Car Photography: QUESTIONS?

[jake616]

Well this is directed more to those who take the nice car shots from different angles and scenes, but if you can help in anyways please do

Questions

*What is the best time to get good shots?
*What are good places to get shots?
*What are good angles/ and how do you get them?
*Flash or no flash?
*Tips for getting pictures in the rain?
*any photography advice you can offer?

thanks!
-jake

 

[GN One Day...]

I'm not a very good photographer, so this may just be a "bump", but here's what I've found:

#1 take it in shade, but on a sunny day. You want indirect light.

#2 use a tripod (a must, IMO)

-try to get ground or sky behind the car, you don't want a tree to look like it's coming from out of the hood or top of the car (this is really hard for me, especially in the pine belt!)

-index your shots. If you don't know if you have the right exposure, go down below, on the money and up one setting.

-take lots of pictures

-take a shot in low light with a low light/long exposure as well as with a flash. The flash might look better on one shot but the longer exposure and no flash might look better on the next, even in the same light.

-angles, take as many as possible. It'll look diffferent when you see the shots later.

-avoid light reflections (goes back to using indirect light, not in full sun). Throws off the color.


HTH, maybe someone knowledgeable will teach us something.

 

[Drew L]

Roll down whatever windows you can. Drew

 

[99Formula]

Originally posted by jake616
Well this is directed more to those who take the nice car shots from different angles and scenes, but if you can help in anyways please do

Questions

*What is the best time to get good shots?
*What are good places to get shots?
*What are good angles/ and how do you get them?
*Flash or no flash?
*Tips for getting pictures in the rain?
*any photography advice you can offer?

Jake,
I made my living shooting pictures of cars for a few years. Best time of the day to get shots is in the middle of the day with the light as direct and overhead as possible. If you have to take pictures at other times or late in the year, point the car into the sun so that the shade is thrown to the rear.
Good places to get shots vary. That's where I think the "art" comes in. I like shots that have lots of nature in the background.
The best angle is usually the front 3/4 shot with the wheel turned away. Remember, you never want to see the tread of the tire, the wheel should aways be turned away from you.
Use flash as little as possible. Unless you're using a full studio setup, you're never going to get consistent lighting with a flash.
Pictures in the rain? Make sure to keep the camera covered and keep water off the lens. That's about all the advice you should need, everything else should stay the same.
Probably the best advice I can give is to invest in a good UV filter for your lens, and if necessary, a circular polarizing filter. Some other bits of advice:
1) Keep yourself out of the picture... Don't show your own shadow or your reflection in the car.
2) Shoot far away from the car and zoom into it or use a very high quality lens with a large apurture. This will help to blur out the background and keep the car as the focus of the shot.
3) Shoot on the same level or below the level of the car. Unless you have a step ladder, don't shoot down onto the car.

Here is one of my favorite pictures I took of my old car to illustrate the front 3/4 shot:
1999 Firebird Formula

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Peter

 

[jake616]

 

[dhauser]

You've seen my auctions. You've seen all the pics. I'd say 99Formula has the best advice. However, if you aren't into messing with apertures, F-stops, big-azz bulky lenses, tripods and all the crap that goes along with it, I would add these tidbits:

1) Good digital camera, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. I take all my pics with a Nikon 2 megapixel camera.

2) Avoid flashes unless taking pics of the engine bay, and then only if you have plenty of light otherwise.

3) Trees and other well-defined background elements reflect well off black paint. Use it to your advantage.

4) Take 'em until you get a CLEAR result. Geez, you'd think that wouldn't have to be said.

5) Midday sun is best for dark colored cars; early morning or evening sun can really work to your advantage with lighter colored and medium colored cars.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I deal with a lot of photography too. Another good way to get a clean shot of just the car (no sky included) is midday on an overcast day. this will keep you from getting really hot spots or really dark shadows.

 

[bishir]

I took a few photography classes in school and I'll comment on each of your questions. First, let me say that the previous poster had a lot of good comments and I'll probably repeat some of them..

*What is the best time to get good shots?

The best time outdoors is typically during the "golden hours" Those are about the hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise.

*What are good places to get shots?

If you're taking a picture of your car is my personal belief you'll want a neutral background that will focus the attention on your car and not something else. Cars next to airplanes, bridges, and cool buildings are good pictures, but sometimes they can draw attention away from the car shot. Also, you don't want the other object to interrupt the lines of the car. Just like you don't want trees or poles coming out of the roof of the car in the picture. Also, I think car pictures look better when taken somewhere a car typically should be like a road or racetrack. Pictures on grass of cars don't appeal to me.

*What are good angles/ and how do you get them?

