[silver_dragon]

G'day guys,

I'm after a bit of feedback on my automotive photography to see what else I can acheive or different aproaches that I haven't thought of yet, aswell as perhaps there is something i can do in PP to improve the overall "oomph" from my photos.

I wouldn't say I'm unhappy with what I'm capable of producing but i know there is more, infact I'm starting to see that i can do a bit better than a few "photographers" in the local automotive community.

I've decided to put up half a dozen pics with no more than 5min spent on each photo in Lightroom5, all from a car meet on Saturday night. Some more interesting than others, I guess this can aid in showing the limitations often seen at a meet in a cramped car park.

Thanks in Advance,

Stefan

[atupdate]

This shot is one I took while standing straight up. I think if you went 1/2 way between my position and yours, it would provide a different look that would show a bit more hood and interior but not look like the walk-by shot like my image.



Tim

[Kerrowdown]

What more can I extract from my automotive photography?

Just a couple of things that spring to mind to potentially add to a great set of images.

I notice no rears, cars can have gorgeous backsides too, also get in real tight on an special details such as hood ornaments and the like.

[wibbly]

Cars also have amazing symmetry. Instead of always shooting the front 3/4 try some other angles. A Tripod and composition adjust will help

[silver_dragon]

This shot is one I took while standing straight up. I think if you went 1/2 way between my position and yours, it would provide a different look that would show a bit more hood and interior but not look like the walk-by shot like my image.

I think you're right there, when i had a scroll through automotive pics on flickr alot of good photos are composed exactly as you describe, half way between your photo and my photos.

Just a couple of things that spring to mind to potentially add to a great set of images.

I notice no rears, cars can have gorgeous backsides too, also get in real tight on an special details such as hood ornaments and the like.

You are not wrong there. In the past when i have shot at car meets in carparks, i would have said that it would be extremely difficult/impossible to get backside photos with standard focal length given the space constrainments. But now that i have the Sigma 8-16 there is no excuse really

Cars also have amazing symmetry. Instead of always shooting the front 3/4 try some other angles. A Tripod and composition adjust will help

Those were all tripod shots. For some reason alot of the photos were long exposures between 6 and 8 seconds at F8, whereas if i use my Sigma 17-70 they would typically be a 3-4 second exposure at F8.



Thankyou guys for your views on what I can improve. I will take all the recommendations with me and try to get out to a couple of meets over the next weekend or two and report back with my findings

Cheers,

Stefan

[mikeSF]

Stefan, these are enjoyable pics and I like the low angle. Those last two shots could benefit from throwing some light upward at the grills, ie by reflector or even a handheld flash pop. since you are using long exposures, you don't even need a trigger, just push the button on the flash, fairly low power but will throw some life into the teeth.

very nice processing and strong comps.

[Bruce Clark]

Hi

Very nice work and I endorse all the other comments. One thing that you have already alluded to is the cramped conditions. There are often unwanted barriers, fences, machinery etc in the background. It may not always be possible but look for angles that minimise these distractions. Shallow depth of field can possibly help. Another r option is to try to get the background in context. Your image with the Transport behind is a great example. The second image appears to be to be using the green background better than in the first. Cropping and cloning can help remove some distracting elements. Selective blurring, sharpening and vignettes are other tools that can focus attention on cars themselves.

[K-Three]

You might try getting out of the "car show" scene, talking to the owners about a private shoot at a mutually arranged time and place,
Find a location where you can isolate the car, in most of your shots the car is competing for attention with the background.

Most owners are pretty proud of these vehicles, and in exchange for some nice photos of their cars, will give you some help and freedom setting up nice shots of them.
It's going to take some time on your part to scout locations where you can work, where you won't have to much distraction or different problems with the background and environment.
The carnival lighting may be hard to reproduce if you go off on your own somewhere though.

You have some nice images, but I don't see your work growing much unless you take control of location and lighting to emphasize the car over the environment.

[silver_dragon]

Stefan, these are enjoyable pics and I like the low angle. Those last two shots could benefit from throwing some light upward at the grills, ie by reflector or even a handheld flash pop. since you are using long exposures, you don't even need a trigger, just push the button on the flash, fairly low power but will throw some life into the teeth.

very nice processing and strong comps.

using a flash was one of the things i was going to experiment with next. I have seen plenty of people using torches aswell for highlighting certain features of cars.

Hi

Very nice work and I endorse all the other comments. One thing that you have already alluded to is the cramped conditions. There are often unwanted barriers, fences, machinery etc in the background. It may not always be possible but look for angles that minimise these distractions. Shallow depth of field can possibly help. Another r option is to try to get the background in context. Your image with the Transport behind is a great example. The second image appears to be to be using the green background better than in the first. Cropping and cloning can help remove some distracting elements. Selective blurring, sharpening and vignettes are other tools that can focus attention on cars themselves.

I presume you're talking about situations like this



this photo was taken at sunset and the lighting was best suited to the left side of the car, but ofcourse there was a hand rail in the way so i incorporated it into the picture.

You might try getting out of the "car show" scene, talking to the owners about a private shoot at a mutually arranged time and place,
Find a location where you can isolate the car, in most of your shots the car is competing for attention with the background.

Most owners are pretty proud of these vehicles, and in exchange for some nice photos of their cars, will give you some help and freedom setting up nice shots of them.
It's going to take some time on your part to scout locations where you can work, where you won't have to much distraction or different problems with the background and environment.
The carnival lighting may be hard to reproduce if you go off on your own somewhere though.

You have some nice images, but I don't see your work growing much unless you take control of location and lighting to emphasize the car over the environment.

Great idea! I dont think that would be hard to arrange at all. I had 3 people on Saturday night approach me just to talk to me about cars and cameras etc. From my observations it was all because of the half decent tripod and the 8-16 hanging off my camera which certainly isnt a small lense.

Next time I might make the offer of a more secluded destination.


Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!