First car shoot (Critique)

This is my first car shoot. Originally it was just for practice, but I think they turned out somewhat good. It was done pretty much on a moments notice, so my friend didnt clean his car... at all.





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50D - 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 - ISO100 f/4 1/2500s 41mm





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50D 70-300mm f/4-5.6 - ISO100 f/5.6 1/80s 135mm





The second shot was my first attempt at a panning shot. Suggestions/comments welcome :)

I like the second one, nice panning job, but the car came out blue, try fixing that in PP.


As for the first one...something's not right...can't put my finger on it. The weird angle, or the uneven road, or the chimney that you installed on the back of the VW or all those things combined.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Itheone

I like the second one, nice panning job, but the car came out blue, try fixing that in PP.


As for the first one...something's not right...can't put my finger on it. The weird angle, or the uneven road, or the chimney that you installed on the back of the VW or all those things combined.
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I think the chimney in the trunk is a novel idea...like VW's kicking it old school.


Seriously, though, the lighting on the first shot is just odd. Did you use the camera's popup flash or something? The front/left bumper seems more illuminated than the rest of the car. And on the second shot, I think it would have been better if the car hadn't been in shade--it just doesn't "pop" because the lighting is so flat and bland. If you did the same shot with the sun on the side of the car you were shooting it might have been better.


Check out my good friend James's flickr photostream. He shoots cars for several import-themed magazines. He's also got a good rig-shot tutorial somewhere (I can ask him to send me a link if you'd like).

I think I fixed the white balance about as best I could (also cropped it a hair). Auto was pretty much useless (Aperture, usually works quite well). The second shot I did not use a flash, and that brick structure is the pole for the fence running behind the car (I know, not the ideal backdrop, but my friend was getting impatient at this point so we just picked a location).


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1st shot: if you're going to shoot stationary cars, try to shoot them with a scenic or simple background, and shoot them low to the ground .


1nd shot: good job fixing the white balance. nice....[:)]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bburns223

1st shot: if you're going to shoot stationary cars, try to shoot them with a scenic or simple background, and shoot them low to the ground .


1nd shot: good job fixing the white balance. nice....[img]/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]





brendan b

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Thanks. For that first shot I actually took it at headlight-level. The camera was actually level but the road was a slope. Like I said, it was a my first shoot and I was just experimenting. As for the background, I know better but my accomplice was getting impatient lol.


And I actually took the shots the shots about two months ago, before white-balance adjusting became a regular part of my post-processing work (I have only been doing photography since august). Thanks to this site, it doesn't take long to catch on. Thanks! [:D]





As long as were here, I want to post one more shot just to see what you guys think. Not really one of my favorites, just curious of what you have to say.





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50D - 28-135mm f/3.5-f.6 - 28mm f/3.5 ISO100 1/160s

nice angle... not bad!

That second edit looks way better. Good job on the panning too. The first shot - as previously said - looks awkward. Maybe because of the contradicting lines?


Nevertheless, good jov!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]Hi Alex,
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]Pretty good, looks much better after the WB fix up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Your first photo is just a bit to busy for me, your looking at everything instead of just the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I know you said you were on the clock though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] White fence, white car and it looks like you have dropped the contrast a fair bit, looks like it was shot during the middle of the day, hence dark blue sky too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] As the others have said, when you have time, watch your background (non distracting) early or late in the day shoot, try different angles.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]</o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]</o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]I like your last shot to, try the rule of thirds, have the VW badge in focus on one third of the frame, and blur the leading edge of the grill, but yeah I like these aspects of shooting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] And the car looks nice and clean no bug on the grill.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"]Hope this helps a bit.