photo guys, please critique.

[lucky7]

looking to get some feedback. took a few shots of my dads 94 GT the other day. my first attempt with photoshop elements. i really dont know what im doing. just looking for some input on my pictures in general. i know the subject matter isnt everyones cup of tea.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang5.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang4.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang3.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang2.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang6.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang7.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/dane240/mustang/mustang8.jpg

used an XTi + stock lense. tripod and a bit of Pshop. again, just looking for some input on the pics themselves. thanks!

[DUFFM4N]

pics are good...use a different car next time! :keke:

[Farzam]

Try and get some farther away angles.

Good for a beginner.

Just work on it and try and imitate what you see I guess.


The 2nd, 4th, and last picture IMO are the shittiest. Take note of that.

[lucky7]

honestly, i feel #2 and #3 are my strongest (from an 'artistic' standpoint). well, i like it the best personally. generally i stand further back and zoom in on whatever it is i am shooting. its really hard to do with the stock lense though. the other lense i have zooms way too much. im just getting a feel for the camera, and all the settings i have to pick from. thanks for the comments, i want to try different approaches.

lol, and dont worry. next car will prob be an '02 C320.

again, i appreciate it.

[LB.Motoring]

2s ok,

I dont know what else to say

Nice Try?


haha jk

just keep working on it, you'll know after a while.

its all experience!

[theicecreamdan]

Rarely do I see car photography that I like. Your pictures make me think of jackasses that park stupidly. Action shots, or pictures to show coolness of the car are cool I guess. Pictures of a stock mustang parking randomly under a bridge or whatever are boring.

[PhilthyS13]

The very last page of the April Sport Compact Car has a blurb by Les Bidrawn on how to shoot your car. Try that, it looks helpful. It's the one with the Evo on the front.

[SC_S13]

gotta keep composition in mind.
on the second one especially, its way too offcenter. theres off center...and then theres that.

[Liger]

play with the hue and saturation....make the car "pop" out from the background

[Nachtmensch]

rule of thirds.

[C. Senor]

i will say the pictures came out in good quality real clear and whatnot, but yeah they are kinda eh...the only thing i will suggest is blur out the license plate next time...i know i dont like my plate coming out on the net, but other than that better pics than i can take

[Andrew Bohan]

try shooting with faster shutter to not blow out the trees.

then bigger aperture to get narrower depth of field to make the bg blurry.

then in photoshop use the shadow/highlight tool to regain the dark details you lost by using a faster shutter.

then increase the contrast a bit

[s13gold]

make the backround like its going far away and have the car look stationary.

[mrmephistopheles]

rule of thirds.

Seconded.
Watch your composition - don't take this to heart, but those shots that were 75% pavement made me want to vomit.

Choose a different background (or isolate the background to either only the bridge or only the woods).

Use a larger aperture (smaller f/stop)

Shoot in RAW so you don't lose details

Vary between 'as close as you can get' to the car and 'as far as you can get'.
In other words, vary your perspective, but do so selectively.

Some of those shots can be saved with a little cropping and adjustment.
Always make sure you expose properly. Photoshop can help alot, but it can't recover blownout highlights or too-dark shadows.

Here's one I fixed for you (60 second job anyway).
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8233/mustangxq9.jpg

There's more tips, but I'm too sleepy right now.

[luckyslide16]

rule of thirds.
:bigok:

Like LB said also, just keep at it. A lot comes with experience.

[Replicant_S14]

try shooting with faster shutter to not blow out the trees.

then bigger aperture to get narrower depth of field to make the bg blurry.



Right on... and more light on the subject. Reflected sunlight if possible. The dim/dingy underside of the bridge is kinda cool like it is.

[exitspeed]

Background and 3rds.

MrMeph summed things up well. But I'm reiterating.

Want to learn more about shooting cars? Go here. (http://community.automotivephoto.net/forums/)

[FaLKoN240]

God damn, you guys make me want to get a baller camera and start learning some things.

[!Zar!]

#1pic - The red object on the right which looks like a car bumper really throws the picture off being as how my eye keeps being drawn to it. Aside from that, you could've gone with a wider aperture. Or a longer exposure time. The picture looks dark imo.

#2pic (My Fav) - The car isn't in the center. I like that alot. Also it's cool how the bumper is almost reaching to the edge of the shot but not quite. It looks brighter and better all around. Just the pesky sunlight.

#3pic - Too dark and too low. I feel you could've used those three angles; fence, brick wall, ground. As more of an advantage instead of your car looking trapped by them. But I don't know how far those three ran so it's hard to say.

#4pic - Looks nice. Car could've been washed? haha.

#5pic - Too much foreground in the pic. If you rose the camera up just a little and to the right a tad it would be great.

#6pic - Too close. If you must shoot that close at least have the car clean. But that is circumstantial.

#7pic - Not as much forground as the prior ones. And I like how your car helps showcase the, "no parking at blahblahblah" sign.

#8pic - Way too much foreground in the pic. The one would be better suited if the car just layed down some rubber in that pic. Or finished a smokey burnout imo.

Over all, you're in the right direction. Just mess with the aperture because those washed out trees don't help the composition of your pictures. Some of the pictures will be easy to fix as mentioned. Some such as the first pic is a simple fix just by chopping properly at the board. If you're into that or not...
Keep up the good work.

[TiNMAN]

^youre too nice.

[byebye_sti]

haha i agree with 240falkon, i definitely want to get out there with a camera and start taking some pictures!

[Cash]

That 3rd picture looks like the car is in time-out.

