New to Photography!

[jimmytango00]

Well i just bought my first camera after messing around with my buddies for a few weeks now. I've been taking pictures of a few of my buddies car's to practice...im a newb to photography so feel free to criticize and give me some pointers if your good at this. Im also hoping to practice a little more so if any of you guys need any pictures of your cars and your in the los angeles area hit me up. Anyway here are some pics ive taken so far.....


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/finelines14boysnightout9-5-07008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/finelines14boysnightout9-5-07003.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/finelines14boysnightout9-5-07024.jpg
http://img.p%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/finelines14boysnightout9-5-07024.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/finelines14boysnightout9-5-07029.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/OvidiosBirthdaypartyandmisc.011.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/8-2-07154.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/8-2-07155.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/8-2-07153.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/newfront-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0052.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/9-5-07003.jpg

[luisgonz]

Oh man Is that,, Is that.....No...Wait .....Let me get a closer Look..........Holy Mother of God....It is........I forgot what I was going to say.:duh:
Wow Too much car Porn there Buddy.

[2iv0 sx]

What camera do you have?

[jimmytango00]

Its a Nikon D40x

[2iv0 sx]

Sick! thats the one I'm getting

Whered you get yours from?

[adrians_s13]

eeeyy... i know that car....

[jimmytango00]

Sick! thats the one I'm getting

Whered you get yours from?


I got those package deals on ebay ..store was called Barclay's photos. Its a great camera man you should get it...super easy to use.

[ramblux]

Pointer: set camera to manual mode and learn how every aperture and shutter change affects your images.

[jimmytango00]

Pointer: set camera to manual mode and learn how every aperture and shutter change affects your images.

So far thats where im at right now.. i started taking them on auto first and then no flash... but all these pics i posted were taken on manual mode. I dont really understand the ISO though i dont know when it should be changed or if it should be set to one setting.

[ramblux]

Basically, you want to keep your ISO at 100 or 200 whenever possible. The higher the ISO, the grainier the images will be. I raise the ISO whenever I can no longer hand-hold a shot (too slow a shutter speed due to light conditions) and can't compensate by using a larger aperture (smaller f-stop number).

Cliff's notes: If you can't get a shot in focus and have tried everything else, raise the ISO (but as little as possible).

[cleantune]

lighting is KEY. Pictures taken early in the morning (sunrise) and close to night (sunset), tend to look sick.

[TheTimanator]

get a tripod, especially for night shots so you can have longer exposures.

Take pictures in raw mode so that you can change white balance as well as change other settings without affecting the quality as much as a jpeg. Along those lines, get decent editing software.

[mrmephistopheles]

research composition as well.
hint: rule of thirds.

[kyoru]

pretty good for a beginner, the composition and lighting of the cars need some work.

this was a really good picture though
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/8-2-07154.jpg

[jimmytango00]

research composition as well.
hint: rule of thirds.

I'll look into this, thanks. I have a cheap tripod but i figured i didnt need anything fancy while im learning. Thanks for all the tips guys..oh and for editing i have photoshop CS2 which im completely clueless at but im messing with it aswell.

[Pank]

this was bugging me about your first few shots:


KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL


KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL



other than that, shoot in full manual mode. Immersing yourself is the best way to become accomidated.

[jimmytango00]

this was bugging me about your first few shots:


KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL


KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL

KEEP YOUR HORIZONS LEVEL



other than that, shoot in full manual mode. Immersing yourself is the best way to become accomidated.

I think i know what you mean... some of the shots make my eyes hurt cause of the way the lines travel...but i guess thats where composition comes into play.

[pinkarrowsnow]

Hey guys I'm starting to take a class in school for photography can anyone recommend a good digital cam like but on the cheaper side not like 900-1000 bucks. Sorry for the threadjack:bigok:

[TheSquidd]

Low end of Nikon's line is great, but aren't photography classes done in Film?

D40, d40x, d50.

[pinkarrowsnow]

Low end of Nikon's line is great, but aren't photography classes done in Film?

D40, d40x, d50.


