Automotive Photography

Dooginfif20 · May 25, 2011

So recently I have been trying my hand at automotive photography. Here are a few of what I have so far. I would appreciate it if you could let me know what I should work on and if you like these thanks!

Ryan

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7

mercphoto · May 25, 2011

1 is a bad location (telephone poles, wires) and I'd like to see the car in the right of the frame, not the left. Have the car entering the frame, not leaving it. But the lighting on the car, the lines and the detail on the car, are great. Maybe have the sun setting over the hood, or in front of the car, rather than behind it. Number 4 just hurts my eyes (sorry). You've got ghosting on your HDR and the background through the driver's window is much, much brighter than the background around the car. A few shots have some distracting HDR ghosting as well.

are you using a giant soft box for these shots? You've got some big highlights in several of them. I've never used lights with a car before but I know many who will only use flashes with cars specifically so that the hotspots are smaller, and thus easier to clone out.

Dooginfif20 · May 25, 2011

Ya i agree about the telephone pole and wires, but we only had about 15 min and that was the best spot we could get to. i meant to have the car in the left part of the frame so I could get the sun in the shot as well. I agree with 4. None of these are HDR. I had redone these but I guess never uploaded them to photobucket. I had used a multiply layer on the sky and didnt do a very good job with a soft brush. As for the lighting, the ones of the MR2 were shot with a AB1600 and 86" PLM w/diffuser camera left and a AB800 with a 7" reflector camera right. As for the hot spot a friend of mine shoots for Modified and he told me to use the 86" PLM because bigger the light source the better.

Molotov Everything · May 25, 2011

#5 doesn't look level, right side looks slightly higher than the left. Also, having a sign that says 'liquor and wine' right next to a car.... I think that should go.
#7 I can see a border around the top half of the car where it looks like you painted around it, a little 'pavement halo' if you will.

System · May 25, 2011

I really like the location of the MR2 shots. The rest of the locations I don't really like. I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination but the unnatural lighting in all of them kind of ruins them for me. I think you would benefit from experimenting with HDRs. Great cars though :P

MammaPaparazza · May 26, 2011

What Merc photo said..
I do like the location tho it is a bit too dark...I didnt know they still made MR2's. I had one in 93, until a drunk driver drove over top of us.

mercphoto · May 26, 2011

Dooginfif20 wrote: »

Ya i agree about the telephone pole and wires, but we only had about 15 min and that was the best spot we could get to. i meant to have the car in the left part of the frame so I could get the sun in the shot as well.

Makes sense, but could then turn the car around.

Still not a bad shot at all! Maybe clone the wires out?

As for the lighting, the ones of the MR2 were shot with a AB1600 and 86" PLM w/diffuser camera left and a AB800 with a 7" reflector camera right. As for the hot spot a friend of mine shoots for Modified and he told me to use the 86" PLM because bigger the light source the better.

That could be, as I've never done it before myself and just going on what others have told me. But those large highlights bother me and they would be hard to clone out, as opposed to smaller light sources that would be easier. Maybe one day I'll play with lights myself.

Dooginfif20 · May 26, 2011

MammaPaparazza wrote: »

What Merc photo said..
I do like the location tho it is a bit too dark...I didnt know they still made MR2's. I had one in 93, until a drunk driver drove over top of us.

haha no they dont. my friend got it via trade. He is getting stationed over in Japan, but has to make a stop in San Diego for a couple months. His car wasnt legal in Cali so he traded for the MR2.

Dooginfif20 · May 26, 2011

mercphoto wrote: »

Makes sense, but could then turn the car around. Still not a bad shot at all! Maybe clone the wires out?

That could be, as I've never done it before myself and just going on what others have told me. But those large highlights bother me and they would be hard to clone out, as opposed to smaller light sources that would be easier. Maybe one day I'll play with lights myself.

The problem with turning the car around is I would lose the sun flare I wanted. Also the if I did the background would be a crappy park that looked like dog doo doo. I have set up a shoot for his entire car club at a location that should work awesome so lets hope there! As for the lights the only car I used the diffuser on the PLM was the MR2 shot at 3 in the afternoon. The first mustang pic at the top was just the AB1600 and 7. The yellow and black mustang were the same as the top mustang. The orange and maroon ones were shot without the diffuser which tends to throw kinda harsh highlights. Just to throw this out there all of these were shot at a min notice and with it being western Washington the weather doesnt like to play ball. I really appreciate the comments because I really have no clue what I am doing and am just trying to improve! So thanks again!

Automotive Photography

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