[lucky7]

lol, thanks guys. i still have ALOT to learn about the camera itself. being a noob to a DSLR, i am just now realizing how many different settings there really are. hell, i dont even know what half of the lingo means. i suppose its all part of starting out. i really love how the camera picks up on small details, like in the 2nd pic, you could figure out which tires made the tracks in the dirt. i must admit, these are probably the best pictures ive ever taken. i realize they are mediocre at best, and i dont expect to start out with mind blowing stuff. but im excited to get into the different features both the camera, and photoshop have to offer. again, i appreciate the honesty. the camera is my dads, but i think im going to order my own really soon, possibly tonite! thanks guys.

[Helghast]

Take pictures of the car, not the background.
No one cares for the background.
Shoot details, not the whole car.
We all know what stock Mustang looks like.

I don't know if you shot this on Auto mode, but please don't do it again.
Blah blah blah.
You'll learn . .

[lucky7]

i actually really hate when people only shoot pics of parts of the car. it pisses me off when the entire car isnt pictured, i guess its just preference. just to save face, the car isnt quite bone stock. aside from the rollbar, steeda brake kit and 2" drop, i will agree, it looks stock. the stock white vinyl top has also been redone with the shit they use on porsches.

and the settings i used. (i shot in AV mode. still dont even know what that means..)
File size: 732689 bytes
File date: 2007:04:02 15:34:57
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Date/Time: 2007:04:02 15:15:19
Resolution: 1024 x 601
Flash used: No
Focal length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 31mm)
CCD width: 21.11mm
Exposure time: 0.067 s (1/15)
Aperture: f/10.0
ISO equiv.: 100
Whitebalance: Manual
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

want to figure out how to change the aperture, shutter speed, etc.. i need to anyways.

[Irukandji]

Avoid bright lighting in the background especially if the foreground is not well lit. Have you messed with histograms on your camera? most of them allow you to show a dynamic histogram on the view finder. Not saying that will make your photo gravy but you'll definetly know when something is off (try aiming for a bell shaped curve). I personally think the scenary sucks, shoot photos somewhere else. Since you're messing with photoshop it couldn't hurt to play with brightness/contrast as well as hue.
You should definetly look through the picture thread, Squidd has some pretty cool stuff (dont remember his site off the top of my head)
For the most part, you just gotta keep taking photos. A year from now you'll look back on stuff you thought was impressive at the time and realize it was pure crap Just a suggestion, but keep it up and you'll only get better.
Finally, lighting will make or break a photo, so focus on that more than the composition. Rule of thirds is always cool but only if you have a bomb ass scenary (sp?). Don't put so much emphasis on equipment, because you can still have impressive work with a decent digital camera and a little help from photoshop.

[lucky7]

^ that was very encouraging, actually. thanks.

[Helghast]

Your ISO is too low.
100 is for night shots.
Try 400-800, It's better for day times.
Shutter speed is okay, but I'd do 1/250th.
That's just me though.

Aside from you telling us that there's mods, we'd never know.
Why not take those pictures?

I understand that you like full bodied picture, unless it's incredibly modified, we'd never know if it was.
Of course you'd take full bodied, but details never hurt anyone.
You know what I'm saying?

Also, try setting your camera on Shutter Priority mode.
The Auto feature will deal with the aperture.
I don't own the XTi, so I'm not sure if you have this option. I'm sure you do.

If I were you, I'd forget all that ISO, F/Stop crap and get your composition down.
Take B/W pictures, so you won't notice it much.

Composition is key to taking pictures, IMHO.


Good Thing you're taking all the criticism well, Must people don't.

[lucky7]

interesting. i was always under the impression that i should have the ISO at 100 whenever i could. i thought a higher ISO was for night shots?

anyhow, i agree. my composition is the starting point. my dad went on vacation and took his camera with, so im gonna order an XTi here shortly.
i suppose the best thing is to keep on trying. thanks.

[mRclARK1]

God damn, you guys make me want to get a baller camera and start learning some things.

:werd: I've always liked and been interested in photography... I just don't have the money for a decent camera right now. Maybe we should start a photography lesson/critque thread for all the photography noobs? lol

[lucky7]

^^ i know what you mean. ive always felt that way, so finally today i decided to do something about it. so i just ordered a camera like an hour ago. my very own DSLR. im excited, too bad it'll take like a week to get here..

this is the package i bought.
http://www.bestpricecameras.com/prodetails.aspx?prodid=713817

my buddy got his XTi from them, and suggested that site to me.

+1 for a photo section. that would be cool IMO. although i know how most feel about pics here. which is cool, it really doesnt matter either way.

[mrmephistopheles]

Wouldn't have been a bad idea to ask about what equipment recommendations we had.

[Pank]

+1 to Mr. meph for suggesting shooting in RAW as much as you can ( and as much as your memory card will allow ).

i've fixed a SHIT TON of stuff in post with RAW, since you can bump the exposure back/forth a bit after the fact, and repair the white balance if you shot wrong.


unfortunately for me, i have to shoot in in 50, otherwise it grains up, due to my crappy sensor on the g60 i have.

[DRIFTER-M]

Honestly, the pictures look good. I see some usage of the rule of thirds and it worked out awesome, the 2nd picture with the repetitivness in the columns was a SUPER awesome idea, but your car is alittle too offcenter for my taste. I would have liked to see it closer to the center, not much, but a few feet would have been cool. But, I don't want to do what I am not suppose too. Photography is a personal taste art, it has a different form for each photographer, therfor it's hardly ever wrong.
The pictures are great, keep up the good work and share some more :)

[swift_style]

God damn, you guys make me want to get a baller camera and start learning some things.

right on with you in the same boat my man. But photos do look professionally done.

[eastcoastS14]

if you wanna learn photoshop in and out see if you can find the book....my electronic imaging class uses adobe photoshop cs2 classroom in a book...its pretty helpful, wont make bad photos good but it teaches you everything rather than you just having to discover all the tricks for yourself...check out journeyed.com i think they should still carry it