Thanks thats what ive been looking at, but nope its not in film school doesn't have a dark room so they rather digital and you learn some advanced photoshop stuff.

[luisgonz]

This might sound weird But i love the smell of the dark room's.HHMMMMMM:tweak:

[TheSquidd]

I wrote a whole bunch of technique crap here :

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=140879

[jimmytango00]

get a tripod, especially for night shots so you can have longer exposures.

Take pictures in raw mode so that you can change white balance as well as change other settings without affecting the quality as much as a jpeg. Along those lines, get decent editing software.


i tried shooting in raw mode today but i cant open the files to view them. I tried opening them with Photoshop CS2 but it say's its not the right kind of document...? am i doing something wrong?

anyways i took a few more pics today with the tips you guys gave me ...check them out and give me some feed back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/onlinepost.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/9-6-07005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/OvidiosBirthdaypartyandmisc.184.jpg

[TheSquidd]

Great color and exposure on #1.

I like the composition of #2.

[atom]

Are you doing any post processing? The colors in the car photos seem a bit oversaturated, especially the mustang. I guess some people like that though.

[TheTimanator]

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

It's a plugin you have to download to be able to edit them in Photoshop. Trust me, if you do any post processing, shooting in raw mode is a good idea.

Just so you know, after you are done editing your pictures in raw format you have to convert them to jpeg so anyone can see them. In Photoshop elements you have to click Save for web to convert them. It does take longer to finish a picture than it would if you shot in jpeg, but the outcome is worth it IMO.

[Pank]

plus, with the adobe raw app, you can change exposure and saturation after you take the picture. its pretty fucking cool, actually.

Also, the picture of the kid by the pool is spot on, great job.

take a look at strobist for information on off camera lighting when you advance, its a great site to start from.

[jimmytango00]

plus, with the adobe raw app, you can change exposure and saturation after you take the picture. its pretty fucking cool, actually.

Also, the picture of the kid by the pool is spot on, great job.

take a look at strobist for information on off camera lighting when you advance, its a great site to start from.


cool thanks man i'll def. check that out..yeah the pool shot is pretty cool one of my favs. Thanks for all the tips guys this stuff is really helping me out... its kinda cool how i drive around now and im always looking at places and thinking "shit that looks like a good place to shoot" :p well i'll post up more pictures as im learning, you guys should post up some of your shots aswell.

[jimmytango00]

got a few new shots in yesterday and today ...I'm getting alot more comfortable with the camera so thats a +. Well here are the pics and let me know what im doing wrong or right ....

1.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0042.jpg
2.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0044.jpg
3.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0062.jpg
4.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0064.jpg
5.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/nixonprint.jpg

[kdashy]

Lookin' good.

[jimmytango00]

thanks man im trying.. hehe.

[TheSquidd]

1.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0042.jpg
2.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0044.jpg
3.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0062.jpg
4.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0064.jpg
5.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/nixonprint.jpg



Lighting is great on #1. The stars almost seem to "come off" the tree as leaves in the wind.

I like the composition on #1 better than #2, there's a definite "subject" in #1, the tree. Where as in #2 I am kind of lost as to what the focus of the image is. I like the exposure on #2, but you could easily make #1 on that exposure with some curves or levels adjustment.

#3 the lighting above the fence is cool, but your subjects are dim and unclear. I feel it's always a good idea to have your subject clear, maybe not clear as in, in focus and well lit (though that usually helps) but just looking at the image, what is the subject? Obviously it's these two people, but you can't see their expressions in that light, you can't see one of their faces. You're getting there, I would just do a little more composition for a set up shot like this, beforehand. Really get a message, or subject, across in the image.

#4 I almost like better. It gives me the feeling of solitary, or yearning to be on the other side of the fence, where the lights and maybe people are. This back yard is a dark place, there are no plants, no lights, nothing but a simple table and a wooden fence. Meanwhile the other side has lights and trees and all kinds of wires/lines leading the viewer's eye to it.

