. created nice light.

i just got back from bentley, funny how when i wear a bentley t-shirt i get to drive and move cars for them for no reason at all, a total of 5 cars i had on the streets today but wasnt able to take shots of them out, however, better news is, my dad got off the phone from high point bentley in north carolina, a friend of the family owns it and is going to talk to both ferrari and bentley to let me use cars AT MY OWN DISPOSAL whenever i want to... not sure if that will work or not but we shall see, i need the aston martin dbs and the bentley gt speed down in downtown near some graffiti or something, but i may need to take a gun so i dont get these cars stolen from me

[neliconcept]

totally missed this post lol sorry

Ah, well it makes sense for a photography class so you're forced to use correct exposure techniques rather than massive Photoshop skills. You may be able to tweak the JPEG settings in your camera to help with the noise/grain and some of the white balance issues, I'm sure you're very familiar with those settings so you might consider messing with them. What camera are you shooting with again? A 5D?

im using a 30d and have noise compensation turned on a long with varying wb, i use either tungsten or stray light wb while inside and today had to use cloudy as it was cloudy, sometimes ill set up my color temp to a certain kelvin number to see how it works in certain situations.

the first run of pictures were basically a test run to get perspectives and everything.

You know, if you were using a tripod or other mount for the camera, you wouldn't have to shoot at high ISO either, you could just shoot slow shutter speeds. Shooting with a tripod would probably help a lot with your exposure/lighting issues.

i plan on going back to ferrari to do this with some of the cars, and maybe lambo, with the wheel and some of the low level i was taking pictures at i dont think my tripod would work so well as it spreads the legs but the center doesnt swivel downward just up and down, not angle.

Well the rule of 1/3's isn't an end all be all for all pictures, but I do find myself drawn to well implemented 1/3's photographs in most cases, as well as pictures with good contrast, good leader lines, and well implemented DOF.

I think you can get a little slide-card or table that will estimate your total DOF based on your sensor size and aperture, you might consider trying to vary your DOF to capture just the subject and blur the background for better "pop." Professional photographs always tend to stand out from "lesser" photographs because the subject is in-focus, and the rest ain't. What's the widest-aperture lens you have?

i love bokeh and short DOF but sometimes it gets a little old, i use an f2.8 lens on my 24-70 and my 10-20 is a vary ap with 4-5.6 at with 4 being at 10mm

ill upload the bentley shots, i was able to get great shots and didnt go any higher then 400 iso so the grain shouldn't be an issue, i did more short DOF here though.

thanks for the comments, im def getting some ideas on things from you Brian,

like i said in my previous post, i just contacted Geoff Eade, a friend of the family who owns the bentley dealer in NC and he knows the GM at the one here and some of the guys at the ferrari/maserati/aston martin dealer, so i may just get my wish and take out some cars hopefully

[mastacox]

I'm looking forward to seeing some more pictures from you, this is pretty fun. Some more ideas for pictures:

- Close-up of the Mucielago's front intake ducts with the honeycomb grill.

- Closeup of a wheel with it turned some so you can get some tire tread as well as the wheel in the shot.

- Closeup of a Ferrari prancing horse logo on the front or side of the car, hopefully on the brightest red or yellow vehicle you can find.

- "Driving" shot where you slow the shutter speed slightly and are following in a chase car. If you track the car correctly while taking the picture, the picture ends up with the car perfectly sharp, and the background and tires/wheels are blurred from the motion. Might be a difficult picture to pull off as I've never actually tried it, but that is the money shot in auto enthusiast magazines.

- Closeup of the front of one of the cars with headlights off and then on (possibly just the parking lights on too, especially at dusk). Sometimes when the headlights are on you can get some cool flares and effects. Don't take a picture straight-on, but off to the side so you don't get direct shine from the lights.

- Closeup detail of the Ferrari's (or other vehicle's) carbon-ceramic brake discs, if you can get some cool grain detail out of the surface.

- If you can, you should try getting some detail shots of the interiors, things like the stitching on the seats, closeup of the gauge cluster, shift knob, things like that.

- If you're allowed to have someone turn the car "on," some vehicle's gauges have a cycle they go through when first activated where the needles go all the way to max, and then back to min. If you take a picture of that happening with a slow shutter, the needles will be blurred and could look pretty cool.

I have a million ideas, but I think these are some good possibilities.

[neliconcept]

- If you can, you should try getting some detail shots of the interiors, things like the stitching on the seats, closeup of the gauge cluster, shift knob, things like that.

did that of the bentleys today, it has a mulliner interior (a package that makes the interior have interesting sticting and more elegant style)

ill get those pictures up soon.

I got an email back from Geoff Eade our family friend, and he gave me contact info for guy from ferrari, not yet from bentley, i will call this guy soon and see what he thinks about everything.

im also going to upload some shots that werent in black and white, the BW kinda made the grain appear, i think i effed that up some, i may redo the BW on them, ill repost some and then ill add some more that I didnt post, along with the bentley shots in the next hour or so.

Thanks for the ideas Brian, im going to try a moving shot, its harder to pan then it is with two vehicles at the exact same speed, panning, one thing i havent gotten down pat just yet.

[neliconcept]

sorry for the really overdue update and here are some edited pictures in raw this time.

one ill be turning in, the front of the aston martin and maybe the odd bentley side shot.

super concentrated blacks and fill light with contrast bumps, fun and gives it a nice appeal.

[neliconcept]

its been really nasty weather and my teacher has a thing about grey skys, he doesnt like them, so im going to have to go shoot wednesday and finish up this shit so i can get it done for the project.

[mastacox]

Here are my constructive criticisms

1) Cool picture, really like the shallow DOF. I kind of wish this shot was angled so that we saw more of the headlight and car's hood, and less of the background. The black and white seems to work well in this case.

2) Good angle, great post-processing, WIN!

3) Pretty good picture, it just doesn't seem to be doing a lot for me. Maybe there is too much stuff on the front of the car to look at. The picture may be a bit over-sharpened also.

4) Pretty good picture, I like how the background colors complement the car's color. I also like the implementation of the shallow DOF and how the car's windshield and mirror are still visible, but blurred smoothly. For some reason to me it seems like the headlight is too far to the left. I would again suggest more hood and windshield, less background.