photographing cars - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

03/07/2008 10:34:23 AM · #1

Anyone here photograph car and car on display on a regular basis?
If so, what are some hints and advice you might give me. There might be some models avaliable for the shoot too.
Thanks alot
Jaime

dssagent88

Nikon D80

03/07/2008 02:16:24 PM · #2

Have a nice car in a nice location. This is my Dad's car...

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

03/07/2008 03:07:36 PM · #3

Taking out the big boys studios with 200 foot softboxes and such, go for creative point of views/crops and backgrounds.
So often the background and/or creative crop makes the shot.

If interested, I have quite a few in my Cars & Transportation folder:

There are also over 5,000 images in the Transportation Gallery to wander about in as well.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

03/07/2008 03:48:14 PM · #4

Originally posted by Brad:

Thanks alot Brad. They talked about bringing models as well. So we see how it works out. They are planning on having us either an abandoned sugar mill or downtown Houston. Downtown would be nice, but the sugar mill is so close to my house that I wouldnt mind that either ;)

NikonJeb

Nikon D850

03/07/2008 04:05:33 PM · #5

This one I had to crop the snot out of and convert it to B&W, then hammer the shadows to get rid of all the annoying stuff around it......and lost some of the car to get a decent image.

[thumb]618779[/thumb]

Same thing here......too much extraneous bad background to get a fully decent shot of the car.

[thumb]623536[/thumb]

I like all the images on various levels, but your best bet is if you can pick your location.

I've done a lot of car shots over the years (Especially since I restored them for 30 years), and all too often you cannot pick your location.....you just have to make due.

I hope this helps.

Message edited by author 2008-03-07 16:23:49.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/07/2008 04:29:06 PM · #6

Konica Minolta AF 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6(D) DT

03/07/2008 04:31:09 PM · #7

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Three words for photographing cars: location, location, location.

This was easy......just take it and drive to wherever I felt like to shoot it.

[thumb]538750[/thumb]

This one was hard to shoot 'cause obviously I couldn't move it. Only by luck was I able to frame it and not get the run down trailer off to the rear and the POS truck parked in front of it.

This one I had to crop the snot out of and convert it to B&W, then hammer the shadows to get rid of all the annoying stuff around it......and lost some of the car to get a decent image.

[thumb]618779[/thumb]

Same thing here......too much extraneous bad background to get a fully decent shot of the car.

[thumb]623536[/thumb]

I like all the images on various levels, but your best bet is if you can pick your location.

I've done a lot of car shots over the years (Especially since I restored them for 30 years), and all too often you cannot pick your location.....you just have to make due.

I hope this helps.

Thanks alot for the tips. I hear yah. The group is gathering alot of old restored cars and some sports cars to photograph. I am thinking I might recommend we go to Downtown to get the skyline in the background. Even though an old abandoned sugar mill wouldnt be bad either.

bloodhoundphoto

Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D

03/08/2008 02:41:12 PM · #8

I've learned that location and lighting are the big guns in the automotive shoots. Keeping the car where it belongs (cars on pavement, trucks in dirt) helps a lot. I think night provides a better lighting situation for cars, taking them to empty parking garages or providing your own lighting. I've never had the money to get a real big nice set of lights so I built a stand to set in front of my truck's head lights and it made for some great shots.

I hope that helps : )

roba

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/08/2008 03:46:09 PM · #9

Looking at the recent Automobile Ad challenge, a successful combination seems to be the balance between a cool car & an interesting background.

RKT

Canon EOS-60D

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon

03/08/2008 03:59:33 PM · #10

I photograph cars a lot. One thing I've found vitally important, besides what many others have mentioned, is the time of day and quality of light. Early morning and evening are good and never underestimate the wonder of a overcast day...it's like having one of those giant softboxes waiting for you outside. It's also really nice to have the headlights turned on for the shoot. I always try to do my composing in camera to avoid trimming away pixels...and also by doing this you are forced to take time and really see what you are looking at. Oh, make sure you stay out of the reflections.

gloda

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/08/2008 06:49:14 PM · #11

Photographing Cars.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

03/08/2008 06:56:53 PM · #12

I'm not a car buff, but some of my best shots seem to be of cars. Kind of odd.

Light is, of course, a biggie that you have limited control over. I think the second biggest is getting an interesting perspective. I tend to focus on certain details and characteristics of the car, rather than the whole thing.

Message edited by author 2008-03-08 18:57:52.

digitalpins

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

03/19/2008 11:54:10 AM · #13

I love photographing cars, I dont do it for a living but whenever I see an awesome car to photograph you usually find me in the middle of the street trying to shoot some weird or different angle of the car. I think it really depends on the angle you shoot cars at, shooting at different angles really shows the many different angles in a car.

some more here

//www.lamontphotography.com/gallery/1257295_yAXNN#118180864
//www.lamontphotography.com/gallery/1257295_yAXNN#118181135
//www.lamontphotography.com/gallery/1257295_yAXNN#118181273
//www.lamontphotography.com/gallery/1257295_yAXNN#267757538

03/19/2008 11:59:06 AM · #14

thanks guys for the input.
Here is one picture I took:

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/19/2008 12:05:52 PM · #15

I saw a video a while ago where someone was walking around a car in a dark showroom firing a hand-held flash directly at the car every few feet, while the camera sat on a tripod with the shutter open. The result was COOLIO!

Message edited by author 2008-03-19 12:06:15.

Tez

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/19/2008 12:09:21 PM · #16

it's all about the leading lines and curves of the cars body.

ETA:

a good resource is Supercars.net it's full of the 'real' pics from car shows and whatnot so could be a good place to look.

Message edited by author 2008-03-19 12:10:13.

ShutterHack

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

03/19/2008 12:13:08 PM · #17

Strike is this the one?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtMQtAz250c

here is a one i played with

o and one more

AlexSaberi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/19/2008 12:14:10 PM · #18

Well I think location is the most important thing. That and get a good angle on the car.

I started a project for myslef taking photos of nice cars near to famous london locations. Doing it candid like this is pretty tough. u never know what your gonna get. One thing I know is that you need well above 400/sec to avoid blur on fast moving cars.

Here a couple from my first 2 weeks

ShutterHack

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

03/19/2008 12:16:55 PM · #19

Alex You are one of the sickest photographers i've seen. It is so unfair for the rest of us!!!!

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

03/19/2008 12:19:26 PM · #20

also look here if you like

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D