#5 I just think is funny. The dog has a great expression, and the way you exposed the image really makes it feel like a light-hearted theme. The color is good, but maybe a little on the cool (blue) side in some of the highlights such as the dogs fur. The leaves are almost teal when they could be a lush green. Giving the image a much warmer (yellow) feeling of warmth and comfort as it appears the dog is experiencing.


Ta da. My reviews. You appear to be improving by leaps and bounds with each photo set!

My only recommendation is that when you're composing your images, think about the subject, and build everything around that. Kind of the way the dog photo works. Obviously this is a picture of a dog smiling and enjoying the company of some sweet ass leaves. The rest of the image really isn't very important, it's out of focus in the background, drawing the viewer's attention SOLELY on the subject at hand. The message is clear, the simpler an image is to "read" the easier it is for a viewer to enjoy.

EDIT: Crap page two now you can't see the images. Quoting for effect sorry.

EDIT 2: Don't know if you know this or not, but when posting images to the web, always remember to save the images as an sRGB profile. This may be default from your camera. But open the image in photoshop, goto edit: color space setting (or something like that) and make sure the profile is set to sRGB. Otherwise when displayed in web browsers the colors get heavily distorted.

[2iv0 sx]

I'm going to you for reviews!

Shots seems to be improving, nice work.

I like looking at #4

[jimmytango00]

Thanks squidd! sweet review. You have to teach me about lenses and filters man i dont know shit.

[exitspeed]

The pic in your sig looks good. Except the car is too close to the bottom of the frame. Especially because of the large amount of neg space on the left/ upper left side of the pic. It feels like it's being pushed out of the frame.

[Pank]

Thanks squidd! sweet review. You have to teach me about lenses and filters man i dont know shit.

also, familiarize yourself with your cameras white balance settings. They're tuned to different kinds of light sources (tungsten, flourescent, day light, etc) so that when you're in a parking lot, not everything is yellow. or shoot in raw and fix after you shoot!

[TheSquidd]

Thanks squidd! sweet review. You have to teach me about lenses and filters man i dont know shit.

Don't worry about any of that yet. Work on composition, then start getting technical.

[jimmytango00]

I'll worry about that later then. The picture in my sig was not taken by me, it was a guy i met on the g35 forums who shot my car for $20. I took a few more tonight of luisgonz's car.. i'll post them up later tonight..

[jimmytango00]

more pictures... excuse the dirty and shitty car..this is all i have to work with .hahah fuck you luis:cry::cry:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0137.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0156.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0146.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0175.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0141.jpg

[KwKouki]

the fucking Kouki rocks, he also has a OG penguin as well WOOT

[TheSquidd]

Damn that is a dirty, shitty car. Hahah JK Luis! Let me shoot it too!

1. I like it. Good composition, decent lighting. Your color is a bit washed out, probably from a bit of over exposure.

To combat a lighting situation like this (hot lights on the hood, dark on the front end) take two exposures while using a tripod. Take one exposure that gives you good color and light for the hood, and one for the front end. Then in photoshop you can combine them in a number of ways, look up HDR images on google or you can layer them and erase way parts of whatever image you don't want.

Other than that, no complaints. Strong image.

2. Something's a bit off on this one. I like the bricks in the background but they aren't level, seems like it's two things, a non-level horizon, and lens distortion. You can't really help the lens distortion, but a more centric composition, and some leveling would help.

Try using the Measure tool in photoshop, draw two points with it along a straight line in your image, then goto edit>rotate canvas, and select the option "arbitrary". It will automatically rotate the image to level out whatever line you have drawn out with the measure tool. Then crop off the outside edges that will now be apparent.

This image isn't as strong, your subject just doesn't stand out as much due to lighting and size in the frame.

3. A cool composition, this is always an excellent angle to shoot on a car that is "flush".

To make it even stronger, park the car further from the surrounding walls, and zoom in as much as possible and (if you know how) use a "wide open aperture". If you don't know about aperture, now would be a good time for some Google. I could explain it but I'm sure there are millions of articles explaining shutter speed and aperture FAR better than I can in a little forum post.

