Car photography advice and examples?

[SlimJ]

Hi,

I'm looking at doing a little car photography for a couple of friends in the near future, the cars are a Porsche 911 and Clio V6, probably not at the same time though, both black. I don't want the shots to be snap shots such as those seen in Autotrader, more arty, something that captures the character, something that I can have in my portfolio.

I'm trying to think of a range of shots for both these cars so examples would be fantastic. Seen Matt Watkinsons work which is great and a help, also seen the tutorial hes done As for locations, I'm not sure what suits these cars nicely, perhaps a little industrial? For weather I'm thinking when its cloudy, the sun may make things a little difficult, not quite sure.

Any tips, advice or examples will be lurvly.

Cheers guys.

[V6GTO]

www.mattwatkinson.com/portfolio/

Our very own "Gravy"

Martin.

[Famous Graham]

Your comprehension skills are excelling themselves again, Martin

[nick_bbb]

Famous Graham said:

Your comprehension skills are excelling themselves again, Martin

I'd say if you've read Matt's tutorial and looked at photos in magazines etc then get out there and do it! Try and bring a bit of your own style into it as well rather than just copy what's out there.

For what it's worth there are a few car photos on my site

www.grantgb.com

[trackdemon]

Black cars can be a right pain in the chuff to photograph in broad sunlight, as usual you'll find the best light for stills at the start & end of the day so tripod essential. Gravyguide covers everything else! (Still waiting for next edition BTW Matt...)

[V6GTO]

Famous Graham said:

Your comprehension skills are excelling themselves again, Martin

Oops...had just got out of bed and obviously didn't take it all in

M.

Edited by V6GTO on Tuesday 20th March 13:34

[jackgta]

Heres a thread I started the other day about photographing black cars, might be something in there to help you out!

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=366990&f=109&h=0

[SlimJ]

Cheers for the tips and links to other posts

I'd probably try not to do any shooting during sunlight, cloud conditions will be far better I feel. I can see a lot of B&W being used, think it would suit both cars quite well with the right location.

Is there any filters that would be useful? I know a poloriser would be useful for cutting down on reflection and glare, but are there any others?

I'll probably try using my wideangle Sigma 10-20mm for a few images, see how they turn out, may get some nice effects but have a Tamrom 28-75mm 2.8 for general shots, should help with DOF also.

Like your photos Nick_bbb, very nice

Cheers
James

[V6GTO]

My personal favorite of a black car...in the good image I've cloned out all that nasty chewing gum in the foreground.



Martin.

Edited by V6GTO on Wednesday 21st March 10:58

[Biker.ie]

is that a toy car

[V6GTO]

Biker.ie said:

is that a toy car

No...that's probably one of the biggest cars you'll ever see I played around with it a bit in Photoshop...

Martin.

Edited by V6GTO on Thursday 22 March 15:15

[cossiemetro]

i like that i'm going to try a pic like that with the car in focus and an out of focus rear

[poah]

just a circular polorizer. if you get one to fit your 10-22 you can get a stepping ring to fit it onto your 28-75

SlimJ said:

Cheers for the tips and links to other posts

I'd probably try not to do any shooting during sunlight, cloud conditions will be far better I feel. I can see a lot of B&W being used, think it would suit both cars quite well with the right location.

Is there any filters that would be useful? I know a poloriser would be useful for cutting down on reflection and glare, but are there any others?

I'll probably try using my wideangle Sigma 10-20mm for a few images, see how they turn out, may get some nice effects but have a Tamrom 28-75mm 2.8 for general shots, should help with DOF also.

Like your photos Nick_bbb, very nice

Cheers
James