I am attaching the web site of a photographer that goes to all the Car Shows from Seattle to Bellingham. He does great pictures. You can even call him and make an appointment to have your car photographed with special effects. The pictures come out real cool. Go to the before and after page.
Once you enter the site go to gallery, than go to car shows. If you go to car shows 2009, Deming. You will see my blue 914 Porsche with my little trailer.
http://.www.carljaegelphotography.com
Phillip J. Haun
Oak Harbor, WA.
Full Version: Car Photographer
High Dyanamic Range - Good stuff and thanks for posting.
This was taken in the Skagit Valley:
I love that area, Mt. Vernon is a very nice area.
I love that area, Mt. Vernon is a very nice area.
its not hard to take good car show pictures. This guy in question is using two basic tools.
1) a wide angle lens - probably a 10 - 30mm zoom.
2) a polarizing filter
And he is using some basic tricks.
1) good framing
2) lower angles (getting the camera lower to the ground instead of looking down at the car)
3) Close cropping of the subject.
I can't copy any of his work in (easily, at least) so I will use mine as examples. the style is similar, and is easy for anyone to do.
Note the wide angle stretching out the car a little. Polarizing filter makes the sky really pop and reduces windshield glare. Lower angle and close cropping. The wide angle lens means I am also very close to the car. A "standard" lens (50mm) would have required me to stand much father back, blocking foot traffic and probably getting people cutting in front of me. I was likely standing within 3 feet of the car to get this picture. With a wide angle lens, you sometimes have to be sure you are not capturing things like your feet in the picture.
As opposed too: (also mine, same day)
I did use a wide angle. I am well cropped. but...
The picture does not POP, as I got lazy and did not put on the polarizer. I did not get down on my knees, so the angle is your usual "looking down at a car" angle. Its also over exposed, to get the detail in the shadows the brite areas are washed out. This is the typical "car show" picture. I got lazy, and may have been near drunk.
Any way, the difference is big, but the tricks are not hard to do.
Get low. Crop your work well. Spend $40 on a polarizer for your lens.
Easy.
Zach
1) a wide angle lens - probably a 10 - 30mm zoom.
2) a polarizing filter
And he is using some basic tricks.
1) good framing
2) lower angles (getting the camera lower to the ground instead of looking down at the car)
3) Close cropping of the subject.
I can't copy any of his work in (easily, at least) so I will use mine as examples. the style is similar, and is easy for anyone to do.
Note the wide angle stretching out the car a little. Polarizing filter makes the sky really pop and reduces windshield glare. Lower angle and close cropping. The wide angle lens means I am also very close to the car. A "standard" lens (50mm) would have required me to stand much father back, blocking foot traffic and probably getting people cutting in front of me. I was likely standing within 3 feet of the car to get this picture. With a wide angle lens, you sometimes have to be sure you are not capturing things like your feet in the picture.
As opposed too: (also mine, same day)
I did use a wide angle. I am well cropped. but...
The picture does not POP, as I got lazy and did not put on the polarizer. I did not get down on my knees, so the angle is your usual "looking down at a car" angle. Its also over exposed, to get the detail in the shadows the brite areas are washed out. This is the typical "car show" picture. I got lazy, and may have been near drunk.
Any way, the difference is big, but the tricks are not hard to do.
Get low. Crop your work well. Spend $40 on a polarizer for your lens.
Easy.
Zach
I would also add... The best lighting for pics will be just after dawn or just before dusk. It's also a good ides to make a large reflector to light up any shadows around the car. Try not to take pictures in the middle of the day.
Maybe he is available to come to the NW BBQ in Edmonds this August? 
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