Example (think of it reversed to match your positioning):
http://violentrunning.squidd.org/galleries/d/7654-4/_DSC2677.jpg

One thing that stands out is the orange piping. It just kind of breaks up the scene in a bad way, I find my eyes drawn to it. Another learning experience though, you can easily use the "clone stamp tool" here to get rid of it. The clone stamp tool is a photographers #1 BEST friend.

4. I see this angle a lot, and I like it, I like your background, and your lighting is cool (you could lighten up the car a little bit, try an HDR multiple exposure here too).

One major problem though is the car is cut off. I find myself wanting to see what the rest of the car looks like here. Use your widest angle possible, shoot low, and get the whole car in frame.

Example:
http://violentrunning.squidd.org/galleries/d/831-2/KNS_1473.jpg
Shot at 18mm, tripod close to the ground. This way, when you're looking "up" at the vehicle, it gives the object "mass" it appears large and intimidating, like a car should.

5. Another good angle. You've definitely got the eye for this. These are almost text book good shots with just a few tweaks.

Main problem, too much space off to the side. The middle of the car should usually be present in this type of shot. Just feels easier on the eye.

The yellow poles are distracting, they're almost brighter than the car itself.

The wheels are dim, but this is probably because they're dirty. The lighting doesn't really make the car POP. This is hard to do at night when not really much of anything POPS because it's all dim lighting. If you're clever with photoshop, hue saturation, curves, and shadow/highlight you can salvage lighting fairly often.

I hope you don't mind I touched up 3 of my fav's from the photos.

Remember, photoshop is the digital shooters dark room, it's 50% of what goes into a good photo. GREAT photos never look the way they do straight out of the camera, there's almost ALWAYS post processing going on. So take your good and bad photos and just try and do what you can with them in photoshop, it's fun once you get a hang of all the controls. Use filters, use tools, use adjust and edit and highlights and burn and levels and curves, slide every slider to see what it does, they are ALL useful. It's fucking AMAZING how much you can do with Photoshop. EVERY time I use it I learn something.

Anyway here goes:

1. I loved this shot, but I just wanted to brighten up the front.
http://violentrunning.squidd.org/galleries/d/8539-1/Untitled-1.jpg
I used a single pass of "Shadow/Highlight" on almost their default settings. This DID introduce a lot of "gain" or the graininess to the shadow areas of the image. This is what happens when you try to revive shadows from an image, it's like jacking up the ISO on your camera, you're going to get noise. This is why it's best to do HDR multiple exposures. But for the sake of the image I think it came out just fine. The grain gives it a kind of, film look.This brought out a lot of the "dark" areas on the front bumper. But it also brought out a lot on the background.
So I took the "burn" tool, set it to burn "Shadows" at 10% and burned most all the background, giving it a more contrasted, dark look to draw the focus away from it.
I also did about 10% highlight reduce on the lowest range setting. This made the hood a little darker and brought out a little detail and color.
The headlights still weren't "bright and staring into my soul" like I like headlights to do at this angle, so I took the "dodge" tool, set it to highlights at 10% and ran it over the headlights a couple times. This made them pop more.
A final "curves" modification, one click on the center point of the curve, one point midway through the top 1/2 of the curve, and then one point on the bottom half. I pulled the bottom half down a little tiny bit (brings the "shadow" areas a little darker, giving more contrast, I like contrasty images, it's just my thing).

2. I like this image, it really shows off his wheels well. So I cropped it even tighter to make the subject even more "substantial", also it got rid of that pesky pipe and made for a much cleaner background.
http://violentrunning.squidd.org/galleries/d/8542-1/Untitled-2.jpg

Now his wheels are dirty, there's no helping that. But a white wheel should be WHITE. So what I did here is took my "curves" screen, clicked the "sample highlight eyedropper" and clicked on an area of the wheel. What his did is set the images very brightest point, in full white, to that pixel on the wheel. So what was once a light grey wheel, now is bright white. This also brought up the exposure of the rest of the image as well.
After this I did the crop to what I believed to be best. This is just matter of taste, always up the photographer.
I then did a shadow highlights on the image, low range, high amount, this brought out some of the lighting on the rear bumper which was mired in shadow.
What this also did though is made the rear window bright, and you could see all the dirt and grime. Again, can't be helped, Luis doesn't wash his damn car.
To do what I could, I grabbed the "burn tool" again, 10%, and did a couple passes over the rear windshield. This made the window much darker, hiding the impurities, but it left the stickers (highlights) unaffected.
I then did some hue saturation to bring out some color for effect.
Did a slight curve adjustment as before, and then cloned out the black mark on the bricks.

