Harley

lizzard_nyc

Evening all,
I happen to really like this shot--but no longer sure if it's because I've been looking at photos all day and losing my mind or not.

I processed it to look like a pinhole shot.
There was no way to get the entire bike--too crowded and parked next to other vehicles. I really like the way the yellow cab acts as a background though.

Does this work for anyone else?

I'm out of my comfort zone with car/bike shots, but I'm trying to work on it.

Thanks for looking.

TonyCooper

Well, I like it. I like part of the bike rather than all of the bike because all of the bike is what I normally see in motorcycle shots. This is different.

You might add a little vignette for that pinhole look. You wouldn't lose anything in the corners.

Gary752

I like the crop as well, but the top of the tank looks a little over exposed to me, based on the color of the front fender, and looking at the crome and speedometer area. Also the seat looks slightly grey instead of black. You might be able to fix everything I mentioned by setting a black point and getting the seat to look black, as it should. Of course I could be wrong since I'm veiwing this on my laptop and the monitor is unclabrated. Maybe others will chime in.

GaryB

Richard

I love the composition of this. The line of the handlebar nicely connects the two red areas and there are a number of echos in the lines of the cab. Well seen. I agree with Gary that it's a little over-exposed, but I wouldn't mess with the black point on this one. Rather, you could try a little shadow/highlight or a masked multiply mode layer to bring out a little more detail.

black mamba

You have discovered, Liz, the primary difficulty in shooting bikes: all the highly reflective surfaces....chrome, polished paint, etc. It's no easy task to keep all the rest of a scene properly exposed and also accommodate all those reflective parts. I like the composition of this shot. Close-up abstracts of bikes can be a lot of fun.

Take care,

Tom

lizzard_nyc

TonyCooper wrote:

Well, I like it. I like part of the bike rather than all of the bike because all of the bike is what I normally see in motorcycle shots. This is different.

You might add a little vignette for that pinhole look. You wouldn't lose anything in the corners.

Hi Tony,
I just reworked the image and added some more vignette--I like how it looks but it's easy to go overboard I noticed.

I took another shot of most of the bike and it was really blah--I like this tighter shot myself.

Thanks:D .

lizzard_nyc

BroPhoto wrote:

I like the crop as well, but the top of the tank looks a little over exposed to me, based on the color of the front fender, and looking at the crome and speedometer area. Also the seat looks slightly grey instead of black. You might be able to fix everything I mentioned by setting a black point and getting the seat to look black, as it should. Of course I could be wrong since I'm veiwing this on my laptop and the monitor is unclabrated. Maybe others will chime in.

GaryB

I just reworked the image and brought down the exposure a bit.
I'm really not familiar with car/bike shots, I just like the way they look, but never realized all the obstacles involved in shooting and processing the hots.

I've reworked it and will post in a bit--oh and BTW, my monitor is not calibrated either.

Thanks for looking and commenting Gary.

lizzard_nyc

Richard wrote:

I love the composition of this. The line of the handlebar nicely connects the two red areas and there are a number of echos in the lines of the cab. Well seen. I agree with Gary that it's a little over-exposed, but I wouldn't mess with the black point on this one. Rather, you could try a little shadow/highlight or a masked multiply mode layer to bring out a little more detail.

Hi Richard,
Thanks for sending me a pm and showing me the difference in processing. I would post it myself, but I'd rather ask for your permission. So would you post your version to this thread so others can see.

Also I tried the dodging and burning and the highlights, but you lost me at "masked multiply mode layer", I will have to google that. I still have much to learn where editing is concerned.

lizzard_nyc

black mamba wrote:

You have discovered, Liz, the primary difficulty in shooting bikes: all the highly reflective surfaces....chrome, polished paint, etc. It's no easy task to keep all the rest of a scene properly exposed and also accommodate all those reflective parts. I like the composition of this shot. Close-up abstracts of bikes can be a lot of fun.

Take care,

Tom

Tom,
I'm like a kid in a candy store when I see all that shiny chrome and the beautiful colors. Remind me to run the other way when I want to shoot another bike . It's a challenge for sure, one I plan on tackling again, but first must work more on my editing skills.

BTW, I did like shooting the bike from up close--also eliminates all the annoying people in the background. There were so many beautiful cars in South Beach and some awesome bikes, but they were always surrounded by people!

lizzard_nyc

Ok Reworked--still have along way to go I think--but I do like this version better than my original.

Thanks to all who had some awesome tips for me.

.

Richard

lizzard_nyc wrote:

So would you post your version to this thread so others can see.

Sure. Just used shadow/highlight to tone down the exposure some:


Don't worry about the other method. It's more work and the results are not as good unless you spend a ridiculous amount of time on it.

TonyCooper

lizzard_nyc wrote:

I just reworked the image and brought down the exposure a bit.
I'm really not familiar with car/bike shots, I just like the way they look, but never realized all the obstacles involved in shooting and processing the hots.
.

It's "Bike Week" here in Florida and I'll be out with my camera as I was last year. I have "Bikers" gallery at my SmugMug site, and only one out of 33 images have a motorcycle in the image. It's the people, not the machines, that appeal to me as subjects.

The machines are brutes to photograph. It's difficult to get a shot that doesn't look like every other motorcycle shot, and all that chrome is a blow-out nightmare.

If I did decide to photograph the machines, I'd sign up for lessons from
"Black Mamba". While he does mostly automobiles, he's faced with the same problems of reflections in the finish, hot spots, and bright Florida sun...and he does very well at it.

lizzard_nyc

Richard wrote:

Sure. Just used shadow/highlight to tone down the exposure some:


Don't worry about the other method. It's more work and the results are not as good unless you spend a ridiculous amount of time on it.

Thanks Richard---I think I'll stay away from that second method for a while:D .

lizzard_nyc

TonyCooper wrote:

It's "Bike Week" here in Florida and I'll be out with my camera as I was last year. I have "Bikers" gallery at my SmugMug site, and only one out of 33 images have a motorcycle in the image. It's the people, not the machines, that appeal to me as subjects.

The machines are brutes to photograph. It's difficult to get a shot that doesn't look like every other motorcycle shot, and all that chrome is a blow-out nightmare.

If I did decide to photograph the machines, I'd sign up for lessons from
"Black Mamba". While he does mostly automobiles, he's faced with the same problems of reflections in the finish, hot spots, and bright Florida sun...and he does very well at it.

Oh man I'd love to be at Bike Week! But not for the bikes as much as the people . Of course I probably couldn't resist a bike or two.

I also agree about Tom--he sure does have some awesome car shots!