Tips from a Pro, MINI Calendar

Discussion in 'Photos and Video' started by caseydog, Jul 4, 2015.

  1. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    I am a professional automotive photographer, and I have been chatting with Nathan about helping forum members take great photos of their cars. You can see some of my work at Glenn Zanotti Portfolios .

    To get the ball rolling, I figured I would go with a narrow focus -- The Motoring Alliance calendar for 2016. Now is the time to take pictures of your MINI for the 2016 calendar. Don't wait to the last minute (I guess that is tip number one).

    Please ask your questions in this thread, and not by PM, so other people with the same questions can get answers at the same time. By all means, post photos that you are not completely happy with.

    BTW, I shoot with a $6,000 camera on the job, which I doubt many of you have. No problem. Most of the tips I can pass along to you have nothing to do with how expensive your camera is. I'm more interested in helping you get the best results with what you have.

    CD
     
  2. TG.

    TG. Active Member

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    This is great! I'm looking forward to participating to this thread :Thumbsup:
     
  3. phydeaux

    phydeaux New Member

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    Always looking for more tips and tricks.
     
  4. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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  5. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    Just a repeat of tip number one -- don't wait until the last minute.

    Most calendars you see in stores are actually printed by August. I'm guessing that Nathan would love to have the 2016 calendar wrapped up in August.

    Now is the time to take your 2016 calendar photos.
     
  6. phydeaux

    phydeaux New Member

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    OK, let's start this off with a pretty generic question. I'm going to a car show in a couple weeks. What can I do with my consumer grade DSLR to get photos that are more than just a snapshot? Can you give, say, three tips that any Joe MINI Owner can use to get out of the snapshot rut? Let's gear this toward someone that knows enough about their camera to use more than just the Auto setting for everything. ;)
     
  7. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
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    ^^^ A creative eye and imagination helps, even with an iPhone...
     
  8. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    There is a very big difference in shooting at car shows, and shooting staged shots of your car for a calendar. You can't choose when and where to shoot car show cars. If you want "car" photos without people in them, good luck. I don't even try. I just work with what I have, and try to get shots where the people are not blocking the car, or doing something stupid, like scratching their butts. A shot of, say, a father and son admiring a car can actually make a good photo.

    Biggest tip, don't shoot every car at one height. Some cars look great shot from down low, others do not. MINIs look good from a low angle, IMO. Get close, back up, shoot high and low. My camera was sitting on the ground for this shot...

    [​IMG]


    As for "Auto setting," I use Aperture Priority Automatic mode most of the time. I like to choose my aperture and let the camera choose the shutter speed. Quite often shooting for publication, I want to have a sharp shot of the car, but want the background to be out of focus. This makes the car the star of the shot. Shooting with a long-ish lens with the Aperture set between f4 to f5.6, I can get that effect. Here is a sample.

    [​IMG]

    For other shots, like interiors, I use a shorter lens set to f8, for ultimate sharpness throughout the image.

    Choosing your aperture is most important. As long as you shutter speed doesn't get too slow, and the subject isn't moving, the shutter speed doesn't matter.
     
  9. phydeaux

    phydeaux New Member

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    So it might be safe to say, be aware of your surroundings, and take the blinders off? ;)

    Think outside of the box, get low, get high (yeah, yeah, WA state, insert joke here...). Remember that you can always see the same angle when you just stand there, so make it stand out somehow.

    Great advice, all of it. Hoping this sparks some thoughts or discussion.

    What about post processing? How much do you use, and what kinds of post processing do you most often go to? With that question, I'm thinking color correction, filtering, etc., not necessarily what you use to do the post processing, though that might be interesting, too.

    I suppose, along the lines of filters, how much do you use on-camera filters, like ND or polarizers?
     
  10. phydeaux

    phydeaux New Member

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    Came across this one today. Timely, I think, with this thread.

    iPhone Car Photos
     
  11. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    Phydeaux, you got it. If you have a zoom lens or two, try shooting the cars multiple ways, with some close, some up high, some down low... you get it.

    And yes, learn to shoot with people at car shows. You can't realistically expect everyone to move away so you can take your pictures. Get ready to shoot, so you can jump when opportunity knocks.

    As for post processing, I don't want to go too deep in this thread (perhaps another thread later), but I run every shot I take through Photoshop.

    I shoot everything in RAW format. I also look at the histogram when I preview my shots on the back of my camera. The histogram is a graphic representation of your image's exposure (another reason I prefer digital to film). In many cases, my shadow areas will be too low, while at the same time, my highlights are a little blown out. Back in the day with film, you were screwed. But, with digital, you can bring back the shadow details AND recover highlights using Adobe Camera Raw, which is part of Photoshop and Lightroom. Digital sensors have WAY more "latitude" than film did.