3. I probably went a little too far on this image, it looks "processed".
http://violentrunning.squidd.org/galleries/d/8544-1/Untitled-3.jpg
But I like it.

Step 1, I cloned out the pesky poles.
2, I used "quick mask mode" to mask off the car. This creates a selection area where the car is out of the selection so I can modify the background separately from the car. In quick mask mode you use the brush tool to "brush" your selection. What is selected will appear as red and when you exit the mode, it will become a selection area.
With the background selected, I reduced the saturation. The car is not colorful, the background should not over power it.
I then did a "levels" adjustment and brought the midtones way down, giving it that dark look, further reducing it's draw away from the subject of the image.

Now obviously my mask wasn't perfect, you can see this around the base of the side skirt and rear tire, where the asphault is still moderately exposed, this is because I did it fast, when you do it take care not to leave this areas because it makes the image look sloppy.
As before the front end was too dark, I wanted it to pop, I ran a shadow highlight pass to bring it out. I forget the settings.
I then used the dodge tool, set to highlights and 10% to really make those white wheels pop. Still, they are dirty and that can't be fixed, but they are now bright white.
I also dodged the turn signal a bit and burned the black areas in the bumper to hide some of the metal and stuff that got brought out in the shadow highlight pass.
Also burned the windshield to hide more of that signature "Luis Dirt".

And thats that.

My edits are by NO means good, they're just what I came up with. Remember photography is different to everyone so by no means should my techniques be the same as anyones. But I think there are some tips in there that you might be able to consider when you're next processing your images.

I recommend you also try shooting in the daytime for some of these as well. I remember the first 2 years I did car photography I ALWAYS did it at night because it looked "cooler", now I almost always try to shoot at dawn/daylight/dusk, the sun gives the colors of the scene MUCH more pop and it usually makes for a less brooding image. Plus night lights are always fluorescent or something and it makes for a really crappy white balance and harsh shadows.

And this has been "Photography Review" with your host, Skylar. It's 1am now, and I must sleep.

Keep it up though, you're improving at a ridiculous rate and I can't wait to see more!

EDIT: GREAT THREAD for post processing examples:
http://community.automotivephoto.net/forums/showthread.php?t=584

[TheWolf]

for some of you looking to try out and learn some high end features with your budget camera.. the CHDK firmware will upgrade many canon cameras to have higher end features..

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK/

I upgraded my S3is and have never looked back... it's hard for me to justify the purchase of a DSLR for hobbyphotos when the S3 will now shoot in raw. iso400 and 800 are pretty useless though. I'd love to get a better sensor but I rarely use them and CS3's new remove noise filter seems it was made for canon.

[jimmytango00]

alrigt guys i have three new pictures i took at the Arcadia meet tonight of a sick ass s2000. I was only able to take like 5 or 6 shots since the cops showed up (right when i was shooting the front end and motor = () these are some of my fav. shots ive taken so far but maybe it was just cause of the nice car. I tried not to mess with them too much since i was happy with the way it came out straight from them cam... well check it out and squid i'll be waiting for the review hehe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/s20001copy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/s2000drooling.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/s2000rear.jpg

[jimmytango00]

some more pictures.. where the hell are you squidd!??? haha

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/2ndplace.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/graf.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/shadows.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/pole.jpg

[TheSquidd]

Well. It's official. You're a better photographer than me now.

I'll post something later but you'll see I'm full of shit.

