@darhawk lets discuss :)

Tony · Mar 12, 2013

Ok now before I start..Just be clear that I am not bashing you or claiming to be master photographer. This is just things I see and would avoid, if your trying to become serious. Photography takes time to learn and master. You have to practice and study a bit too know what makes a great image. Try looking at promotional images that are from a professional photographer, you will notice car postion, backgrounds and reflections, time of day, filter useage, height of camera,..etc. Study the picture you think are super nice. Why do they stand out? then compare to yours, think about how you could have done better. Sure an SLR will be awesome, but if you can't afford that now, then you have to make due with what you have, and you can still make killer photos with the camera you have. Just need to know your camera limtations.

Ok now for the picture...I kinda wrote over you images to show you better than just talking in a large paragraph. Thanks for letting me critique you, as sometimes it can be hard to swallow, when some say anything with a negitive output. My job is to help you and not to hurt you.

3....2....1...

i just decided to copy this and post in here for those who are into car photography like i think i may start getting serious about. i did'nt wanna blow up my build thread with photography discusiions, lol. however i really am interested in this! anyone with any input or tips jump in.
Darhawk heres a couple more shots i wonder what i should have done differently...a couple i cropped already. what do ya think?

ok...lemme have it

EDIT: [MENTION=16788]Darhawk[/MENTION] <- since tags don't work in titles apparently

chris91 · Mar 12, 2013

Subscribed for this one!

I need to learn me some info too!

Tony · Mar 12, 2013

there's a couple guys on this forum that always take awesome shots and sem to know alot about pic taking. should i change the title of the thread, lol? get some traffic from photo guys??

Darhawk · Mar 12, 2013

[MENTION=17070]Tony[/MENTION] 3rd one is my best choice. I like the crops, much better than before, still a little to much on the top of some of them. I think the white balance is off on that last picture. The mid day sun is what is making the images look like a loss of POP! You need warm sunlight and then the color would be enhanced. I give you kudos for not having any distractions in these. Nice job with that. The thing I guess that bothers me in these shot, which are all good, is that your is going with parallel with the wall. It look 2D and not 3D, meaning the image looks flat.

These shots are tricky because your camera is confused, seriously. It doesn't know weither to meter the scene for the white wall or the black pavement, hence the underexposure. I don't think these are bad at all though for Exposure, just a tad dark, but that is due to the high noon sun and wall/pavement combination.

Also make sure you post process..before posting. Digital cameras require post processing on almost all images to some degree. Could be sharpness, color, croping, etc...

Tony · Mar 12, 2013

that first pic you edited looks awesome...just simply by cropping and tilting def changed the whole vibe. the second one you edited looks too bright and grainy now...no? i did read up on the 3rds you mentioned...hence the pic shot from the rear angle.

MustangChris · Mar 12, 2013

wow. lol. darhawk is the man!

Darhawk · Mar 12, 2013

[MENTION=17070]Tony[/MENTION] Yeah the pic I posted is processed a bit bright and grainy, that is what happens to a picture if you don't correctly expose it right in the beginning. If it's under exposed then processing will get grainy faster. If it's Over Exposed, then you loose detail faster. I just wanted to tweak it a bit to show you how dark it really was, but I went a touch too far. See how the rear wheel is overexposed loosing detail in the spokes? But yet the color seems to be more vivid?

Glad you read RULE OF 3RDS, it will help you a ton, or anyone for that matter. Once you get it down, then you can break away sometimes from the rules. But best to stick with them when first starting out. It helps give you a foundation to work with.

I am glad you used a tripod, may that be your best friend and with use of the timer feature you will get tack sharp images everytime.

Tony · Mar 12, 2013

like this shot...no tripod and i can't get it to sharpen w/o making it grainy as hell, lol. i never really thought a tripod was needed until i actually used one, lol. def makes a huge difference in shap images.

Orange 94 · Mar 12, 2013

Thanks for posting tony! I think i will use some of the tips!