    My standard process is this:

    I run every shot through Adobe Camera Raw and use the "Recovery" and "Fill Light: functions to recover my highlights and bring up my shadow details. Then I open the image in Photoshop.

    In Photoshop, I adjust my levels and color balance as needed -- if needed.

    I also use the Smart Sharpen feature. Even on a camera like mine, digital images are never quite as sharp as I would like them to be. I think most photographers would agree. So, I sharpen them by just a little.


    Search "histogram" and "Adobe Camera Raw" in Google or YouTube if you want to learn more about these two very useful tools.
     
  12. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    #12 fishmonger, Jul 15, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2015
    This post is edited due to OP calling me a Troll and mixing up all kinds of other insults between me and another responder:

    To repeat what was said by Tata Seva:

    Photography is complex art and trade. I tried to add to discussion, but I was instructed "not to be troll and start my own tread". No problem.

    Over and out!
     
  13. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I never sharpen my images - if they are technically done right, you don't need that stuff unless you want to really pump up detail beyond real, especially for tiny screen display. For each resolution, you do need a different sharpen approach anyway, so I only sharpen for print once I know what size I'll be printing, and then only very very carefully. It's mostly a hack to salvage partially out of focus areas (I use the Nik filters for that and only with a mask where needed).
     
  14. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    For those of you who don't have the cash to throw down on a $2,000 "hobby camera," I'll keep the focus of my posts in this thread on how YOU can get the best results from the camera that YOU have.

    If fishmonger wants to share his vast knowledge of advanced techniques for advanced photographers, he can certainly start a thread on that.

    My theory on camera gear is to use the best equipment that you can afford, and justify buying. So, let's work with what you've got -- and don't get intimidated by people who tell you what you CAN'T do with your cameras.

    CD
     
  15. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Or maybe it's just what you are taking a picture of because everyone knows an R53 looks the best. :lol:
     
  16. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    I'd like to expand on something I posted earlier --- drawing attention to your car by throwing surroundings out of focus.

    Below is a very simple shot of an AC Cobra in a park just before sunset. The car was in shade, but the trees and brush in the background were in full sun.

    The car was about 50-75 yards in front of the trees and brush, and I was about 50 yards in front of the car, shooting with a 70-200 zoom at 185mm. I had the camera in aperture priority mode, and the aperture set at f5.6.

    Now, if you don't have a long lens, don't worry. You can use a shorter lens, but you will have to place the car farther away from the background. My "personal" camera is a 500-buck Nikon with a "kit" 18-55 lens. To do this shot with that camera, I would want to get that car at least twice as far in front of the trees and brush, if possible. I'd still go with an aperture of about f5.6.

    If you can't set your aperture manually, try to "trick" the camera to open up the aperture by setting it to the lowest ISO (light sensitivity) and shoot near sunrise or sunset, like I did for this one. With a low ISO setting, and lower light, the camera should pick a pretty large aperture for you.

    [​IMG]

    BTW, sunrise and sunset are great times to shoot many cars, especially darker, metallic colors. What happens is that the sky becomes your light source, instead of the sun itself. That's how you get those nice, soft highlights like you see on the hood of the Cobra. More on that later.

    CD
     
  17. DneprDave

    DneprDave Well-Known Member
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    That's an R53!? Gosh, they all look the same to me!
     
  18. Tata Steva

    Tata Steva MINI of the Month - September 2010

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    #18 Tata Steva, Jul 15, 2015
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    This post is edited due to OP "intervention".

    Photography is complex art and trade. I tried to add to discussion, but I was instructed "not to be troll and start my own tread". No problem.

    Over and out!
     
  19. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    #19 caseydog, Jul 15, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2015
    I don't agree with much of your post, but agree 100-percent with this part. When life deals you lemons, make lemonade. Make the people part of the "story." Turn a negative into a positive.

    Actually, when I am hired to photograph car shows and concours, they want me to include people. That is a challenge for me, because I shoot "things," and clench up a bit when asked to shoot people. I've actually posed people looking at cars. Dads and cute kids are the best! Who doesn't like a dad and cute kid photo? Add a cool car, and you can't lose.

    This could also work into calendar photos. I'm suddenly picturing in my mind a picnic setting, with a MINI included. Adding a human element could be pretty awesome.

    CD
     
  20. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    This thread seemed like a good idea at the time. DOH!
     

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