Starting out photographing cars

[Calan]

I've recently been trying to get better at car photography - most of my photos come out looking like snapshots at best.

How did you guys get started/improve? Are there any tips you could give me? I read a lot of car blogs that feature good photography, but when I'm actually out with a car in front of me I'm consistently disappointed with my pictures.

Here's what I've got to work with:
Canon Rebel XSi
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (with a polarizer)
50mm f/1.8

[Kielan]

Just keep shooting, the more you shoot the better your pictures will be.

[Bennee]

+1 ^

[trism]

Dont expect the pics you take to look like the ones you see on the internet straight off the camera. Dont forget that post processing is done to A LOT of the epic pics you see. Things like colour correction etc are all done.

[Calan]

Here's one of my favorites so far, but I still don't think it's "great". Any ideas what I could do better/differently for this type of shot?

[haugli]

Go more crazy with perspective, lie on the ground or stand on a tall object. Use a tripod and shoot long exposures like 3 sec, 10 sec ++ and spend some time with it in Photoshop afterwards to make the colors stand out.

[Calan]

Go more crazy with perspective, lie on the ground or stand on a tall object. Use a tripod and shoot long exposures like 3 sec, 10 sec ++ and spend some time with it in Photoshop afterwards to make the colors stand out.

I do have a tripod, but wouldn't I need like a neutral density filter or fairly low light to avoid over-exposure at those sorts of exposure lengths? As it is, many of the reflections off the car were over-exposed - would I need to do bracketing/multiple exposures? I'll try fiddling more in Photoshop next time - I figured it'd be best to keep things looking fairly realistic.

When I was taking these, I tried some crouching/kneeling low to get more interesting perspectives, but about the best that came out of that was this:

[dopeb6]

i would try some new locations ( bridges, unpaved trails, warehouses, ect.)

[CasperH]

Look.

Seriously, go on the interwebs, find your 5 favourite photos and try to make the same photo. Go home, post-process, determine where you failed and try again. And again. And again. You will succeed.

[MR.BOOM]

+ 3 ^

[RXTurner21]

Try laying on the ground and angle up. or maybe find some industrial park/random nature area for cool backgrounds. I've even done some behind a meijer. you can do some cool backgrounds and also they have lots of pallets stacked for higher angles or loading ramps.

Some of my examples .... Not good photography but an example of different angles(look at the Dark blue focus sedan that was done in a Meijer parking lot)

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20266

[Bracknaphobia]

Cars are more interesting at "their level." Get down on the ground, and frame your shots a little better. Have a picture in mind before you take it, that will allow you to better frame your subject.

For example, in your shot above, you cut out the bottom of the front tire, bumper, and part of the headlight. The photo would look more "complete" if all of those things were not cut, and part of the frame. I hope that makes sense. Really though, just keep shooting. Practice makes permanent.

[Jasper Ash]

I agree with the above comments. Keep shooting. You will get better over time if you keep at it. You have enough good gear to make magic. Play around with settings. Experiment. Try things you haven't tried before. And I strongly agree with the "angles" comment. Shoot down low, shoot up high. Shoot from different sides and angles. Up close, far away. Anything that is different from the average perspective of a car. (I don't mean JDM angles).

[driftkae]

this:


all taken using an iPhone 4. do lemme know if y'all one a thread on this E92

[driftkae]

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