Night shots of my car

Kind of crappy shots at higher res's but turned out okay I think.









Love the effect though - will have to try again another time for a clearer shot

Nice shots! I don't care for the third one, but the others are great!

A couple of things:

1st Did you use a tripod? If you do then you can use a slower shutter speed and get more detail in the areas that went black.

2nd It seems like your white balance is off. You may wish to set a custom white balance or force the camera into a different white balance mode than what it looks like (automatic).

Just some thoughts.

Kat

I'd agree that the white balance is definitely off. The color of the car should be the same white color that you see during the day.

Also, try moving the car further away from the light source (instead of directly beneath) so that the sides of the car receive more light, just as in the third image.

when taking pictures of cars, point of view is a major aspect, and standing straight up is rarely the best point of view. Good start though

Actually I thought the color and lighting gave a unique artistic effect.

mathogre said:

Actually I thought the color and lighting gave a unique artistic effect.

Click to expand...

Until you've seen a million people asking how their car pics look when they take them under sodium lights without fixing the WB. ;D

The color balance issue wouldn't be so bad if the car was moving. Because the whole image is orangeish, it's more of a distraction.
I also suggest different view points. We all see cards at eye height. Show us something different next time around. Keep up the good work.

notice how a little lighting, proper color and change of angle can make a pic of a car under sodium lights in a parking lot look completely different...

this was just a real quick pic i took (quick, mainly because if i remember correctly it was about 0-10F degrees when i took that about a year ago).

Will look at the WB - no I don't have a tripod. thanks for the feedback!

The pics were taken with a point and shoot Sony Cybershot camera on Auto too.

You don't have to be a pro to take a photo and ask for a critique.
He's proud of his car; it doesn't matter if it's a Kia or a BMW.
This is a place for people to feel welcome. If you're going to be rude, you might not be welcome.

The feedback has been very helpful, I intend to try it again on a more specific setting. If you don't have anything constructive to add - then go away.

I'd suggest getting down nice and low to the ground and shooting from there =) Then just play around with some really obscure angles and see what you can come up with.

cheetahastra said:

The feedback has been very helpful, I intend to try it again on a more specific setting. If you don't have anything constructive to add - then go away.

Click to expand...

I have one simple request...

Please don't let be discouraged because of rude people. There is nobody...NOBODY...who shoots perfectly every time. You may see spectacular photos from others and pro's but what you don't see is how many more really BAD ones they have to take to get that "perfect" shot. The idea of shooting the winning photo every time you click the shutter is a myth.

Ansel Adams' photos are spectacular but not many people mention how many hours and days he spent in the darkroom to get his prints to look the way he wanted.

I shot professionally for about 10 years (mostly advertising) and for every published shot there were 20-30 that I didn't and couldn't use.

The comments by postlapsaria were just rude, unnecessary, discouraging, and in no way helpful. This is a forum for people to help and talk with other people, not a place for portfolio reviews for a National Geographic photographer position. (I've been in one of those and you REALLY get your work torn to pieces, haha)

Best of luck and practice practice practice.

Kat

bryphotoguy said:

You don't have to be a pro to take a photo and ask for a critique.
He's proud of his car; it doesn't matter if it's a Kia or a BMW.
This is a place for people to feel welcome. If you're going to be rude, you might not be welcome.

Click to expand...

Kudos to that Bry! Well said.

Kat

i must have missed something - looks like a post was deleted, no?

yeah I think so.. I don't see it either.

A few were deleted.
To the OP, I don't consider myself a pro photographer, although my degree is in photography. For me, taking pics of cars is a difficult task. It seems like everything has been tried.
If possible, see if you can travel with a ladder. High up images might also be interesting.

If you're really into photographing cars, I would recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Photograp...oks&qid=1204737736&sr=8-1?tag=macforums0e4-20

I purchased a copy several years ago when I wanted to capture the types of images that can often be found in car magazines. I'm still working at it, but the techniques explained in this book have really upped my skill level.

In addition to using a different angle of view as mentioned by Bry, I would also recommend focusing on certain design details of the car; e.g., the grille, emblems, lights, etc.

Below is a link to a photo album that I created after I had prepped a car for sale. The images helped get a lot of responses from prospective on-line buyers, and the car sold within a week at a premium.

http://eori.smugmug.com/gallery/3097284_L8iD2#P-1-21

Thanks! Going to have a try next time at angles and heights - will make it more interesting