How to take a Picture of a car...

[w3rkn]

Incredible to see so many pics, but so many non-standard photos.



A little help.

First & foremost if you have access to a car and are taking pictures, the profile shot is the quintessential shot.. odd that in all these photo threads you can find a single real profile shot.


Taken from approx. 20' back, and the lens has to be slightly below the roofline... (sun to your back)... shoot away..

As, if you yourself were sitting in a car and took a profile of another.. Would be nice to see profile shots of each color, so we can have a library to share on other sites, etc.

Just sayin...

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[Stangnut]

I strongly disagree with keeping the lens slightly below the roofline. While it can make for an interesting shot, it is WAY overused. If I want to see what a car looks like, the shots I want to see the most of are from the same angle as if I were standing there looking at it in person.

 

[908ssp]

Incredible to see so many pics, but so many non-standard photos.



A little help.

First & foremost if you have access to a car and are taking pictures, the profile shot is the quintessential shot.. odd that in all these photo threads you can find a single real profile shot.


Taken from approx. 20' back, and the lens has to be slightly below the roofline... (sun to your back)... shoot away..

As, if you yourself were sitting in a car and took a profile of another.. Would be nice to see profile shots of each color, so we can have a library to share on other sites, etc.

Just sayin...

I agree. you can tell more from a shot taken lower than standing. Unfortunately most shots are taken in a crowd so you can't get back without someone being in the way. Really tired of the wide angle close ups they look horrible. Overcast is better than bright sun or partially cloudy. Less reflective crap to mess up the paint. Shooting with a lens in the 50mm to 100mm [35mm relative] range gives a more normal perspective. Wide angles distort making the middle larger and the ends smaller and longer lens foreshorten bringing the back and front closer together.

 

[JoeDogInKC]

Just say no to overexposures.

 

[Fox9350]

Just a few of the 'rules' and tricks I use:

Good pics, but these two drive me nuts. The front wheels should be turned so that the viewer of the photo can see the wheel, not the tire. People do this a lot and it looks goofy.

I read another suggestion once that cars are meant to be on the road, so as a general rule, pics of a car sitting on grass (unless its a car show in a field or something) are off as well.

 

[fionic]

I actually hate car photos that use the 'rule of thirds'. You're not filming a motion picture.

I suppose for 'artistic' photos, that works. But, for photos of a car that actually shows details, why not include more car than air in the picture?

 

[Fenderaddict2]

I actually hate car photos that use the 'rule of thirds'. You're not filming a motion picture.

I suppose for 'artistic' photos, that works. But, for photos of a car that actually shows details, why not include more car than air in the picture?

Too true. The thirds rule is great for a screensaver. But what we want is details and full walk around views right now.

 

[fabianvs]

lol, please don't overdo your HDR images

 

[OppoLock]

Holy crap a lot of these photos have way too much post-processing crap done to them.

 

[OppoLock]

1) keep the frame level with the horizon.

2) avoid over/under-exposure, otherwise you'll drown out the detailing via lighting or shadows.

3) excessive saturation just makes your car look like a circus clown.

4) avoid HDR like the plague.

5) do NOT use filter effects. Keep that stuff to the kids in elementary school.

6) excessive DoF/blurring does not make your photo look professional. Like everything else, it can be done in moderation, typically with macro shots of specific up close features. If you're taking a full landscape shot, just avoid it.

For great examples, here's a good photographer: http://www.1013mm.com/

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Personally, I prefer to use my Polaroid instant camera so I don't have to wait for lab processing.

 

[likeaboss]

Since many of us use cell phone cameras. What's the best way to get a good picture given the restrictions of the phone's lenses? Which usually means no optical zoom.

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