pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

At least a polarizer as all the cars are glossed to the Nth degree. Setting depends on how the cars are organized and excess crap around the car/truck. Depends in what feature of the car you want stress.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Full frame camera and 50mm f1.4 or 1.2 ......and ND6 filter

photoman43

I find it very difficult to control backgrounds at car shows. People and the background itself are the two culprits. To minimize the problems, I use a wide angle lens, a 20mm prime, and shoot at a low level, not standing up. And I fill the frame as much as possible with the car, or a portion of the car like the front or back or side.

You may get perspective distortion that can be fixed in post processing. Just allow for it by including area surronding the car that might get eliminated by the software.

If all that fails, I use NIK Collection Color Efex Pro and select Tonal Contrast or Pro Contrast and use the mid tone slider and shadows sliders to minimize the contrast/detail in the background.

People may step away from the vehicle if you ask politely. But you then need to take the image very quickly, like in five to ten seconds. Having an assistant with you can help make this happen.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I owned an RV lot in Havasu and spent a few winter months there for a couple of years. If I knew how, and if he wanted it, I would love to send the owner the file or a print.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I like to get low and shoot from even with the car or get near ground and shoot up. This not classical but it a different perspective. Try this in addition to your normal shots

DICK32

bsprague: Nice shot!!! Looks great and shows the subject and relevant details well.

rcarol

I would like to see the tires just to keep the car grounded so to speak.

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

Bob's My Garage

That1NJGuy

This is where your creativity comes in. I shoot many car shows in my area. I almost prefer not to go to parking lot shows as the people and cars are packed together.

If that is the case, concentrate on details. Tail lights, mirrors, reflections, trim on the car. Or if there are people congregating around, accept it and make them the story (great when there's kids or you can tell if the owner is telling a story to someone else). Or just be patient and wait for the crowd to disburse. If it's a car you really want to get, find the owner and let them know. They may tell you how long they are going to hang out. Sometimes, I'll ask an owner to close the hood for a couple of minutes. It lends to a more natural car. You normally don't see hoods up.

No settings will blur out the background unless you are taking detailed shots. I usually shoot with a 50mm, or use a 18- 35 (remember, creative)and depending on the light situation be in between f8 - f18. ISO will be 100-200. Take a couple test shots. Get low, get high, stay away from waist to face level, that's boring.

Here are some stuff I've done

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rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

ISO setting depends a lot on which camera you have.

Nikon D500 or Pentax KP is much more graceful at higher ISO values than the earlier cameras were.

tdozier3 Loc: Northern Illinois

You're always going to have to deal with people in the background. If you use too wide of an aperture setting you risk not getting your whole subject in focus. My go to lens is my Sigma 10-20 EX 3.5 either on my D7500 or D500. I can get very close to my subject and minimize unwanted background.

That1NJGuy

Nice! I like that! ^^^

tdozier3 Loc: Northern Illinois

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

My suggestion is to come early just before the cars show up for the show. As each one shows you can shoot with the best backgrounds.
Later switch to a long tele, 200-300mm plus wide open f-stop and do selective elements of the cars design.
Peter

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bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Thanks!