Guide to taking better car photographs

[sameerrao]

While surfing through the M5 board, I came across this cool post that offers some tips on how to take better photographs of your cars and landscapes and so on.

Take a look at this
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13078

The 996 TT pics are simply stunning... and you can see a post by our very own bobafett - the man gets around...

and the photog's personal site

http://www.heumann.com

[budagboy2]

this is very useful considering i suck at taking pictures

[sameerrao]

Me too.

I belong to the school of "switch camera on ... move to automatic ... pre-select best shot selector ... squint ... focus ... click ... pray that picture came correctly"

[evoWalo]

Most of the info are rudementary manual photography. Just wish I had more lens & proper filters. ;)

[budagboy2]

I tested out switching out the aperature and stuff to make it blurry, really cool would have never known how to do that.
A question for all the veteran camera guys, what shutter speed to you recomend? When i was taking pictures of my hand close up the background would be black when the shutter speed was at like 250, when is took the same type of pic but the shutter was at about 5 and i could see the background, so what speed do you guys recomend?

[BADMIHAI]

Meh. Those are just the basics.

[SilviaEvo]

i just pray they look good

[TT]

Very nice pics indeed :D and of course having a tripod with you for such pics is vital :D

[mindgam3]

Some great tips there! I'm gonna have to get out and about more with my camera

[SandyDingos]

Meh. Those are just the basics.

Agreed, if you a seriously into photography I highly suggest taking some type of course on it. If you lucky enough to still be in High School or College take one of those classes as an elective. I did, and it really helps give you a better grasp on taking quality photographs and will teach you how to use your camera well.
Good article though for beginners.

[TT]

BTW, beginners with load of money to spend on a camera that can go up to F22!! Hell my Pro 1 (wich ain't cheap at all LOL) has a max of 8!

[SDK2003]

Mostly basic stuff there

My lenses go up to F36 :)

[TT]

LOL dude you have professional cameras and lenses :D the average digicam can't even come close to those values :D

[oscargarza88]

wow that greg guy really has a talent!
but who is he i read a bit soemthing abput a national geographic or something....
and btw i need a good camera to do this... i really dont think i can do this with my current camera..., or can u...? where do u change that shutter speed and all that? i have a kodak dx3900, i dont think i can mess around with it... right

[TT]

where do u change that shutter speed and all that?


Ever heard about "user manual"? :D

[SDK2003]

yeah - RTFM :D

[oscargarza88]

where do u change that shutter speed and all that?


Ever heard about "user manual"? :D
:oops:
hahaha
but i dont think i have it...
they gave the camera to my dad so he probobly just threw it away...

*edit*
i found it on the interet and i am currently "experimenting" with these functions will post pics if they turn out good :D

[BADMIHAI]

BTW, beginners with load of money to spend on a camera that can go up to F22!! Hell my Pro 1 (wich ain't cheap at all LOL) has a max of 8!

I still use a film SLR and it goes up to f27.

[oscargarza88]

ive been tryin to get some very cool pics using all this stuff and i dont htink i did very good cause in the manual it doesnt explain very vood whats happening, like with the shutter speed what exactly is the effect on the pic by leaving it open more time if the object doesnt move?, all ive notices is that the more open the more light shows up in the pic,
is there some page like dedicated to learn all this stuff?
this was the best pic i could get by using these things:
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/4788/Picture312.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture312.jpg)
and this happened when i left the shutter open and i dint know this was going to happen:
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/8937/Picture313.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture313.jpg)
and most of my pics turned out like this or worse..
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1485/Picture314.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture314.jpg)
but im willing ot learn i just hopw i had a better camera

[68-998]

The simple things to remember when taking photos of cars are:

1. Put some effort into it, don't just stand there and take a photo. Cars look heaps better when shot from down low or up high.

2. If possible, take the photo with the sun behind you. This will generally give you the best lighting conditions and eliminate shadows. The best times to shoot are at dawn or dusk when the sun is low.

3. Pick a nice background! The background needs to suit the car, but not be too distracting. Lines on the road in a parking lot can ruin the shot. Cars shot on grass can look abandoned. If there are people around, try and wait till they are out of the way.

[TT]

ive been tryin to get some very cool pics using all this stuff and i dont htink i did very good cause in the manual it doesnt explain very vood whats happening, like with the shutter speed what exactly is the effect on the pic by leaving it open more time if the object doesnt move?, all ive notices is that the more open the more light shows up in the pic,
is there some page like dedicated to learn all this stuff?
this was the best pic i could get by using these things:
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/4788/Picture312.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture312.jpg)
and this happened when i left the shutter open and i dint know this was going to happen:
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/8937/Picture313.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture313.jpg)
and most of my pics turned out like this or worse..
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1485/Picture314.th.jpg (http://img27.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img27&image=Picture314.jpg)
but im willing ot learn i just hopw i had a better camera

The problem with pics shot inside is the light... to take really good pics you need to set up something (not that expensive.. for small object s a small light tent should do :)