What is the best way to take photos of your car??

[dzlndan]

If your like me, you love looking at photos of 911's in every shape and form, they are absolute works of art! But maybe you have the same problem and find it really hard to get great shots because you are an ametuer photographer at best. So to those of you who have mastered the technic. Can you please share your secrets?? Backdrops, poses, stances, angles, etc... and Let's see your work!!

Thanks!!

[patz]

Weelll, "I" use a camera. BADA BUMP!

Then I pick nice back drops, use a tripod. Different distances, take a ton of pics, pick the best. Nekkid wimmen draped over the hood usually help.

At least they don't hurt.

[wildthing]

Taking pictures of my car

[bhmkv]

I love a nice 1/4 photo.

[Justin@Athens]

A parking garage at night under fluorescent lights does wonders for even the most hack photographer like myself.

Phone picture too!

[enzoducoing]

For the amateur photographer like me, I find that indoor diffused-natural or artificial light makes the best shots like old warehouses and such. Outdoor light is very tricky, I'd say avoid oped sunlight, cloud cover makes the car have less contrasted areas and show more detail. Also kneel down to the point that you can see the tires on back of the car, this is a technique used by many auto photographers and it gives you a view point that is different than eye height and just looks right. Also, don't focus the camera horizontal to the ground, specially in 3/4 shots, rotate the camera some 10 degrees to the side the headlights are pointing, you'll be surprised on the results.
MD

[spidklr]

As others have said, avoid harsh exterior light, like sun directly overhead. Hold the camera low rather than bringing it up to your height. Think about how much of the car fills the frame in relation to the surroundings and experiment with different compositions.

Also - try right after sunrise and/or right before sunset for "magic hour" light, where mother nature will give you a free boost of awesome by providing amazing light.

Personally, I like pictures of the ladies and pictures of cars, but never much got the appeal of combining them :-). They compete with one another. Distracting.

[Winter]

If you are shooting outdoors you'll usually (even with your phone) get better results at sunrise and sunset. It's possible to get great photos under the midday sun, but you'll want a real camera and know how to use it.

Softer sunlight, longer shadows, less glare are all helpful tools in the search for better images.

If you are really serious, see if there are any photo classes near you and pay attention to both post production and archiving processes. If you start out with an organized system for image archiving it's much easier when you want to find a specific shot a few years down the road.

Lightroom is relatively inexpensive software and can help with both editing and archiving. But is not your only choice.

Good luck!

[gliding_serpent]

A proper camera with good manual f stop control. So many modern cameras assume we all want a maximum focal depth. A narrow depth of focus can be a powerful visual tool.

[dzlndan]

Great suggestions! I forgot to mention my car is black with very new paint and a generous layer of clear coat. This also seems to be monkey wrench in the mix. I will have to try the less aggressive lighting approach maybe that will help.

[motofoto]

Most auto exposure cameras will overexpose a black car, it wants to make everything 18% grey, so underexpose a scene predominately filled with the car in most cases.

[tirwin]

A few years ago I started bringing my camera to local car shows. I had no idea how hard it is to photograph cars well. And every car is different. I find the 911 harder than average to properly photograph. If you have the wrong perspective is seems to artificially exaggerate some of the lines of the car to me. I guess what I'm saying is I suck at it.

One tip someone gave me is if you have an SLR camera, use a polarizing filter and a blue filter. The polarizing filter will help cut down on glare off the windows and reflections.

[RSBob]

Besides fluorescent lights bringing out the highlights, a stunning background to compliment the subject is in order.

[Scottc714]

Iphone.. having a good back drop helps.






my personal favorite

[wayne robson]

I find its better in cloudy not so sunny days,but always use the flash as well.
This was taken with just a lower price Panasonic Lumix small but has a Leica lens.

[GH85Carrera]

One way is to go somewhere like the Tail of the Dragon and then buy a photo of you driving your own car.

[Dpmulvan]

Shoot at the golden hour, use a reflector, don't have things like trees and telephone poles popping out of your subject matter, use the thirds rule, don't put the horizon right through the middle of your frame. Shoot both vertical and horizontal.Mix up your depth of field a bit. Expose for the shadows develop for the highlights. A pop up flash on a camera is basically useless for cars.

[GH85Carrera]

Another way is to go someplace pretty. This is 100% just a happy snap, no Photoshop work at all.







The best way, get in your car and drive it to somewhere interesting!

[yelcab1]

The best way is to hire a professional photographer. But short of that, there are things you can do.

1) go for the interesting details, keep it non-horizontal or non-vertical
2) low angle, wide lens
3) back away, wide lens, show the environment
4) go for panning the car in motion.