Photo critique!
Discussion
First comment - where's one of my car?? 
Second comment - great pics Steve.
There's lots of pics, but my initial thoughts are:
1) The 4th one down (360 in motion) is my favourite action pic - in my view, it's got the best combination of blur, positioning and colour. The two Lambos don't really come out as well I think, mainly because black and grey/silver don't have as much impact as the red Ferrari (a problem I've found trying to photograph my car, especially when it's not a particularly bright day)
2) The static pics on the runway are good, but I think it may have been interesting to position them differently to use the black tar lines in the runway to lead the viewer's eye into the photo. Also the two cars in the background in the 2nd one down are a bit distracting - nothing a bit of Photoshopping couldn't sort out though I imagine.
3) Side on shot of the Diablo is very good, but would have been better with a less washed out sky - maybe look into using a graduated filter or taking two shots, exposing for sky and the car, then merging? There may even be enough info in the picture to tweak it out using Photoshop anyway - may be worth a play?
4) The 360CS shot is good too, but would have been improved slightly in my view by using a slightly smaller apperture to get more of the car in focus, and re-positioning the shot to get rid of the white thing in the background (or just photoshop it out). Possibly moving the yellow badge slightly to the right would have worked well as well.
I just wish I'd spent more time snapping - seeing great photos like yours always makes me want to grab my camera!
Second comment - great pics Steve.
There's lots of pics, but my initial thoughts are:
1) The 4th one down (360 in motion) is my favourite action pic - in my view, it's got the best combination of blur, positioning and colour. The two Lambos don't really come out as well I think, mainly because black and grey/silver don't have as much impact as the red Ferrari (a problem I've found trying to photograph my car, especially when it's not a particularly bright day)
2) The static pics on the runway are good, but I think it may have been interesting to position them differently to use the black tar lines in the runway to lead the viewer's eye into the photo. Also the two cars in the background in the 2nd one down are a bit distracting - nothing a bit of Photoshopping couldn't sort out though I imagine.
3) Side on shot of the Diablo is very good, but would have been better with a less washed out sky - maybe look into using a graduated filter or taking two shots, exposing for sky and the car, then merging? There may even be enough info in the picture to tweak it out using Photoshop anyway - may be worth a play?
4) The 360CS shot is good too, but would have been improved slightly in my view by using a slightly smaller apperture to get more of the car in focus, and re-positioning the shot to get rid of the white thing in the background (or just photoshop it out). Possibly moving the yellow badge slightly to the right would have worked well as well.
I just wish I'd spent more time snapping - seeing great photos like yours always makes me want to grab my camera!
Blimey, too many to judge - but first impressions (all IMHO of course):
Rear view of Ferrari - light is at wrong end of car.
Vertical shot - good, nice dramatic composition and sky, just needs a bit of cropping to foreground.
Panning shots - not quite there - try tracking the car for longer and use a slightly faster shutter speed. The last one looks good though.
Close-up with Ferrari badge shows nice use of DOF. Similarly the low-down shot shows you're experimenting with camera position, which is good. A wide-angle lens is always usful for extra drama.
Promising stuff - you only learn by trying things and seeing what works.
Rear view of Ferrari - light is at wrong end of car.
Vertical shot - good, nice dramatic composition and sky, just needs a bit of cropping to foreground.
Panning shots - not quite there - try tracking the car for longer and use a slightly faster shutter speed. The last one looks good though.
Close-up with Ferrari badge shows nice use of DOF. Similarly the low-down shot shows you're experimenting with camera position, which is good. A wide-angle lens is always usful for extra drama.
Promising stuff - you only learn by trying things and seeing what works.
re b&w. If you just convert straight from colour the contrast and levels tend to get messed up. My recent picture of the ferrari modena: www.gravynet.com/images/photos/dd2a.jpg was in colour: www.gravynet.com/images/photos/dd5a.jpg
In photoshop i changed the mode to greyscale, then duotone, then selected a dark blue and light yellow as the two inks and went from there. I find b&w too harsh. If you dont have photoshop or want a little more info about how to do this adjustment, drop me an email and ill help if i can.
Cracking shots....love the panning ones...that is a bloody hard art to master. Mine are so hit and miss. One tip that I have for that type of photo is to mess around with a fairly slow shutter (1/30th) and then use a rear curtain sync flash if you can....this generally blurs the photo somewhat, but keeps the edges of the cars sharp to a degree....
