Static shots of my car - E30 M3
Discussion
I'm absolutely cack at automotive photography, so am probably not the best person to comment, but I'll give it a go anyway... 
I feel you probably could have done with bracketing the first shot, and then doing some Photoshoppery to blend the sky and the foreground together. Shooting into the sun has resulted in an imbalanced image IMO. The bottom right third of the image is rather bland as well, though I don't know what could have been done about this.
The light in the last couple is excellent, but I feel your composition (especially in the final shot) has let it down a bit. I love the light in the final shot, but the tree sticking out of the boot takes the eye away from the car and is distracting. The direction of the clouds also suggest that the horizon wasn't entirely straight when you took the shot.
Of the three, the second is my favourite. I like that image quite a lot
I feel you probably could have done with bracketing the first shot, and then doing some Photoshoppery to blend the sky and the foreground together. Shooting into the sun has resulted in an imbalanced image IMO. The bottom right third of the image is rather bland as well, though I don't know what could have been done about this.
The light in the last couple is excellent, but I feel your composition (especially in the final shot) has let it down a bit. I love the light in the final shot, but the tree sticking out of the boot takes the eye away from the car and is distracting. The direction of the clouds also suggest that the horizon wasn't entirely straight when you took the shot.
Of the three, the second is my favourite. I like that image quite a lot
I don't know a lot full stop but here are my layman views
my favourite is the last one, the first one looks like the lense was dirty? I like the concept of the second one a lot. but as it is a car shot, I'd prefer more of the car, the way the boot is distorted and kind of pushed to the side, if it was slightly nearer the centre it'd be my favourite. In addition to the other things already said about the last one, I'm not sure about the comparative lack of reflection in the rear quarter of the car, in my opinion it makes it quite dull compared to the rest.
Nice car BTW!
but here are my layman views my favourite is the last one, the first one looks like the lense was dirty? I like the concept of the second one a lot. but as it is a car shot, I'd prefer more of the car, the way the boot is distorted and kind of pushed to the side, if it was slightly nearer the centre it'd be my favourite. In addition to the other things already said about the last one, I'm not sure about the comparative lack of reflection in the rear quarter of the car, in my opinion it makes it quite dull compared to the rest.
Nice car BTW!
Edited by beyond rational on Tuesday 3rd October 00:35
My (amateurish) 2p:-
#1 would have benefitted from an ND Grad filter, a tripod, and waiting another couple of mins for the sun to JUST hide behind the hill.
#3 is nice, but agreed on the clouds comment.
Trouble with a black car at sunset is you're always in danger of under-exposure. IMHO, if the paintwork is polished enough, better to go for a daylight shot with some reflection in the paintwork (as in the Tiv/Elise shot on the car photo thread), although obviously doesn't have to be another car...landscape or a colourful feature just in/out of shot would be interesting.
#1 would have benefitted from an ND Grad filter, a tripod, and waiting another couple of mins for the sun to JUST hide behind the hill.
#3 is nice, but agreed on the clouds comment.
Trouble with a black car at sunset is you're always in danger of under-exposure. IMHO, if the paintwork is polished enough, better to go for a daylight shot with some reflection in the paintwork (as in the Tiv/Elise shot on the car photo thread), although obviously doesn't have to be another car...landscape or a colourful feature just in/out of shot would be interesting.
Thanks for the comments and advice chaps.
This car photography lark is not easy is it.
I can see what you mean about the first shot being a bit unbalanced. I did actually use a ND4 grad and the camera was on a tripod but maybe the sun was still just too strong. I like it though but also understand that it may not be the ideal automotive shot. Andy, I agree about the bottom right hand corner too. Poor positioning of the car maybe.
The second shot is good but using a really wide angle lense has caused the rear end of the car to appear to have fallen over and the front wheels would probably have benefitted from being turned the other way. I really like the setting though and liked the sun coming through the trees.
I can see what you mean about the tree in the third shot. That just isn't something that I had really thought about from a negative point of view. Now you've said that it looks like it is grwoing out of the back I can't see it any other way. As far as I can remember, the camera was pretty much horizontal so not sure about the clouds. Something else to remember though.
If anyone else has anything to add I'm more than happy to hear it as learning through constructive criticism is the best way I think
This car photography lark is not easy is it.
I can see what you mean about the first shot being a bit unbalanced. I did actually use a ND4 grad and the camera was on a tripod but maybe the sun was still just too strong. I like it though but also understand that it may not be the ideal automotive shot. Andy, I agree about the bottom right hand corner too. Poor positioning of the car maybe.
The second shot is good but using a really wide angle lense has caused the rear end of the car to appear to have fallen over and the front wheels would probably have benefitted from being turned the other way. I really like the setting though and liked the sun coming through the trees.
I can see what you mean about the tree in the third shot. That just isn't something that I had really thought about from a negative point of view. Now you've said that it looks like it is grwoing out of the back I can't see it any other way. As far as I can remember, the camera was pretty much horizontal so not sure about the clouds. Something else to remember though.
If anyone else has anything to add I'm more than happy to hear it as learning through constructive criticism is the best way I think
An idea I had for the second shot was to wait a little longer for the sun to go down, but not too long that you didn't have some rays coming through the trees.
I'd have then turned the car around so that we see the rear 3/4 - I'm guessing the car would then be pointing towards the entry/exit which the current shot hides - and the cars (red) lights which would be illuminated.
I'm not too good at putting it into words, but I hope you catch my drift. Something which may be worth trying if you're at that spot again?
I'd have then turned the car around so that we see the rear 3/4 - I'm guessing the car would then be pointing towards the entry/exit which the current shot hides - and the cars (red) lights which would be illuminated.
I'm not too good at putting it into words, but I hope you catch my drift. Something which may be worth trying if you're at that spot again?
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