Fishey

I was wondering what everyone does to get high quality pictures of there cars.. I know alot has to do with cammera and equipment so what do you guys have? and how do you set up the car (Time) and what conditions do you look for to get the best results?

Campeck

trial and error
take lots of the same picture if you need to

Rich Sandor

Any camera will do, as long as the lens is clean and the shot is in focus. I used to use a 35mm, but now I have an older Cannon S100 digital camera. It's dieing now, but still works.

You must have correct lighting. Take into consideration which direction the sun is coming from. You can use shadows to be artistic, but you must do it correctly.

If you use a digital camera, set it to the HIGHEST resolution. Resize afterwards. If you use film, scan the photo at the highest resolution, and then resize.

WASH THE CAR!!!! Get the rubber bits shiny!

When parking the car for a photo, try to balance the picture, so that the car is the subject, and everything else compliments it. If possible, use the scenery to frame the car.

Try to avoid having other people or cars in the photo. These things are distractions and take away from the photo.

Try to get the whole car in the photo, if possible. You can zoom in and focuse on one corner of the car, yet still have the whole car in view.

If you are taking a photo from the side, straighten out the wheels. If you are taking a photo from the front passenger headlight, turn the steering wheel all teh way to the left. (so that you see the face of the car's wheel, and not the rubber tread!)

Once you get it on the computer, you can open it in Photoshop or Paintshop and try to optimise the colours. I like contrast and bright colours.

Photography, good photography, is unarguably an art form.

Don't be depressed if you have to take 50 photos just to get one good one. (that is why Digicams ROCK!)

Rich Sandor

See - ARTSY FARTSY LOOKS GOOD!!

Techno Duck

Whats really important is to look for a good background. Also i do pictures depending on where or not its a little cloudy or not out. The color of my car changes from a champagne shade to a silver shade depending on lighting (Zermatt Silver). I use a Canon Digital Elph PowerShot S330. It can take 2.0 megapixel shots, its about 1.5 years old right now. Still suits my purpose very well.

After i load the pictures on my computer, i usually open them up in Photoshop to give the picture better color, contrast, brightness, darken areas...etc.

turbo944

I use a Nikon 995 3.1 Megapixel digital camera for my pics, although you can take good pics with any decent camera.

Campeck is very right. Take LOTS of pictures. Often from the same angle. Sometimes you get a glint or a reflection or something that you don't like in one and you do in the others. That's why I like a digital camera is that I can take nearly 200 pictures in one outing and if I don't like any of them, I'm not out any processing money or any money for film. It allows you a lot of experimentation room with your technique, etc. You can rapidly pay for a nice digital camera burning through film learning.

Next is to find pleasing angles for your car. Look over a bunch of car pics and find the angles that you really like in a car. Don't just take pics of your car sitting in with a bunch of other cars, setup your car to be in a position that you like. If you need to move it 10 times as you take pics, move it.

I guess I shouldn't have to say wash your car and black the sidewalls with a non-silicone spray or wipe or whatever to make them look good first. Unless you're going for that dirty look....hehe

Anyway, backgrounds. Simple and uncluttered is usually best if you can. Of course, sometimes sitting among the leaves or trees that are a little busy but that which your car greatly contrasts with can look good as well.

As for time, there is always the "golden hour" of after sunrise and before sunset, daytime depends on what kind of mood you want, cloudy is generally not as nice looking as sunny conditions as the sun provides stronger contrast between shadows and light (part of what is supposed to make a picture pleasing, no matter the subject, is the contrast in it).

Look over a BUNCH of your favorite car pictures and pick out why you like them. Is it a pleasing angle of the car? A pleasing background that the car fits into? How high is the camera? What zoom? Time of day? Does the image convey a mood to you? Then try to isolate why each of those things works and doesn't work in your favorite and not so favorite images. Then go out and drive around and look for neat places to take pics. Maybe stop and take a few and decide what time of day it would look best. Sometimes a place will never look great because the sun never hits it right or something though. Other times you may have to wait six months to get a great shot. But just keep looking. A nice clean level brick wall, a nice spot under the trees, under the lights on foggy night with your headlights on, there are a million cool ideas. Not all will work. Most pro photographers are lucky to get 1 great shot in 25 images to sell, sometimes its more like 50 to 100 shots.

Practice, practice, and practice are your 3 big keys here....

Now, get out there and take some pictures!!!!!

turbo944

Haha....Rich, you and I were typing very similar things at the same time!!!!!

FSAEracer03

ok, how'd you get that photo taken?? hill?? blimp?? lol

Rich Sandor

Does this answer your question?

theedge

Dont underestimate the power of getting up high and getting low. Find lots of different angels, even ones that you wouldnt normally see the car from can be good shots.



I cant take credit for that, my dad took that one with his Canon G3. That camera is like a family member, it goes everywhere. And hes got $1500CDN+ into it Takes great pics tho.

Rich Sandor

this is one of my favorite shots for a few reasons:

-Perfect weather!
-Nice background
-Clean Car
-Perfect framing

Rich Sandor

Here's a great artsy fartsy shot.. credit to Randy Jang:

Rich Sandor

this is my favorite shot of Randy's Car. I got down on my belly to take this shot. Mmmm I remember how nice and warm the pavement was.. right now that spot is covered in about 2 feet of snow:

Doug&Julie

Dawn and dusk are great times to take photos. The lighting does wonderful things to the car, and you can embellish with your car's lights. Keep in mind this means longer shutter time.

hacker-pschorr

Canon EOS-10D
Tamron 24-135

See pics at:
http://www.erik27.com