Thursday 29th April 2010

PH Photography Sessions 2010

The April session was a great success; see the results and get booked onto a future event.

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Photo taken by PHer Byker28i on the day

Last weekend was the first of PistonHeads' Studio Photography sessions, held at the LAT studios in Teddington, where 10 PHers joined us to learn from LAT pro-snapper Pete Spinney how to shoot a car in the studio.

At 9.00am we opened up the studio to the guests and were greeted with a fine display of PH metal in the car park, gleaming in the sunshine of what was to be the hottest day of the year (so far). Waiting in the studio was a rather lovely 997 Carrera supplied by Porsche UK that was to be the subject for our intensive learning session under the guidance of Spinney.

During the morning we learned how lighting can make all the diiference as we lit the car in stages before adding colour and effects to get the final shot. Interaction played a big part and everyone had a go at moving and adjusting the lights helping us to gain a better understanding for the afternoon session. Pete also encouraged us to make suggestions as to how the shot could be improved as the morning progressed; far from being preached to we all played a part.

Timelapse Video from the April Session

PHers pose at the first ever studio session

After lunch we had time to get five of the PHers cars in the studio, which gave a completely new challenge as we worked out how to light everything from a large Audi S5 to a tiny ex-Academy Caterham racing car. The results really do speak for themselves and are a credit to the hard work put in by all those who attended. Pete also talked through post-production techniques on the Mac for those that wanted to learn more about post-shoot fettling.

We are running these sessions once a month throughout the year, priced at £150 per person for a 09.30-17.00 day, with food and drink included in the price.

The May and July sessions are already fully booked but we have space available on the following dates:

21st August session - Sold Out

25th September session - Almost Sold Out

Taking reservations for October

Please e-mail me to reserve your place on any of these sesssions.

View feedback from the April session here.

The LAT studio is based in Teddington, Middlesex.

[Garlick]

Great little video that

Thanks again to all of you who came along, and I look forward to meeting more of you throughout the year.

[mybrainhurts]

By 'eck...

Some energy charging about there...

What were they on..? Weetabix..?

[Luke.]

There's something of the Lib Dems about that photo

[Motown Junk]

OMG

Is that what we look like?

No wonder nobody will sit near us at dinner parties

[XJR500bhp]

Wow, never knew TVR's couldn't leave oil patches on the floor! Or was that why it got painted last thing.

[Beefmeister]

Anyone else reminded of that Lib Dem photo?








edit: apparently so:

Luke. said:

There's something of the Lib Dems about that photo

That'll teach me not to read the previous posts....

Edited by Beefmeister on Wednesday 28th April 18:35

[mrdemon]

I am not being funny but the pics are not that great ;-(

the car look dull( like a 20 year old red vauxhall been in the sun to long) and 2nd hand, and the shadows are nasty.

Edited by mrdemon on Wednesday 28th April 18:32

[BBS-LM]

My god that a bad pic.

[deltaevo16]

If that's the best shot of the day, I hate to think what the worst looked like.

[rknevitt]

needs the benny hill music over the top http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg

[al1991]

Who's who in that picture then?

[Hoady]

BBS-LM said:

My god that a bad pic.

Not liking that. The photos in the feedback thread looked much better

[chrisjl]

BBS-LM said:

My god that a bad pic.

Indeed. I suspect some harsh post-production can take the blame for the awful over-saturated colours and the very artificial looking pure black shadows (how does the under-side of a tyre have better illumination than the floor under and immediately around the car?).

[AcidReflux]

Luke. said:

There's something of the Lib Dems about that photo

(and I'm in it!)

[Garlick]

I actually see what you mean. I'll check with Spinney that he hasn't used the wrong pic tomorrow as I certainly saw great shots on his mac during the session.

Check the original thread for the PHers pics in the meantime, but I assure you that he knows his stuff and also knows how to teach.

I probably used the wrong pic......

[AcidReflux]

Garlick said:

I'll check with Spinney that he hasn't used the wrong pic tomorrow as I certainly saw great shots on his mac during the session.

If he's used to post-processing for print then he may have sent you CMYK images instead of RGB. That can cause some weirdness.

[Garlick]

[James Junior 14]

I think these days are an inspired idea.

I delight in taking pics of cars and have been complimented before on pics I have done, but am a total amateur doing so only on an iPhone and my crappy digital camera!

I don't even have a proper camera.

I would love to do one of these days. What sort of basic kit do you need and can anyone recommend a good camera to purchase to get me started?

[Kev 180iE]

You don't need anything spectacular to enjoy the day and get some decent photos. We had everything from a compact to pro DSLR's being used on the day.

But that said i'd recommend at least an entry level DSLR, that's what i had and i was very pleased with the results.

[Bob_Buttons]

Don't forget Pete had organised several Canon SLR's for the day on tripods so even if you don't have an SLR of your own you can still enjoy the day - just take a couple of compact flash memory cards and use one of the supplied cameras