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How come when I take a pic of my car, it doesn't look like it does in real life? Is it a filter on the camera? Or is it because I see the subject with 2 eyes versus 1 lens?

What I mean is sometimes I'll look at my car from a bad ass position and take a pic. When I look at it on the computer, it doesn't look nearly as cool. Most of the pics of my car that I like are just random pics that turned out good.

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This has to do with 906 different things.

Foremost, people see things in three demension, while a camera lens does not. There are a number of things you can do to help your pics turn out better, and one of the best things to do is know how DOF (Depht of Feild) works, and how to use it.

When using a SLR Camera (Single Lens Reflex) the lens has a certain amount of "f" stops on it. This is the lenses aperture.

Aperture refers to the amount of light the lens lets in. The Larger the aperture, the more light gets in, the smaller the aperture, the less light gets in. The smaller the Aperture, the more DOF you will have.

Anyways, I think I'm getting a little too deep for this general matter. But, if you are using a point and shoot digital camera without manual controls...you wont get great pics no matter what you do.

The most import things imo to a great car photograph, is good Depth of Feild, Lens choice, lighting and angle.

If you want to know more, just let me know.

Jamie

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quote:

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Originally posted by EK9Hatch
This has to do with 906 different things.

Foremost, people see things in three demension, while a camera lens does not. There are a number of things you can do to help your pics turn out better, and one of the best things to do is know how DOF (Depht of Feild) works, and how to use it.

When using a SLR Camera (Single Lens Reflex) the lens has a certain amount of "f" stops on it. This is the lenses aperture.

Aperture refers to the amount of light the lens lets in. The Larger the aperture, the more light gets in, the smaller the aperture, the less light gets in. The smaller the Aperture, the more DOF you will have.

Anyways, I think I'm getting a little too deep for this general matter. But, if you are using a point and shoot digital camera without manual controls...you wont get great pics no matter what you do.

The most import things imo to a great car photograph, is good Depth of Feild, Lens choice, lighting and angle.

If you want to know more, just let me know.

Jamie

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Wanna take pics for me?

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quote:

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Originally posted by stealth
Wanna take pics for me?

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quote:

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Originally posted by EK9Hatch
Anyways, I think I'm getting a little too deep for this general matter. But, if you are using a point and shoot digital camera without manual controls...you wont get great pics no matter what you do.

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Not true at all. There are plenty of ways to get great shots of your car with a point and shoot camera. Using equipment as an excuse is the sign of a poor photographer. Just because you give someone a great camera doesn't mean their photos will instantly be better. I taught kids photography with little disposable cameras and you wouldn't believe what they came up with.

I took photos for several years on a 3mp point and shoot and they turned out just fine. Granted I do not use it anymore, I upgraded to a DSLR, but that is more to do with lens selection and instant shutter firing (two-second delay when trying to shoot action is ridiculous).

Edit: A couple of quick examples. These are a few shots I have in Photobucket from my old camera.

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Sorry about the rant there Louis.

What sort of photos are you attempting to take? You have to take into account that your eye is likely nothing like the lens on your camera. While your eyes give you over a 180 degree field of view, very few lenses will do the same. You need to concentrate on filling the frame of your camera with exactly what you envision. If you look through the viewfinder and it doesn't look right, then change it until it does. Get closer, move further away, get higher, get lower. Pay very close attention to your background. Nothing can ruin a photo faster than someone's head, or a lamp post, or an ugly sign poking out from behind it.

The one tip that people can usually get the most from when taking photos of cars is this. Think of how you would normally see a car as you are walking around a car show. Maybe 7 or 8 feet away at your normal standing height.

Now NEVER take a photo from that position. Why? Because that's exactly what you and everyone else walking around saw and that's BOOOORING! Make your photo different.

Like this. It seems baffling to me that someone could make such an exciting car look so generic.



Magazines, newspapers, websites, etc. have to make the most pedestrian cars look exciting and interesting every single day. It takes a lot more than a nice camera to do that.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ChromeDragon
Sorry about the rant there Louis.

What sort of photos are you attempting to take? You have to take into account that your eye is likely nothing like the lens on your camera. While your eyes give you over a 180 degree field of view, very few lenses will do the same. You need to concentrate on filling the frame of your camera with exactly what you envision. If you look through the viewfinder and it doesn't look right, then change it until it does. Get closer, move further away, get higher, get lower. Pay very close attention to your background. Nothing can ruin a photo faster than someone's head, or a lamp post, or an ugly sign poking out from behind it.

The one tip that people can usually get the most from when taking photos of cars is this. Think of how you would normally see a car as you are walking around a car show. Maybe 7 or 8 feet away at your normal standing height.

Now NEVER take a photo from that position. Why? Because that's exactly what you and everyone else walking around saw and that's BOOOORING! Make your photo different.

Like this. It seems baffling to me that someone could make such an exciting car look so generic.



Magazines, newspapers, websites, etc. have to make the most pedestrian cars look exciting and interesting every single day. It takes a lot more than a nice camera to do that.

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quote:

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Originally posted by 2HIGH~PSI


btw matt are you driving a beetle now?

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its ok its a turbo beetle

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Matt - I would like to know what camera you used for those photos?
And when I said you can't get good quality photographs from a cheap, point and shoot camera without manual controls, its because most of them have shitty metering systems. Without control of the cameras exposure, it doesn't matter how perfect the composition is. Angle, posistion, perspective, focus etc doesn't matter at all if the shot doesn't have proper exposure.

Thanks,

Jamie

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quote:

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Originally posted by Godzilla
its ok its a turbo beetle

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Like Matt said, good rule in good photography is don't take any picture at 5'11" (or however tall you are)

Get on the ground, climb a latter... do something.

For example this old hockey photo.



It's a great shot. Why? The majority of fans would not get an angle like this from the stands. You don't get amazing stills like this on TV either. It's also great because it captures a lot of action. Another good thing... it's tight. There is no unecessary background that could be cropped out.

Now this photo is an example of what not to do. It is shot from the stands, where anyone could take it. It has a lot of dead space. There is action, but it's not the tight focus of the picture. (It's also a little blurry because the photographer didn't compensate for the low-light conditions of the arena)

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heres a good thread: http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag...oto-lesson.html

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I don't really know how to explain other than the only times I have taken a "good" picture of my car it was a fluke. When I go out and try to take a good pic from an angle that looks good ot my eye, it looks like crap as a picture.

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i've got the same problem lol
i just realized im a horrible photographer

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im no huge photography guru myself but imo i thing background can be nice sometimes and have the subject a little smaller ie:

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