Photoshopped images & requests, show off your Photography
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By teal_dx
#8256 Some things to think about when shooting pics of your car...

1. Ideal times are sunrise or sunset. this will minimize harsh shadows, increase color saturation, and offer more dramatic lighting. And be sure to be on the same side as your source of light (the sun), so you are not shooting the dark side of your car in front of a light background.

2. If you shoot in the dark- use a tripod!

3. For long exposures on a tripod, consider using a remote, or using the camera's timer function. Some times even pushing the shutter button with your finger can slightly vibrate the camera body which can cause slight blur or fuzzyness.

4. Don't shoot with your flash! It will give horrible highlights and shadows, especially at night. A tripod will eliminate the need for a flash.

5. Look at your background before you shoot. In a parking lot for example, things in the background can be very distracting. Some of these include: other vehicles, people, trash on the ground, dumpsters, fences. A cleaner background will set more focus on your car.

6. Also be aware of what is reflecting on your car's paint, especially noticeable on black vehicles! If you are parked beside another car, it will be visible in your paint and distract.

Setting your camera manually:

7. Bracket shots. This means when taking a pic, also take one with a slightly higher and one with a slightly lower exposure. This is extra insurance just in case the highlights are washed out, or the shadows under exposed.

8. Adjust your camera to a lower ISO setting. Especially if you have a tripod. Lower ISO will give you less grain in your photograph. However a lower ISO also requires a longer exposure. So if you are shooting without much light and no tripod (not recommended) you may need to use a higher ISO.

9. A higher F-Stop will give you a longer depth of field. This means more objects in the foreground/background of your vehicle will be in focus. A higher F-stop will also require a longer exposure.

10. Generally, if you are shooting at a shutter speed less than 1/125, you will want a tripod. If you have a steady hand, or something to lean on, you can get away with 1/60.
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By teal_dx
#8257 Motion Photography

When shooting motion shots, you will be panning your camera keeping the car in the center of the frame.

All you need to do is follow the car with your camera and shoot. A longer exposure will make the background more blurred, however the longer exposure will increase the chance if the vehicle being blurry as well. It all depends how steady of a hand you have and how well you can follow the vehicle with your camera.

example of a shorter exposure:
Image

longer exposure:
Image
(note it is early morning... lesser light will always give opportunity for a longer exposure)

very long exposure:
Image
(note it is very dark which required a VERY long exposure. So long that it was not possible to keep the car in full focus)
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By sihatch9508
#8307 good write up! ill definately use them tips
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By Racing Rice
#11086 Awesome info man.. I really need to look into a Tripod.
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By Macca
#38055 Yeah and me.

I had a Sony W80 for Christmas, and i've been playing around with that. and alot of the shots that i took in the dark of cars came out really grainy.
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By teal_dx
#38058
Macca wrote:Yeah and me.

I had a Sony W80 for Christmas, and i've been playing around with that. and alot of the shots that i took in the dark of cars came out really grainy.


if your camera is set on auto, it will usually automatically adjust the ISO to a higher setting to compensate for less light. a higher ISO setting will also reduce the need for a longer exposure = less ahance of blur when shooting in the dark w/o a tripod. But the higher the ISO, the grainier the photo. I always shoot at the lowest ISO possible (200 on my camera, some go a lot lower).
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By a_CoUpE
#58317 man i wish i read this a while ago! ill keep this in mind next time im out with the GF :thumb:
By Bowman06
#64432 Thanks for the info Brian, I am beginning to love this site!

I need a tripod, maybe that will help with lighting. And I will begin to play with the ISO. Are "typical" digital cameras not recommended for photography?
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By teal_dx
#64557
Bowman06 wrote:Thanks for the info Brian, I am beginning to love this site!

I need a tripod, maybe that will help with lighting. And I will begin to play with the ISO. Are "typical" digital cameras not recommended for photography?


Something that has a manual mode is a good start. A tripod is the way to go for night or dark pics too. You don't need a DSLR for nice pics, ChicagoMike was posting great pics from his 2.0 MP point & shoot for a long time before he finally upgraded :thumb:
Point & shoots are good to use, most people never try to mess with the manual settings though.
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By JDMb16EJ
#89878 Sweeeet, thx for the pointers :idea:
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By marvinp8700
#97585 damn. i should of read this a long time ago
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By CivicTypeR
#97606 damn. i should of read this along time ago, great work brian
By Vtec Civic 93
#97624 Awesome right up. I've owned my Rebel XSI for about 3 months and still dont understand alot of stuff with it. This guide helps with the manual settings, thanks alot!

Here's my flickr, idk if any of you have on or not.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14689555@N05/