Photographers... advice on taking great car pics?

E

Erick

New member
Hi,

I was wondering if there's any sage advice on photgraphing cars our painstakingly detailed cars.

I took some pictures yesterday of my car. All of the pictures were taken with a very low sun shining on the car - just before sunset - but still, some of the pics turned out somewhat disappointing. Some had a glare, some had shadows, and many showed orange tires (from the sun). I also took a picture in the shade during early evening that showed my black car to be very shiney.... but instead of looking black, it appeared BLUE from the reflection of the sky! :( I also noticed that getting too close to the car (less than 5 feet) resulted in a dimensions of the car being distorted.

So, are there any rules to photographing cars that pertain to lighting, time of day, angle, distance from subject, zoom, etc.?

I'm attaching some of the 'best' shots for critique and comment. I'd be thankful of any advice you have. Thanks again....

Erick
 
I'm definitly no expert, but i find when i take down the exposure compensation on my digital it helps with the glare on the background and wheels
 
Erick said:
Thanks. I actually read that thread previously, but I didn't find much in the way of techniques or strategies for taking great pictures. I'm think that I'm looking for more of a technical perspective.

Erick
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There seems to be 1 book that is published ... i beleive its called photgraphing cars!


the only other thing I could suggest is check out some photography forums....
 
I'm no expert in this field but I've always liked pictures with reflections of other scenery on the car. It looks like you've got some really nice landscaping where you took the pictures, try experimenting with different angles and lighting to catch some it reflecting off the car.
 
Depending on what type of camera you have, a polarizing filter on the lenses will make the sky very blue and the clouds pop and the greens greener...... and it will cut the glare off of that sweet 911.
 
You're almost there in the way of shooting -- there is a time in the day that's referred to as "the golden 15 minutes." This is the time just after the sun goes down. If your not using a camera that has some manual override you might not be able to have much success though. If it has a manual override, increase the time until you are in the 1/4 - 1/2 second range and stop down the lens to compensate. Use of a tripod and a light meter are critical. A spot meter helps to calculate the difference between the brightest highlights, and the darkest shadows. As for the orange tires, the orange is the reflection of the sky/sun -- if you leave out the tire dressing the flat black rubber tires will be black (they will not reflect the light). Picture #2 above is closest to the optimal placement of the vehicle relative to the sun -- like I said though you need to wait until the sun goes down. this will produce an even light without distinct shadows. Many high end photo's you see for new car ads are actually composites of multiple shots. One for the background (a long exposure after the sun is down), one for the highlights a short exposure just after the sun went down}, and another one for the shadows (a longer exposure after the sun has set). All three taken from the same vantage point on a tripod with the only variable being the time of the exposure (it's hard to capture the full tonal range in one shot). Keep it up you're on your way -- ask professional photographers what is the hardest thing to photograph and you will discover that cars are it :)
 
I just went to a photo shoot with one of my customers last week. The photographer shot the car in a business district next to a new warehouse construction at sunset. I thought it would'nt turn out great, but he told me you want the car to be the focus not the background. The photos looked awesome too! Just my 2 cents
 
CobraCraig said:
I just went to a photo shoot with one of my customers last week. The photographer shot the car in a business district next to a new warehouse construction at sunset. I thought it would'nt turn out great, but he told me you want the car to be the focus not the background. The photos looked awesome too! Just my 2 cents
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Location prep is so much fun. Oh the magic of dull spray and hey, where's the craft service table !!
 
lighting + location = good picture (thats what works for me.)

i just got back from holland and wish i could place my legend in the middle of some pics.

i'm no expert and i dont like using a digital camera without a zoom lens. pictures come out REALLY bad for me. (as shown in my gallery). Just cant get good a good one in.
Take a million... one will turn out good. :laugh:
 
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