A good angle will be one that doesn't have the car sitting in a shadow. Some people like up close views of grills and bumpers, but if you're trying to get the whole car try a picture with the front and sides in view of the camera. Side profile shots work good too. I like low angles from the ground, but some prefer high angles to show off the hood roof and trunk. It's all just personal preference really.


*Flash or no flash?

Outdoors, flash won't do you any use...

*Tips for getting pictures in the rain?

Rain pictures can be good since the clouds can filter the light nicely. If it's really dark get a camera in which you are able to hold the shutter open for a little longer exposure.

*any photography advice you can offer?

Other than practice makes perfect and you can take 100s of pictures and only have 1 good one....

 

[garysol1]

Look at the car before you take your picture. Do you see any bright spots.....sun spots? If you do move a few feet left or right until they disapear. Dont be afraid to use strange angles.Lay on the ground and do a front 3/4 .......rules are there to be broken. I am a profesional car photographer and some of my best shots break all of the rules. Best lighting is the few hours after and before sunrise and sunset.....no matter what color the car is. Midday sun is harsh.Use Flash whenever possible. It will help to bring out the detail like inside the wheel wells just be careful of flash back reflected back. If using a digital look at your images before you walk away. Make sure you have what you want. One of the biggest things that ruin any image is background. Dont just look at the car through the camera but look at what else you see......poles....houses.......people walking behind..........I disagree with using a tripod unless it is dark and you are using a slow shudder speed.I would rather have the flexability to move around a bit and get the angle I am looking for.
If you have anyother questions or thoughts...no matter how little feel free to email me.

 

[turbofish38]

What Peter(99formula) says, and my favorite one when the car has a few obvious imperfections is standing on the top rung of my 6 foot ladder and doing a 3/4 shot. I always use the flash if I 'm less than 3 foot away..... and of course if you really suck at photography use a pretty girl in swimwear in your picture.

Eric Fisher

 

[99Formula]

Originally posted by turbofish38
and of course if you really suck at photography use a pretty girl in swimwear in your picture.

lol.. Hey, I don't think that's bad advice, even for the professional.

Jake,
Seems like there are a lot of ideas on how to do the same thing here, which is pretty much to be expected. Everyone develops their own style after a little while. If you ever read GM High Tech Performance, look for pictures by Johnny Hunkins. I really like his style of photography.
I think so far most people prefer dusk and dawn pictures while I'm one of the few that prefers as much direct light as possible. The reason I like as much light as I can get is that no matter if I'm shooting film or digital, I can always get rid of extra light either during the shoot or during the final production. However, it's hard if not impossible to make light that isn't there to begin with.

My $.015 after tax.

Peter

 

[garysol1]

the only downside to direct light is that it is harsh and can change the color of the car or at least wash it out. If you shoot the car at say 2 hours before dusk there should be plenty of light to shoot at say 250 or 300. But of course if you got the Bikini in there.....who really cares

 

[Buick From Hell]

I love taking pictures of cars, I'm still learning...

I know this much--look at advertising pics of cars & trucks, I notice MANY are taken in "twilight" conditions, with the yellow/red hue of the sunset reflecting down the vehicle's side. One of my favorite car pics is This one of my Lincoln,, taken just after sundown. I've found (for my taste anyway) that I DON'T want the sun shining directly on the car, tends to make black look gray, and it washes out lighter colors. Direct sunlight will also reveal ANY small dings & scratches! I like high sun BEHIND the car, or overcast days...

 

[tom h]

hasn't been mentioned above, but JMHO that a 105mm focal length lens (if using 35mm film camera) provides a near-ideal perspective ... same reason it's a popular portrait lens. The, move your self forward or backwards to fill the framing you desire.

Wider angle (short focal length) distorts perspective too much (think closeups of "Ernest" - Jim Varney - with giant noses). Longer focal lengths (telephoto) "flatten" or "compress" the proportions too much. of course, sometimes these different perspectives are intentional, and can lookgood, depending on the effect you're trying to achieve.

If you're using a film SLR (not point&shoot), and want "pro level" pictures, then also consider slide film (Kodak or Fuji ISO 100 speed) instead of print film. Even if you make prints from the slides, the slide film provides an absolute reference to the photo lab for printing accurately. But this is a more expensive, fussy way to go unless you're looking for pro-level results.

 

[jake616]

I usually jsut use a Kodak DX4900 digital camera, but have access to other nice cameras and filters and what not (no clue what to use). Canon Rebel 2000, Olympus OM10 as well as a couple others.

Are their photography classes you can take w/o beign in a school?
Specializing in automobile photography? building photography?