SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

LoL, JD, I see you found the problem with objects that reflect...., nice skylight!!!
Is the mouse a grey color or was it white?
SS

glyphtrix

First of all welcome to our humble corner!

As the REAL host is frequently busy.. I am the self apointed resident elf. An elf is part master of ceremonies, court jester and sort of a postive troll. My goal is to pitch the site and attract more participation for the good or bad. My submissions frequently feature glaring mistakes which could be due to my own incompetence or that I'm just tounge-in in-cheek lightly trolling, trying to get the ball rolling. I'm not saying which.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUBMISSION.

One topic it seems that I have inadvertently introduced is being aware of glares, reflections , and other unintended intrusions into the finished image.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Vla's GTO shot.

I delayed writing a critique on this shot because there is much to be discussed, aside for the image itself. It's great that some of the images that have been posted thus far, have led to good tangential conversations.

OK- so firstly let's talk about car shots. Cars, in many areas of interest and in and of themselves, have always been interesting subjects for photographers. Classic and antique automobiles are especially engaging for a number of reasons including the fact that back in the day, the body styles would oftentimes radically chance from one mode year to the next and a the same time certain design elements like the shape of the grill or the addition of "tail light fins" would vary slightly but remain somewhat constant with minor variations over a length of time. For those car aficionados out there, theses design elements are indicative of certain model years, entire eras and the nuances of what makes classic automobiles "classic".

Besides images of entire cars from various angles, details shots or abstractions of segments of cars have long been subjects for artistic interpretation by photographers. There is also an element of nostalgia for the detail shots used in actual advertising during eras gone by.

What does this have to do with the GTO shot? you may ask! Well, it gives me some kind of a basis on which to critique it. The picture is well exposed- the color is OK so what's to talk about? When photographing cars, machinery, architecture or so many other things, I think it's important to capture the original "industrial design" the way the designers, architects and engineers created it, or at least a characterization of the concept. In artistic photography, we consider lines, shapes, curves, arches, angles and perspectives when we are composing our images. Theses elements draw the viewers eye to the motif of out images and make for impactful and dynamic compositions.

On Val's shot, I would have liked to see more of a continuation of the grill's shape on the left side of the composition , some editing to remove distractions such as the licence plate bracket and some of the background detail showing out from under the hood. Now, I know it is difficult or impossible to control all of this at a car show or a classic auto owners meetup in a parking lot so it's time for some crazy editing.

Here's an idea- when you shoot one of theses self- assignments, try to envision your shot in a ad, on the cover of a magazine or something like that and MOCK SOMETHING UP. I just happened to have an example here. I took the liberty of breaking a forum rule and I messing around, distorted and mocked up Val's shot. What do y'all think?

Also folks- everything around here does not need to be a picture-perfect product shot. Even in real-life advertising, the powers that be are still "selling the sizzle", not only the steak. There are lots of effective images that are not literal a representation of the product or service but emphasize an atmosphere, a mood or even a analogical approach to illustration.

I also would like encourage the study of traditional commercial photography techniques. There are certain principles, from a practical point of view, that can be applied to all facets of photography. For instance, if we were shooting a small scale mode of a classic car in a still life table-top setup, we would typically use a big soft-box many times larger that the subject, suspended over the model, to simulate natural skylight and create the soft even highlights that would emphasize the lines and contours of the model. This is why, for lack of a gargantuan size studio and the world's largest soft box, open shade, hazy or overcast skylight are the most ideal conditions for general photography of real cars. On the other hand, bright sunny days can cause all kinds of reflections and hot spots in cars'highly reflective finishes, that is not the worst thing either because that is the way cars as seen most of the time- people can relate to that! In advertising, when the "sizzle" is being sold, realism is not a bod idea. What's wrong with a picture of a car with a reflection of folks enjoying a family picnic showing in the finish- or whatever lifestyle is connected to that car? There is lots of psychology in image making.

Just sayin'

glyphtrix

Atmosphere? Mock ups?? light boxes?, Finished products?!! Ah man.. this is going to higher attrition rates.

Valsmere Loc: New Jersey

Awesome I absolutely love the critique! The muscle cars are iconic as we know and yet to "nail" the shot is a challenge. Maybe even more so in this day and because these cars are known. I will have to pull out my '67 and setup some photos!
Thank you this is an awesome section to be in loved in.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It’s kinda grey do to a lot of use, but you miss the point. The reflection was intentional. The challenge was photograph a common insudtrial object and there are multiple common industrial objects in the shot.