I hate car shows!!!

Sam

There you are looking at some incredible vehicles, one of a kind, built from the ground up with loving care. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe them.

They deserve to be immortalized in photographs.

You look for the angle, the reflections, backgounds, overall composition.

It can't be done!!!!

You have pink / yellow chairs, coolers, people, food tables, legs ugly hairy legs, printed paper fliers, modern junk in a classic vehicle, people bumping into you, other cars, you name it!!

Frustration X 1000!!

I liked this shot..............really wished I could have got all of the two side vehicles in it, but do to the above.......sigh.

Sam

SimpsonBrothers

That is why I've been doing close up shots.

Chrome avoidence is almost impossible!

BTW, this pictures bothers me because I can see people in the mirror. http://simpsonbrothers.net/Cars/Automotive/IMG0240e1/915473750_23rA2-XL.jpg

It's enough to make you want to pull your hair out.

Wil Davis

Nice job, Sam!

…I agree about the difficulty in getting "clean" shots, but if you're prepared to spend some time with PhotoShop, you might be surprised at what can be achieved…

Now you see 'em:




…now you don't:





- Wil

SimpsonBrothers

That's pretty damn good!

Sam

SimpsonBrothers wrote: »

That is why I've been doing close up shots.

Chrome avoidence is almost impossible!

BTW, this pictures bothers me because I can see people in the mirror. http://simpsonbrothers.net/Cars/Automotive/IMG0240e1/915473750_23rA2-XL.jpg

It's enough to make you want to pull your hair out.

You have some nice auto images there. I have a lot of tight images but haven't processed them yet. One thing i noticed is that your site seems slow?

I can only find one faint image in the window glass on the first car on the left. I can't see it at the size I posted! Are you related to Monk?

Sam

SimpsonBrothers

Sam wrote: »

One thing i noticed is that your site seems slow?

Always is, no idea why.

SoCalAl

I'm with Sam.... Went to a local show yesterday with the same issues. One lady even told her son to stand in front of me so he could get a good look at a car... On top of it all I was there at high noon and the reflections were blindingly beautiful??? Still had fun watching the girls, getting a few car shots and a hot dog!! (:

SPD_FRK

Car shows are difficult to shoot great pictures at. Though I am just starting out with a DSLR, I have found you definitely need patience when working with crowds around a car (or groups of cars). I usually try to locate the vehicel owner and ask them to work with me for some great photos and they are always willing to accomodate (if they can be found which is difficult at large events).

Sometimes, if you are lucky to find the owner and they are interested they will hang around after the show ends for a solo photo shoot of the car if you are really eager to. Though as a business or pro photographer time is money so it is something to consider I guess.

speedracer04

You can get good photos are auto shows if you really want to. The main thing you need is patients to wait for that small amount of time when the crowd clears (or just be vocal and ask them to move). I would not do it at most shows but any of the ones i'm working (concourses) I move peoples chairs if needed, most will move it them selves because they want their cars photos used. While it may seem like it would make it harder I find it easier to use a longer lens and zoom in because you can get rid of a lot of clutter.

Other tips I could give are to shoot low if needed (this can get rid of people sitting in the back ground). Also I always find my best photos are from when cars are coming or going from the event, mostly because they are different from what other people have. This is also helpful because the cleanest photos are before lots of people are there, in better light, and when the field/parking lot is not full. The last thing I can think of right now (sorry for the long post) is i always go for the cars that I can get the best photo of even if it is not the coolest car.

Now some random photos from different shows over the years
1-Before the show


2 - Midday detail with a little lens flair added to take away the background


3- early (i should photoshop out the flag)


4- using whatever is there


Those are just some random examples I pulled, I have shot a lot of automotive events over the last few years so the more you do it the more you figure out the ways around things