Taking car pics

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 12:27

Here are some pics I took of my car after I washed it at the weekend (already posted in the motors forum).

All I've done is to add a white border and resize them.

What's the best way of taking intersting car pics? Location is obviously lame in this case as it's outside my house. I'm guessing an industrial setting or countryside setting would be better?

Also seen other car pics with the front wheels turned which also gives some "presence" and "purpose" to the pictures. Also should I be aiming to take photos in nice bright sunshine, these where taken with a completely covered sky.

Comments and suggestions always welcome!

unknowndomain · 6 Sep 2007 at 13:29

You could always go for the over processed look...

rpstewart · 6 Sep 2007 at 13:51

wonder_lander said:
Location is obviously lame in this case as it's outside my house. I'm guessing an industrial setting or countryside setting would be better?

I'd be tempted to head towards the industrial rather than rural. Alfa to me says style & sophistication so how about a modern architectural setting - glass walls that sort of thing.

If you have one a polarising filter would be useful to control reflections etc, especially if there's a lot of glass in the shot.

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 14:23

rpstewart said:
I'd be tempted to head towards the industrial rather than rural. Alfa to me says style & sophistication so how about a modern architectural setting - glass walls that sort of thing.

If you have one a polarising filter would be useful to control reflections etc, especially if there's a lot of glass in the shot.

Cheers for the useful info, it's only a compact camera but I do have filter for it so will see if I can find a suitable location!

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 14:25

unknowndomain said:
You could always go for the over processed look...

Can you give any details on how you achieved that and wether it's something I can do with paint.NET?

Raymond Lin · 6 Sep 2007 at 14:34

wonder_lander said:
Can you give any details on how you achieved that and wether it's something I can do with paint.NET?

I would think you need photoshop for that, some selective colours, lens vignetting, adjust levels and contrast.

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 14:54

Raymond Lin said:
I would think you need photoshop for that, some selective colours, lens vignetting, adjust levels and contrast.

Doh, ok ta!

MikeHunt79 · 6 Sep 2007 at 15:13

GIMP is good also

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 18:32

MikeHunt79 said:
GIMP is good also

Have gimp and photoshop trial to have a bash with!

robertgilbert86 · 6 Sep 2007 at 18:59

May I make the rude suggestion of getting out the suburb!!

wonder_lander · 6 Sep 2007 at 20:46

robertgilbert86 said:
May I make the rude suggestion of getting out the suburb!!

Not rude at all, these where just some quick shots after I washed and dried her.

Anyone recommend any good locations in Staffordshire or near Warrington?

MikeHunt79 · 6 Sep 2007 at 22:00

give google maps/earth a go... head for the green if you want rural stuff

unknowndomain · 6 Sep 2007 at 22:05

Raymond Lin said:
I would think you need photoshop for that, some selective colours, lens vignetting, adjust levels and contrast.

Selective Colours - Correct
Lens Vignetting - Correct (Lens Correction Filter)
Levels - Wrong
Contrast - Correct

Also...

Used sharpen on the image and created a clone of the black and white layer used a heavy smart blur, then multiplied it onto the other layers to create the haloish effect and also to darken the colours in an odd way.

I also edited hue and saturation in the colour layer to remove all greens, yellows, blues etc... and bumped up the reds leaving magenta at the normal level

wonder_lander · 7 Sep 2007 at 17:34

unknowndomain said:
Selective Colours - Correct
Lens Vignetting - Correct (Lens Correction Filter)
Levels - Wrong
Contrast - Correct

Also...

Used sharpen on the image and created a clone of the black and white layer used a heavy smart blur, then multiplied it onto the other layers to create the haloish effect and also to darken the colours in an odd way.

I also edited hue and saturation in the colour layer to remove all greens, yellows, blues etc... and bumped up the reds leaving magenta at the normal level

What's the best way of learning this stuff? Books, playing, website?

unknowndomain · 7 Sep 2007 at 19:04

wonder_lander said:
What's the best way of learning this stuff? Books, playing, website?

I started with Jasc's Paint shop pro initally hating photoshop because it was too hard, but I figured it out, then got quite reasonable, I have had college lectures on it and not uni workshops and they haven't taught me much I didn't already know so the best way it to play see what happens and what works when you get used to it you will know what filters, adjustments, and effects you need to apply to create the style you want. Even now I am still learning photoshop. They keep adding to it and you never really learn every thing, its full of cool little surprises.

Dave L · 8 Sep 2007 at 07:45

PS is something you never stop learning something new. Part of the attraction of it!