My Best Car Shots of 2013

[trewyn15]

Here's a couple of my best car shots of 2013, curious what you guys think of them, what could be better, etc.

1.)

IMG_2966 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

2.)

IMG_4081 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

3.)

IMG_5364 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

4.)

IMG_0017 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

5.)

IMG_4075 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

Criticism is highly appreciated!

 

[themumu]

Can't say I know much about car photography, but the single most noticeable detraction from most of these seems to be the background elements.

The reflection in the window of photo #2 is very distracting, wonder if a polarizer would help.

The last shot is done at f/13, which makes the foreground and the background both crispy sharp. Try it wide open to see if it can blur the background a bit to draw less attention to it.

 

[trewyn15]

Can't say I know much about car photography, but the single most noticeable detraction from most of these seems to be the background elements.

The reflection in the window of photo #2 is very distracting, wonder if a polarizer would help.

The last shot is done at f/13, which makes the foreground and the background both crispy sharp. Try it wide open to see if it can blur the background a bit to draw less attention to it.

Thanks for the input!

#2 was at a busy car show, so there was no chance of reduction in reflections lol I could try and brush it out but I like to edit my photos as little as possible.

The last one I agree, again it was at a car show and I was just kind of pointing and shooting. I need to get better at thinking everything through while shooting.

 

[Laird Knox]

I agree. The distraction would work in #2 if the reflections were of some models but the guys in t-shirts and shorts just don't fit with the Ferrari image.

The fence in #3 takes away from an otherwise nice angle. I would also consider cloning out the paint marks on the pavement.

In #4 my eye is immediately drawn to the light flare in the upper right corner. The car is kind of an afterthought. Also, if you were able to stage the car I would place it in the same position but in front of a column without all the electrical boxes on it.

Overall you have some good detail for some difficult lighting situations.

In #2 the foot wells fall off into a black hole but the dash and console are well exposed

On #5 I'm surprised at how much detail there is on the side of the car given the depth and angle of the shadows.

 

[glenthompson]

If #2 had other show cars in the window reflection, it could be an awesome shot. As is it add little to the image.

Excellent panning job on #1. I have trouble getting a nicely blurred background with a crisp car.

 

[trewyn15]

I agree. The distraction would work in #2 if the reflections were of some models but the guys in t-shirts and shorts just don't fit with the Ferrari image.

The fence in #3 takes away from an otherwise nice angle. I would also consider cloning out the paint marks on the pavement.

In #4 my eye is immediately drawn to the light flare in the upper right corner. The car is kind of an afterthought. Also, if you were able to stage the car I would place it in the same position but in front of a column without all the electrical boxes on it.

Overall you have some good detail for some difficult lighting situations.

In #2 the foot wells fall off into a black hole but the dash and console are well exposed

On #5 I'm surprised at how much detail there is on the side of the car given the depth and angle of the shadows.

Thank you for the input! It's little things that I don't notice when I think I pull off a good image and criticism like this helps me out a ton!

If #2 had other show cars in the window reflection, it could be an awesome shot. As is it add little to the image.

Excellent panning job on #1. I have trouble getting a nicely blurred background with a crisp car.

I agree, it was pretty busy, maybe i'll have to try that same shot again this summer.

Thank you! That was actually one of my first attempts on panning and it turned out better than I thought it would.

Thanks for the constructive criticism guys, it's much appreciated!

 

[Laird Knox]

It is so easy to miss "the little things" when you are in the moment. I've been taking some classes at a local college for fun and have noticed the same thing. During critique there are always things that make you wonder how you missed something so obvious.

Overall I like what you have posted, I was nitpicking to help you see those things. That has been probably one of my biggest take-aways from the classes.

 

[trewyn15]

It is so easy to miss "the little things" when you are in the moment. I've been taking some classes at a local college for fun and have noticed the same thing. During critique there are always things that make you wonder how you missed something so obvious.

Overall I like what you have posted, I was nitpicking to help you see those things. That has been probably one of my biggest take-aways from the classes.

I agree I'm 100% self taught so I sometimes get caught up in the main things and completely forget about the little things.

That being said, it makes me really be able to enjoy when someone isn't afraid to hold themselves back and really let me know how they feel about the photos i've taken.

Not only does it help me learn a couple of things that I may have missed, but it can also help them to realize what should have been done or what could be done in that situation. It's a win-win either way

 

[compuwar]

#1- Excellent shot- just enough motion blur at the wheels to make it stick. I might have tried to frame it a bit further back to give the car more room to "drive into."
#2- A heavy ND filter and a tripod with a long exposure to make the movable elements (people) disappear would make this rock.
#3- Good angle, but not a fan of the busy background.
#4- Passenger-side headlight cover is distracting, as is forward shadow, I'd probably have thrown a light somewhere in front to try to dissipate the shadow and cast one towards the back (motion forward-alike look,)
#5- Background blur would help here- even in post.

