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The PHOTOGRAPHIC/PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES for your Roadster thread

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565K views 11K replies 533 participants last post by  100percentjake 
#1 ·
Alright, guys...post here your techniques for creating those awesome Roadster photos!

Camera type, lens type, filters, etc.

Photoshop techniques, plug-ins, etc.

KEEP IT ROADSTER related and post only photos that are representative of the techniques used.

There are other forums and even the ALBUM and GARAGE where you can post pics of your car or your latest mods.

Play nice, no flaming, and NO controversial material.

If enough interest is generated, a discussion will be held regarding a separate forum for PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES.
 
#2 ·
Well i'll lay down the golden rule.

GET A TRIPOD

Your pictures will thank you. Both low-light and plentiful lighting situations.

If you can't use a tripod and have a camera with a shoulder strap (this works great on SLRs) hook the strap just above and behind your elbow then wrap the rest of the strap around your arm until you can hold the camera like you're about to take a shot. It'll give you a nice snug hold of the camera and help with any jittery hands since your whole arm and body will now be supporting it.
 
#3 ·
agreed. i cant stress enough how much a tripod helps.

also, avoid direct sunlight at all costs.

take lots of different pictures from lots of different angles at different settings to see what works best with your car.

try and pick your locations carefully. avoid shooting your car on grass, make sure theres no poles sticking out of your car, make sure there are no random cars in the shots with your car, ect.

theres a few tips off the top of my head.

i'm fairly good with picking locations and lighting, but i need tips on post production, so if anyone has tips for me on photoshop, then speak now!
 
#4 ·
I just kinda learned by ear :lol: Unless you have a book or something just start fiddling with stuff. There are a few photography books out there that I highly suggest for beginners (which I still refer to a lot :p ). I can't find the other one right now, but The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby is a good one to start on. He goes over the basics of equipment selection, composition, and goes into finer details for various subjects and atmospheres (low-light, weddings, portraits, etc.) He also give some photoshop tips as well so you might like it, reckless. He made another book completely on digital photography photoshop stuffs so you might want to check that out too.

The Digital Photography Book

The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers

That second one is for the CS2 version, but he has a few out for older versions of PS i think.
 
#5 ·
When you take pictures of yourself hold the camera above you and at an angle to mask how fat you really are.
 
#6 ·
When you take pictures of yourself hold the camera above you and at an angle to mask how fat you really are.
MYSPACE ANGLES!! oh and also, you need at least one picture of you in a mirror screwing up your hair. that gets you 50 scene points.

to make this post legit, don't over-do it in post processing. a lot of the time, you'll screw something up that didn't need to be screwed up.

and for low light, don't use flash. I try to never use flash. unless it's on disposable cameras and I just wanna screw with people doing that little trick thing. just have as long an exposure time as your camera allows.
 
#8 ·
I made this thread a "Sticky" so now lets see some pictures!!! I will post the ones my buddy Dan took a few months back, and ill try to get Dan to post here as to the specs on his camera, and settings etc, etc, as he is a big camera buff. Me personally....., i would love to get into photgraphy, however, my camera sucks, and my wife says i have too many hobbies as it is now. #-o

Anyhow, here are some old pics of my car (3 ~ 4 months old), ill have to ask my buddy to take some more recent pics soon as quite a lot has changed already. :twisted:

If you have questions on photos post them here, if you have questions on car parts please PM me as i would like to keep this thread on topic! Thanks guys!!

All photos courtesy of Dan Rasp (thee Alignment King!) :twisted:












Phatty :shock:
 
#17 ·
I've got a ho-hum camera - Canon Powershot S3 IS - picture attached.
I picked it because I wanted something compact that I could take everywhere but that had a decent lense unlike all the credit card cameras out there so I could get decent shots...
My buddy has a Nikon D50 and we went out one night to take a bunch of shots of my car and none of his shots came out very well while some of mine were at least decent... he doesn't really have an eye for composition... although I'm not that great at it either.
Here are the two I really liked.
I'm really just starting to learn to alter settings on the camera.

The first shot was 6 second exposure on a tripod about 6 inches above the ground.

Second shot was a 4 second exposure with a tripod held horizontally against a pylon in the underground parking lot...

I didn't photshop at all...
Next I want to play with aperture... but I'm not too clear on what that alters. Any advice?
-Ryan
 

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#18 ·
CE28, do you use filters? You always seem to have such rich color or is it all photoshop adjustment? Love your work but how do you feel about removing that unsightly telephone pole? Just a thought.

I don't have any good pics of my roadster but as soon as I get a good day a good shoot is in order.
 
#19 ·
Photography is more about the art of composition, lighting and imagination than how much money you spent on your camera.

A good photographer can take better photos with a crappy camera than a crappy photographer can with the best camera.
 
#20 ·
In Photoshop, how do I get this effect?
You can see where he masked the car to get the blur in the background. In camera you can use a high aperature (ie: 1.4, 1.8, 2.8 etc) to make the background fall off. You can see the line at the left most corner of the car where the texture in the ground goes from crisp to all blurry. Plus its not the best mask around the shape of the car but that's ok. I can be a little picky, but I get paid to notice these things (and fix them)

The color effect could be as easy as a hue/saturation layer, and a level adjustment. I don't think he got into any burning or sepia overlays.
 
#21 ·
also, try different perspectives. Don't just take photos standing at normal height- that's what most people will see with their own eyes. Try varying the perspective - down low or up high to change the appearance of the subject from what someone would normally see.

Additionally, be aware of your background .. you don't want to park near something that will distract the viewer from the main subject of the photo.

If you have a digital camera, play around with the settings, try different ISO settings, aperture settings and exposure settings.. see how they affect your photos.

Just like a sport - the more you practice, the better you'll get - as long as you pay attention to what didn't work as well as paying attention to what does work.
 
#22 ·
Photography is more about the art of composition, lighting and imagination than how much money you spent on your camera.

A good photographer can take better photos with a crappy camera than a crappy photographer can with the best camera.
true that.

here's a picture I took with probably the worlds crappiest olympic digi. Normal shutter speed, thats about all I know for the settings on this one. No photochop.



Its ok but still one of my favorites. :mrgreen:
 
#23 ·
ThePass, aperature is like the pupil of the eye. The smaller it is the less light it lets in and the larger it is the more light comes in. Also the lower the number the larger the opening (its confusing I know) so a 1.4 is a really large opening and a lot of light is let in. But then your field of view is very short. A high number like 22 is a small opening requiring a lot of light but you get a greater depth of field. All depends on what you are shooting.
You can shoot in automatic mode and note the settings the camea uses. Then take the same shot and toy with the settings for different results.
On your first shot the reason the car is so dark is because the camera metered for the lights. A good way to do shoot that kind of shot is with a tripod, meter for the lights and take a frame. Don't move the camera then meter for the car and take a frame. Combine the frames in photoshop, do a little blending of the layers and you'll get a cool balanced shot. You could also bracket the exposure which would basically have the same result.
 
#25 ·
CE28, do you use filters? You always seem to have such rich color or is it all photoshop adjustment? Love your work but how do you feel about removing that unsightly telephone pole? Just a thought.

I don't have any good pics of my roadster but as soon as I get a good day a good shoot is in order.
I do have a couple filters that I use regularly. Of course, all my pic are edited, some are more extensive, using different layers, renderings, color adjustment, airbrushing, ps filters, exposure... you name it. I don't have the best equipment, it's all budget stuff. The telephone pole will be removed in the final edition, these two are just a peak, barely any editing has done to them.
 
#26 ·
Heres mine - crappy lighting etc etc - but i love it :)

 
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