[HyperTek]

u could soo easily pose as a photographer and take pics of all the asian girls wannabe models and see em naked! i swear all the dorkass asian club photographers do it, then make a myspace and put all thier pics on it and not a single pic of u!! lol.. ok enough ranting.. i might go buy one so i could do this lol

[jimmytango00]

Well. It's official. You're a better photographer than me now.

I'll post something later but you'll see I'm full of shit. Nah dude i still need a long way to go but i hope you didnt take the "where the hell are you squidd?" part the wrong way ...what i meant by that was where are you for the skylar review... not a "where you at? im better than you" type a deal.. but yeah im trying really hard man im getting really into this stuff.

[tacotacotaco]

Damn ive always enjoyed fine images im inspired to try to capture some now.

[exitspeed]

I got my eye on the 40D. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Good photo's BTW. That S2000 is just nuts-o.

I particularly like the last photo. Composed very nicely.

[TheSquidd]

Nah dude i still need a long way to go but i hope you didnt take the "where the hell are you squidd?" part the wrong way ...what i meant by that was where are you for the skylar review... not a "where you at? im better than you" type a deal.. but yeah im trying really hard man im getting really into this stuff.

No I got the meaning, what I meant is I have no review, because your latest set of photos are better than anything I can shoot. So I can't really review them. Color, exposure, composition, emotion, you nailed it all. :bigok:

[Pank]

The only big gripe i have in the squidds review/editing is that he blew out the highlights in the wheel. Its an expensive wheel, show off dem curvez!! Also, when shooting a car, its not always "best" to shoot wide open (biggest aperture/smallest f number), as this limits your FOV and usually gives you the softest focus, not that you didnt focus correctly. However, if you only want a portion of the car in focus, you can manipulate that by the aperture, and control the exposure by the film speed/shutter speed.

also, in your yellow brick photo, try to align the base of the bricks horizontally, or leave it out. if you took about 3 steps to the left and then realigned with that pole, it would have been perfect.

In the trophy photo, you cant really help blowing out the sky, but you can help blowing out the trophy. Expose for the subject, not the full scene

The dumpster photo is fucking 100% excellent and perfect. amazing job. the whites are a little warm, but i think it just adds to the look. you are improving at a ridiculous rate.


other tiny tips that may help you:


http://www.luminous-landscape.com/images18/kimbokeh.jpg
1.if you want to seperate your background from your foreground, get closer to the subject, use a slightly larger aperture. this will let the background slightly bokeh, and leave your subject sharp (again, depending on aperture)


http://www.jp-boutique.jp/product/aero/30CelsiorMCb/img/30celMCb.front.jpg

vs.


http://thepassionatepursuit.com/images/weblog/07-06-21-VIP-lexus-gs-300.jpg

2. lots of "stock" shots of cars (especially ones on the junction produce, fabulous etc sites) are shot from fairly far away, with a zoom lense. This makes the entire car the same size front to back, instead of having the bumper right in your face, with the back wheel 40 pixels tall. Just a tip if you like this look



http://www.camerahobby.com/Images/E-Book_Images/OffCamera3.jpg
3. LIGHTING, learn off camera lighting to make your day of shooting 1000% more fun. its not difficult and you can get great shots with it. Check strobist.com for tutorials.



http://www.codeproject.com/cs/miscctrl/HistogramControl/HistogramDemo.jpg
4.learn how to use a histogram, learn how to use a histogram, learn how to use a histogram, learn how to use a histogram, learn how to use a histogram. Your camera should have the option to display a histogram with every image you review. read up on wikipedia or any one of the great photo sites to learn how to use this. it makes reading your curves in photoshop a trillion times easier and it will make sense.

http://www.photos-of-the-year.com/barrel-distortion/1.jpg
6. barrel distortion/lense correction. on some (most) lenses, the edge of the image will be slightly stretched out. You can fix this in raw with the CS3 raw engine. Learn what configuration on your camera produces what distortion and then you can probably write a macro for it. Again, not a big deal, but it can ruin some pictures if you dont watch out for it. The kit lense you have isn't going to create a ton of distortion, but if/when you upgrade, it will be worth it to check out. check dpreview.com for examples.



http://www.spunwithtears.com/hudjik/2005/050523c.jpg
7. not really even worth a number, but learn about and watch out for chromatic abberations. this is the purple or blue fringe that you see, for example, when taking a photo of a tree branch against a bright sky, and it makes your picture look like it was taken by a camera phone. photoshop can fix this and it takes about .00003 seconds.