Darhawk · Mar 13, 2013

[MENTION=17070]Tony[/MENTION] Here another tip, just because I noticed..it's really not a big deal, but it's the little things that make the shot GRAND!
If your going to get close to the car, then wear a shirt that match the color of the car, or a black works well too. I used to shoot small diecast all the time ( and I can see it in this image as well ) and I would wear a green shirt or whatever and the reflection would end up on the wheels and door panels. Which reminds me of what I see on this last image. You could always photoshop it out true..but it's better to get it right while your taking the shot, which will equal to LESS time at the computer fixing these small things.

Tip#2 If you can use a Circular Polarizer that would be the first Filter I would get. Then your windows on the car wouldn't have any reflection on them at all. It would take away ( the CP filter ) glare and haze, which would give you a nice saturated non-glare finish. I use one all the time, if fact I leave it on my front main lens most often. If I am in doors then I take it off or I just bump up the ISO ( aka FILM SPEED 200, 400,800 etc )
If you had PHotoshop you could take more than one pic at different degrees of exposure and then merge them into one image...but that is another topic. Let concetrate on making quality images before we head to Photoshop techinques..LOL

It's hard to write all this down...I sound so serious!...LOL
Pickchure Takin is seareeus SHITE!!!!

Tony said:
like this shot...no tripod and i can't get it to sharpen w/o making it grainy as hell, lol. i never really thought a tripod was needed until i actually used one, lol. def makes a huge difference in shap images.

Your outside so use the lowest ISO possible, don't let the camera choose it. You do it. Go in an set it yourself. Also your probably cropping and then your sharpening..that is a big no no too. Always sharpen before you shrrink it dowwwn.. Remember to save the image at 300 DPI which will keep it from getting grainy after you resize it.

Tony · Mar 15, 2013

[MENTION=16788]Darhawk[/MENTION] i took some more shots today with the things you said in mind. lemme know what ya think man..appreciate it

anyone else feel free to critique as well...no hurt feelings

this one i wanted the focus on the wheel..always liked photos with a focus on something and the background goes away

Orange 94 · Mar 15, 2013

Tony said:

LOOOOOVEEE this one!

Tony · Mar 15, 2013

today was tough...all the pics came out really dark. i tried 10 dif ways to fn adjust settings but they just were not coming out that great. i like sunny day pics better.

Darhawk · Mar 15, 2013

Tony - Those are much much better! Congrats, well done! 3rd is my fav! The 2nd one is a great compostition, but something is bothersome about the crop.
Even though the car is (in photo number #3) dead center , it works because it is symmetrical. Last picture has a great shallow depth of field, nice work.
Your light is much better too, not so dark, and the cloudy day helps.

I did this adjustment, just to show you another perspective. You could even crop it a bit more, if you wanted too.

Tony · Mar 15, 2013

man that looks awesome, lol. dam dude! yea i think the second one i cropped it weird, lol. thinking rule of 3rds in my head kinda screwed it up a tad.

Darhawk · Mar 15, 2013

[MENTION=17070]Tony[/MENTION]

Tony · Mar 15, 2013

yea i def agree, the top and rear need a little more space. i thought you would dig the soft background. notice how i left some room in the front? that was prolly my fav. tip, lol.

Tony · Mar 16, 2013

so in rhe post processing are...i prolly could use some more practice i'm sure, lol. heres some before and afters. tell me which one you think looks best

unedited straight from camera:

cropped:

cropped, blurred background, attempted to get rid of the bright white glare from the sun, and desaturated the background of color:

Darhawk · Mar 24, 2013

Tony I like the last one the best, but the 2nd one is good too. If you would have combined them together then that would be spot on for this image. But I wouldn't have blurred the background. But that is purely a judgement call, based on the original person who took the picture. It's good you took out the sharp glare, that was a great idea. It is good you tried to hide the snow, because that would be a minor distraction. So nice job with this image.

Here is my 2nd ( 1st crop see above ) version of how I would have cropped it and I did some very minor tweaking. Not much different from yours. See if you can find the differences.