Paul

 

[trewyn15]

#1- Excellent shot- just enough motion blur at the wheels to make it stick. I might have tried to frame it a bit further back to give the car more room to "drive into."
#2- A heavy ND filter and a tripod with a long exposure to make the movable elements (people) disappear would make this rock.
#3- Good angle, but not a fan of the busy background.
#4- Passenger-side headlight cover is distracting, as is forward shadow, I'd probably have thrown a light somewhere in front to try to dissipate the shadow and cast one towards the back (motion forward-alike look,)
#5- Background blur would help here- even in post.

Paul

Thanks for the input!

A couple things:

What's an ND filter do exactly? It was extremely light out in that shot so a long exposure would be a bit difficult without whiting it out.

For #4, I just didn't have a good light with me, I was doing an on-camera light pointed at the ceiling with a difuser just to light up the front a bit. I think the next time I may do some light drawing and fill the light all the way around.

I may try #5 again, I mainly shoot in JPEG because my T3 is slow with RAW+JPEG, so I have to be careful how much I touch the shots. If I blur thebackground slightly I agree it may add to the photo.

Thanks!

 

[compuwar]

Thanks for the input!

A couple things:

What's an ND filter do exactly? It was extremely light out in that shot so a long exposure would be a bit difficult without whiting it out.

A neutral density filter is essentially a light-blocking filter that _shouldn't_ add any color cast to the image (Ha! Almost all do, but it's controllable/correctable or you can spend more money...) The idea is to lower the light level by N stops, where N is the density of the filter, so say a 2-stop ND filter will subtract two stops worth of light from an image. That's take you from, say 1/30th at f/5.6 to 1/8th at the same aperture for an equivalent photo. Something like the Lee Big Stopper changes the exposure by ten stops- that makes your exposures go long enough that moving subjects don't end up in the final image. So, that example would go to 32 seconds at f/5.6- and anything that was moving quickly enough would end up not being exposed.

Hopefully, this summer, I'll get my Big Stopper out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C and make some crowds and cars disappear around the monuments.

Paul

 

[trewyn15]

A neutral density filter is essentially a light-blocking filter that _shouldn't_ add any color cast to the image (Ha! Almost all do, but it's controllable/correctable or you can spend more money...) The idea is to lower the light level by N stops, where N is the density of the filter, so say a 2-stop ND filter will subtract two stops worth of light from an image. That's take you from, say 1/30th at f/5.6 to 1/8th at the same aperture for an equivalent photo. Something like the Lee Big Stopper changes the exposure by ten stops- that makes your exposures go long enough that moving subjects don't end up in the final image. So, that example would go to 32 seconds at f/5.6- and anything that was moving quickly enough would end up not being exposed.

Hopefully, this summer, I'll get my Big Stopper out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C and make some crowds and cars disappear around the monuments.

Paul

That's awesome actually!

I may have too look into one, but one that's big enough to fit the big glass of my 17-50VC, since that's what will be my walk-around car show lens from now on.

 

[compuwar]

That's awesome actually!

I may have too look into one, but one that's big enough to fit the big glass of my 17-50VC, since that's what will be my walk-around car show lens from now on.

The 100mm/4" square ones require a holder, but fit every lens I own except the 6" front of the 400mm.

Paul

 

[trewyn15]

The 100mm/4" square ones require a holder, but fit every lens I own except the 6" front of the 400mm.

Paul

I'll have to look into them more. I know they can get expensive but I'll have to see if I can find a used set or something.

 

[compuwar]

Lee's Gelsnap system is relatively cheap and relatively stackable, but not as good as the Big Stopper.

Paul

 

[trewyn15]

I'll have to look into it, I'm definitely on a tight budget right now but interested in some tools to help improve my photography.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[24hrpizza]

Here's a couple of my best car shots of 2013, curious what you guys think of them, what could be better, etc.

1.)
[url=http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/11163051493_9dc40a6ed9_z.jpg]Image[/url]
IMG_2966 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

2.)
[url=http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3677/11160950053_e325a700a1_z.jpg]Image[/url]
IMG_4081 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

3.)
[url=http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/11175027355_5f41e106ef_z.jpg]Image[/url]
IMG_5364 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

4.)
[url=http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/11175078084_fd2767f395_z.jpg]Image[/url]
IMG_0017 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

5.)
[url=http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/11160951213_c18a1d2187_z.jpg]Image[/url]
IMG_4075 by MitchTrewynPhotography, on Flickr

Criticism is highly appreciated!

3 and 4 are pretty successful with composition and color. I would look at your successes in those and see how you can apply to the overall image of the others. nice work.

 

[trewyn15]

3 and 4 are pretty successful with composition and color. I would look at your successes in those and see how you can apply to the overall image of the others. nice work.

Thank you for the advice and compliment! I appreciate it!