8. composition
9. keep shooting
10. composition
11. listen to the squidd
12-20045. composition



damn that was a long post, you're doing awesome man, keep it up, digital photography is cheap, and a blast

[worangejuice]

That Kouki looks even hotter in person, I rolled by him on Fairfax today, nice!

[HalveBlue]

Oh, my bad.

I thought this was the "New to Pornography" thread.

Too bad, too, 'cause I was gonna hook it up.

Oh well, I'll be on my way then.

[luisgonz]

Whats up man?
That Kouki looks even hotter in person, I rolled by him on Fairfax today, nice!
Thanks Man.:2f2f:

[jimmytango00]

mr2 i shot tonight..


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/handwash3.jpg

[Phoenix_95]

looks good :D

[Pank]

picture is busy, then dead in the top left. Crop a little tighter. great work!

[J-Style]

Jimmytango00 - I just read through this thread and I wanted to say that you are doing great! I wish you were near me so you could snap a few picture's of my bucket. Way to go man!

The Squidd - I laughed myself stupid when I read this...,"Obviously this is a picture of a dog smiling and enjoying the company of some sweet ass leaves.", haha!

[exitspeed]

picture is busy, then dead in the top left. Crop a little tighter. great work!

Werd. The car doesn't seem like the focus. If it wasn't black, it might be different. Also the way that it fits in with the backround because of the color makes it blend in too much.

Seriously though, your doing a hell of a job. God I can't wait to get my own DSLR.

[TheSquidd]

Jimmytango00 - I just read through this thread and I wanted to say that you are doing great! I wish you were near me so you could snap a few picture's of my bucket. Way to go man!


Seriously. I should have you shoot my car since I can't bear to take any more pictures of it.

You should come to an event Jimmy, shoot some real pictures of some real cars driving.

[jimmytango00]

Seriously. I should have you shoot my car since I can't bear to take any more pictures of it.

You should come to an event Jimmy, shoot some real pictures of some real cars driving.


I would but i dont feel like im ready for something like that just yet. I still need alot of practice before i can shoot some really nice cars but soon man i'll take you up on that squidd.

[TheSquidd]

Neither was I when I got my job as a photographer. Only way to learn something is to do it, fail at it, dust yourself off and do it again.

[jimmytango00]

Neither was I when I got my job as a photographer. Only way to learn something is to do it, fail at it, dust yourself off and do it again.


you're right, I'll give it a shot then. Let me know when there is one and i'll roll.

[TheSquidd]

All Star Bash 2.

Come. Shoot. Drink. Party. Go for rides.

[jimmytango00]

some more pics...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/m3scene.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/m3sidefront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/ghettovegetation.jpg

[lucky7]

looking good man. you're blowing right by me. for some reason, the learning curve for me is much steeper than most. but still, i enjoy it and keep trying. lol.

hartge E30 = baller.

[TheSquidd]

Put the damn hood down!

And the colors are all a bit ehhh.

Other than that I can't really complain.

I'm stupefied by how fast you developed.

[jimmytango00]

Put the damn hood down!

And the colors are all a bit ehhh.

Other than that I can't really complain.

I'm stupefied by how fast you developed.


i'll get the hood next time lol. here are few more pics..


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/planets.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/midgets.jpg

[jimmytango00]

here are a few more pics.. if you guys are getting bored of these let me know and i'll stop posting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/endless.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/skyandphotographer.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/strikingdown.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/lugsinshadow.jpg

[TheTimanator]

your making me want to go out and start taking pictures again. Your pictures are great. And I am surprised at the low noise of the D40x. My D50 is pretty noisy at 800-1600 and I shoot mostly low light. Time for a D80!

So do you just walk around with your camera all day long?

