Djedi

Many of us photographic technophiles are also interested in other electrical and mechanical things, so with that in mind, I thought a section on automobile photography might be fun. It would also be nice to stress some technical aspect of your shot(s), so that others may learn from your technique.
I will start with this shot of "Nellie" (after Nellie Bly), my 10th anniversary Miata. These were shot right after sunset, with color still in the sky.
On the closeup interior shot I did a number of exposures to balance the natural light of the background with the light of the on-camera flash. It was important to me to get the reflection of the sky on the hood. Nikon D7100, Sigma 18-250mm lens. ISO 250, 1/2 second, at 52mm zoom. Lots of post processing to bring up the detail in the black dash and push down the brightest areas.
In the second shot a pickup truck decided to park in the distance in front of the trees. With some careful cloning in PS I was able to "see through" it. Then some pushing and pulling to even things out. Same camera/lens at 1.6 second, also at f5 but at 18mm zoom setting.
Questions, comments welcome!

Abo

Nice little "Mazdarati".

The images look too saturated... could be your monitor being dull and you compensate for that PPing I s'pose.

One thing that I know you could improve though.

The carpark fence is a distracting element. If the car was framed so
there was just the ground, the car, and perhaps distant background
with no subject lines going through the car; would be better composition.

My shot of the Lambo I dredged up, below, has/had a similar problem, however if you make your
aperture larger, you can blur the distracting elements, which helps separate
your subject from them. You need to be looking at the "download" for that to be apparent though.

(Download)

JudgeRock

Another camera bug who loves classic cars. I have owned and restored quite a few over the years but this 63 Riviera might be my favorite. In my personal opinion this may be the finest DESIGN GM ever had.

mper812 Loc: Atlanta GA area

Nice captures and I like the saturated colors which look great in the evening light

ncshutterbug

Lovely shots of beautiful cars! I know nothing about cars, but Hubby lives and breathes them. I have posted this one before but not this angle. I love this one for the beauty of the style.

Abo

Is the interior light a chandelier?

"DESIGN"??? I know the English spoken in your part of the world has "subtle" differences to what is spoken
down here, but "Design". Where I come from (and it is possibly open to interpretation down here in Australia)
design has an objective component. For a car that means more about functionality than style which is what
I'm sure you mean by "DESIGN".

Style of course is purely subjective not objective. There in lies the difference between design and style.

If you read my signature you will understand why I would call the style of your (what appears to be
a very skillfully restored) car is Flamboyant with a capitol "F"... something the pianist, Liberace,
would love.

I respectfully submit (the photos are not mine) for the honour of best GM style; The "Efijy"
made by General Motors Holden Australia. (The people that provided your GTO pictured below as well)

(Download)

Our Monaro as it appears in the US as a Pontiac GTO


The Holden Monaro as it is down here with the original radiator air intake/Grill

oldpsych Loc: Indianapolis

These are very different than the ones presented thus far. I have a penchant for old and "junked" cars. I love the colors and textures.

oldpsych Loc: Indianapolis

Forgot these. sorry.

Abo

That's nice; car and photo both.

Djedi

ncshutterbug- I always loved the Riviera's sexy back end! Just a suggestion though- The background is a bit distracting and takes away from your main subject. If you had an off-camera flash aimed at the lower front of the vehicle, it would have made the car stand out better, highlighted the sharp chrome wheels, and helped pull the eye away from the trees. Not sure what camera you are using, but many of the major brands have flashes with infra-red remote connection so all it takes is finding a suitable tree stump and laying it down in proximity of the camera.
Thanks mper. Yes, the 99 10th anniversary came in this gorgeous saphire blue that I was trying to bring out.
JudgeRock- Another very sharp Riviera. I actually like the way the colors of the car "coordinate" with the colors of the house behind it. Just a little busy on the right side.
Abo- A very assertive shot. It says "look at me- I've made it!" The vehicle reminds me of the Star Wars Stormtroopers. As to my shots, I was going for a commercial, saturated look, especially since that color is special to that Miata year and edition. Also, I am doing a series on the car in different settings. So the background is also important to me and stone fence getting smaller in the distance works for me. What I should have done however, is get rid of that stupid sign, which is ubiquitous around Thacher park, especially the overlooks. If you don't like distracting backgrounds, you probably won't like this shot.

Djedi

Oldpsych- I have a number of these at home as well (am at work now). I understand your passion for the colors inherent in the process of deterioration. I will have to dig out the shot I took of "Nellie" in front of an old GG-1 locomotive with the rusty colors enhanced. Great shots. I especially like the first shot in your second post, but they are all good.
Abo- The new models don't do much for me although I like the photos.
But that first one......WOW!!!! Imagine driving down the road in that beauty! But I'd hate the upkeep or having to start it in winter. Looks good in someone else's garage.
In another "life" I was a kitchen "designer". And yes, to me form always followed function. But some of the stuff I saw depicted in kitchen design magazines made me laugh. Concrete counters? Porous tan Mexican kitchen tiles? Fancy carved onlays over a commercial kitchen stove? These things looked great on magazine covers, but can you imagine cleaning the grease and dirt off the carved details or keeping concrete counters clean? An aquaintance had Mexican tiles in her kitchen (not my design!) and had endless issues resealing her floor and keeping it looking unstained.

Abo

:-)

I love the star wars analogy... I see a storm trooper too now you mention it, lol.

I understand about the colour of your beaut little Mazda being iconic and having it saturated to emphasize the point... fair enough intention. And what you want is most important. (Down here in Australia nobody knows what a Miata is... The're MX5s down here.)

I still reckon the fence is a problem though. If you included the fence for the perspective but
made a reasonable gap between your Mazdarati and the fence, so the line of the fence
wasn't running through any part of the car would be better imho.

You'd have the car as an element and the fence as an element, but the fence wouldn't rudely
intersect the lines of the hero of the scene if there was decent space between the two.

The Aircraft in your other photo adds to the image I reckon, but that guard rail is a bother... again rudely
cutting into a great little car. It's not as bad as the "Blue" photo though, just because they are different
images that convey different messages to me.

Cheers,

Alan.

LOL one piece of poetic licence deserves another... Hope you dont mind bro :-D

oldpsych Loc: Indianapolis

thanks. I would like to see your shots of old cars. There is a place near Jerome Az. that has many many of these cars scattered around. One of my favorite places to shoot.

Djedi

Abo:
I fully agree with your objection to the guard-rail, but the folks at the Curtis-Wright museum might have had an issue with my removing it for the photo. Obviously the Airplane was sedentary, the body propped up on stands and propellers motionless. PS is a wonderful thing, but removing the rail was just too much of a PIA, the transition of green to brown grass would have been very difficult.
I still disagree with the stone fence however. Because the two overlap only slightly, to me it becomes almost an extension of the car, giving the suggestion of future motion and direction.
Also, when the car was moved back further, less of the scenic view was visible. That was another element I did not want to compromise. So, two viewers, two opinions, both with valid points. Makes for good discussion.
My wife and I almost emigrated to Australia. Her employment would have made it possible, but I guess they had enough photographers (I was pro at the time), so after some deliberation we decided to stay here. Certain recent events here in the US almost make me wish we had gone, but c'est la vie!
Wolf

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

Nice!