They say a picture speaks a thousand words - so have a look at the Tuscan here for a better idea of what I am on about (follow the Bruntingthorpe link)
www.geocities.com/justincarrick
They say a picture speaks a thousand words - so have a look at the Tuscan here for a better idea of what I am on about (follow the Bruntingthorpe link)
www.geocities.com/justincarrick
yellowmr2 said:
One tip that I have for that type of photo is to mess around with a fairly slow shutter (1/30th)
...www.geocities.com/justincarrick.com
Assuming he's using a long lens, I'd go for 1/125 sec - that'll give plenty of blur if the car's going past at 100mph. I think 1/30th would be too wobbly. Not sure what flash from 30 yards+ in full daylight is going to achieve either, though I stand to be enlightened!
NB your site has exceeded its data allowance!
trackdemon said:
I like this one, but on a technical note, the reflections are too strong - try using a polariser in situations like this to reduce/remove the reflections.
Good effort - panning shots are very difficult. With regards to shutter speed, it depends on a lot of factors - the focal length you are using, the speed of the car, and the distance that you are standing from the car. For example at Spa I took some nice ones as people came around the hairpin near the pits (can't remember the name), and because the cars were going slowly, and were close, and I was using a focal length of 20mm, I used a speed of about 1/100th. This gives quite an arty product, as only a part of the car is sharp, the rest is blurred. On the other hand, at Bedford, on the pit straight, you have to use a long focal length (300mm ish), and the cars are going pretty fast, so for a decent hit rate I find about 1/250 or even 1/320 works well. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can experiment and see what works!
I like this one, except the background is distracting. Maybe you could have changed the angle slightly so that the back of the car filled up all or nearly all of the frame?
Again, this one is really good. To improve I would use a fill in flash to lighten up the car, and also pray for the sky to be slightly more interesting - fluffy clouds or something like that.
The 1/30th had some interesting results. Slow sync flash just sharpened the edges and gave a nice burst of light on what was otherwise a very flat day.
I generally use 125th for panning...but was merely suggesting a technique.
If the bloody site ever comes up...have a look and you'll see.
I generally use 125th for panning...but was merely suggesting a technique.
If the bloody site ever comes up...have a look and you'll see.
yellowmr2 said:
The 1/30th had some interesting results. Slow sync flash just sharpened the edges and gave a nice burst of light on what was otherwise a very flat day.
I generally use 125th for panning...but was merely suggesting a technique.
If the bloody site ever comes up...have a look and you'll see.
Oops - now it says 'Page not Found'.
I like the compositions of the first shot (looking down to the Ferrari's rear/read 3/4s) and the second last (murcielago on motorway) for the counterpoint btwn the lines in the concrete and the car in the former, and the sense of movement from the convergence of the white lines, wedge of the embankment in the latter and the sort of blocking motorway sign ... gives it a bit of tension.
>> Edited by ATG on Thursday 25th March 00:00
>> Edited by ATG on Thursday 25th March 00:00
http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00423257f00000017.jpg
any chance you could email me a full size one of this?
any chance you could email me a full size one of this?
Site is up and running now...
just to re-iterate
www.geocities.com/justincarrick
click on the brunters link.
nb. Flash was a 430EZ from about 10 yards...not 30 hence why I used it. Not all came out spot on- but did get some good effects
just to re-iterate
www.geocities.com/justincarrick
click on the brunters link.
nb. Flash was a 430EZ from about 10 yards...not 30 hence why I used it. Not all came out spot on- but did get some good effects
dcw@pr said:
Again, this one is really good. To improve I would use a fill in flash to lighten up the car, and also pray for the sky to be slightly more interesting - fluffy clouds or something like that.
I had a little play, I hope you don't mind
: 
A burst of Fill Flash, neutral gradient and levels in Photoshop. What do you think ?
http://pictures02.aol.co.uk/NASApp/ygp/GuestLogin?event=DirectView&shareInfo=1uXYxRKKm4T7HxtQoOKh0RQxAwCgGveeW4HoUqG0zPC%2fjFCnkV3ciA%3d%3d&pageName=AlbumViewFromEmails&locale=en_UK
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
http://pictures02.aol.co.uk/NASApp/ygp/GuestLogin?event=DirectView&shareInfo=1uXYxRKKm4T7HxtQoOKh0RQxAwCgGveeW4HoUqG0zPC%2fjFCnkV3ciA%3d%3d&pageName=AlbumViewFromEmails&locale=en_UK
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
http://pictures02.aol.co.uk/NASApp/ygp/GuestLogin?event=DirectView&shareInfo=1uXYxRKKm4T7HxtQoOKh0RQxAwCgGveeW4HoUqG0zPC%2fjFCnkV3ciA%3d%3d&pageName=AlbumViewFromEmails&locale=en_UK
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
Dunno why the bloody thing keeps bombinh out~Copy and paste this whole link....these are raw shots...no photoshop.
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