[jimmytango00]

yeah i carry it around most of the time.. these new ones are from a trip i took to santa barbara on sunday.

[TheSquidd]

here are a few more pics.. if you guys are getting bored of these let me know and i'll stop posting.


I'm not getting bored of them at all. I'm getting depressed that I can't take pictures that good. :(

[2iv0 sx]

Haven't check this post in a while and your progress went through the roof! Great work man

Your tempting me to go out and pick up the D40x.

Keep posting, definitely not bored of them.

[jimmytango00]

thanks guys for all the cool comments bur remember that i honestly would not be taking pics like this if it wasnt for all your guys help...THANKS!! well here are a few more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/spreadthelove.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/fisherman.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/aspecintheuniverse.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/surfer1.jpg
I know my horizon is off a bit on this last pic..working on it guys lol.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/lightonastick.jpg

[Pank]

are you adding the vignetting in post or is that from your lense?

still a great job, btw. keep your white balance in check

[fliprayzin240sx]

Wow...I need to take more pix with my damn camera. Im a n00bie too. Bought a 30D about a month ago and still learning how to use it.

[ilovecoupes]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/DSC_0042.jpg

Thats my favorite, almost looks like a painting. VERY sick stuff, keep it up.

[TheSquidd]

That first one of the fisherman and his tools is awesome.

[fliprayzin240sx]

What program do you use to edit it and make the shots look like that?

[jimmytango00]

im using photoshop cs2 but honestly i dont use it too its fullest potential...but only because i suck at it. I just mess with sharpening and color.

[yokotas13]

yeah
i just got my 40d...im as excited as you

[jimmytango00]

yeah
i just got my 40d...im as excited as you

sweet! its alot of fun man, i wish i would of started doing this alot sooner.

here are some new ones guys...



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/pipes.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/colorfullpipe.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/whereto-.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/chill.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/HOPE.jpg

[cc4usmc]

bump. want more pics!

[Helghast]

WOW, you're progression was ridiculous.
From your first shot to the last, is night and day difference.
Keep up the good work.

I'm learning too, I recently put my Canon Rebel into Full Manual mode.
My First Niece's birth out of all the times, it was nerve racking, but I got through it with a couple of good shots.
I'm giddy like a little school girl about this Manual thing.

Anyways, keep it up, we'd love to see more shots!

[jimmytango00]

i'll try and get more pics up tonight guys or you can just go on jpgmag.com/people/jimmytango00 and check out my work im always updating it. here are two for now

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/funnyjoe.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/thewelder2.jpg

[hijack3d]

Awesome, man. I love the sky pics you posted on 9/25. Those colors are amazing.

[KA-T_240]

Looks good.

I am getting a Rebel XTi here pretty quick. I plan to take a community education class.

This thread is a prime example zilvia is good for alot more then car related Items. I look forward to advice from some of you in the future. P.S. I bookmarked this thread so i can look back to it

[downshift_sideways]

You got it down bro. Nice work, and nice foregrounds.

Keep em coming!

[jdm538]

im officially shopping for a dslr thanks for the inspiration..

[jimmytango00]

here are a few more.. im actualy doing some work for people now, i have two guys who want some of my work for their homes so im pretty stoked on that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/waitingforher.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/livingshadow.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/chuck.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/dancingthenightaway.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/flower.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/sergis/keepout.jpg

[2slow2go]

wow great progression

i just started photography class at my school

working with film is gay and expensive. but overall very fulfilling when you see those pics develope

[SochBAT]

I agree.

I've got a Canon Rebel XS SLR Film camera.

Its chill, learning basics, but with film, its hit or miss. You don't know if you've got it or not until developing time, and you don't wanna snap 10 shots of the same thing with different settings to be sure. You wanna take a few, try different things, and thats it.

All the extra money outta your pockets for film, and processing will eventually kill you.

That and its a lot more streamline getting things online. I wish i had gotten a DSLR instead.

[Pank]

those last 2 are very obvious HDRs when it seems that you really didnt need to.
what software are you using to create the tonemapped image?