If you've got the gift as a photographer...

[67HEAVEN]

ok.....how is this?

Herb,

I'm going to have to go with the following.

The reason is that the complete black doesn't look real, as opposed to the asphalt look, which does. My clumsy attempt at expanding the dark area (looks like ripples in the asphalt) otfl could easily be improved upon, but you get the idea.

NOTE TO READERS: The point here is not to see lots of photos of my car. The point is for me and others to improve our photo-taking abilities. Please post more examples with observations about why they are good or bad and how they were improved or could be improved upon.

Thanks to all who are contributing. I'm definitely learning from this thread. I hope others are too.

 

[67HEAVEN]

Before stinger hood and AR wheels.

Now.

So, tell us, Paul. What do you like/not-like about these photos of your fine car?

 

[bossvette]

here is a couple I took back in 2004

I cropped them to get rid of some stuff but I don't have a real photo editing program just compupic

like I said I'm not much of a photographer just a point and shoot type

 

[Zblast]

I always thought this was a cool pic. Beech Bend raceway...June 05

 

[paul67]

Bob,
I'm just a point-and-click guy so cannot really add much meaningful to this thread. My pics are typically shows, cruise events and the like. I must say that the camera (Sony Cyber-shot) seems to control me rather than it. But to be honest I have never tried to use it in manual mode so I will take the blame for that.

I have a lot of trouble with lighting. The camera simply does not work well on a sunny day. Too much bling-bling from bumpers and paint. On automatic mode it underexposes and shutter speed slows down resulting in blurred pics. On a cloudy day it does not pick up details such as the gill area. The small flash does not compensate for this. The macro is virtually useless: with flash in use it washes out the detail and with no flash there is no detail. This may be the camera and I am considering retiring this one.

If I try to get artistic I am a bit of a klutz. The pic below looks OK until you look closely at the far right. Grave markers!! It was taken when the Wife and I paid a visit to her Mom's resting place. Seemed like a nice venue but I made a stupid mistake with the background.

I am enjoying the thread. Thanks for getting it going. Wish I had more expertise in this area.

 

[jjmish]

Here are 2 shots taken in 1974 at the Cayuga Ontario Corvette Dragmeet. Anyone recognize these cars? I have others. If you now your car was there, describe it to me and I'll see if I have a shot of it. Many were modified. That black/white 67 was the overall winner. Saw an interesting 62 that was painted with what seemed to be flat beige stucco like paint with a red cove.

 

[67HEAVEN]

jjmish,

Thanks for the old photos. Cayuga was a fun place.

 

[67HEAVEN]

Here's an unusual shot of Viet Nam Vett in the rain, taken from my coupe. The shape of his car is distorted by ny rear glass. In fact, everything about this photo is wrong, but I like it anyway.

P.S. We drive 'em anywhere..........any time........any weather.

 

[67HEAVEN]

And, up front was none other than Evolution1980. I intended to include the hood stinger in the photo as further proof that rain don't mean squat to people like us. :gap

In fact, sometimes, we even drive them in the sunshine.

 

[bossvette]

There wasn't a whole lot of sunshine that trip. I too use a Sony and have found if I don't check to see if its set for indoors or outdoors it doesn't do as well on auto. Here is an engine shot, guess who's it is.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

I like close up shots with lots of curves.

 

[paul67]

Pete,
More curves.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Nice pictures everybody

This is a picture a friend of mine took

He was about 300 feet away laying on the ground with a telephoto Len's. With a polarizing cover on the Len's.

This is a photo I took That I thought was perfect (notice I said thought)

The bottom photo is washed out with sun .

I am just really learning about photography.

My favorite photos of a car or subject is done with a telephoto lens with the subject in sharp focus and the background out of focus

I found out the best time to shoot is in the morning or early evening with no bright light.

I have been signing up for the local adult education digital photography classes but they all get cancelled because of lack of enrolment.

 

[67HEAVEN]

I'm afraid to get into SLR photography. Like my father did, I do everything to extremes, and I don't have time for another obsession.

Therefore, I'm sticking to basic digital, without extra lenses, filters, etc.

However, in some ways, it is more difficult to capture a good photo without an SLR. Example.....

Glare from the sunlight. Excessive shadow. Oh, and I guess I'm not supposed to be on the grass for the photo.

 

[Rob Musquetier]

A few other of my favorite Vette shots I've taken last year using my new (Canon) camera:

(all taken at LeMans 2006)



​

 

[Achilles]

In this case, I like the shadows.

Taken today, the first day of winter.

The shadows in this picture are great because they add drama to the image. Shadows directly below the subject matter are unflatering due to "high-noon" sun light. "67 Heaven" looks much better in shade or overcast days since the red gets washed out in bright sunlight...looks orange. Unless that is what you're looking for, stay away from bright sunlight.

Delaware river is a nice shot, Even though the car is filthy, it is an appealing image, except for the paper cup on the ground...A nice shot. One of the things most people don't think about when taking pictures is that they see a potentially good photo opportunity and lose site of the details such as power poles, trash, trash cans, people, sign posts, traffic, traffic lights, even a large rock that may not be part of the composition. Unless these items are intended to be included as part of the subject matter, try to avoid them.

"67 Heaven's" railroad shot is a good idea except for the mentioned power poles and the sidewalk curb in the foreground is distracting...Maybe try the shot again at a different angle if possible. At least you're thinking about the composition, which is great.

Also, as someone mentioned the subject matter should be in sharp focus with a slightly out of focused background. This is easy with a telephoto lens and a wide aperature (opened f-stop). Small lenses (50mm or wide angle 28-35 mm) tend to get everything in focus. So with small lenses such as these, fill your frame with minimal background material.

Also, try to add contrast to the image whether it be light/dark, color contrast or subject/background matter. There are different ideas to what contrast is. For instance color contrast blue/yellow, red/green are a few good combinations. Look at a color wheel for help. The red mid-year on the grass looks great. I think "67 Heaven" shot next to a golf coarse grean on a over cast day with some fill flash for a little "pop" and the cup flag in the near background would be a great shot (red/green color combo). Other techniques are styles of contrast are old/new... Place a new car in front of an old gas station or barn makes a shot intesting. Location, location, location. I like to look at the many Corvette books that are available and car calenders are a good resource for ideas.

I really enjoy this thread and everyones ideas. I'm what you could call a used to be professional photographer, but have been out of it for years and now I just play with the camera. Keep up the good work!

 

[Achilles]

I'm afraid to get into SLR photography. Like my father did, I do everything to extremes, and I don't have time for another obsession.

Therefore, I'm sticking to basic digital, without extra lenses, filters, etc.

However, in some ways, it is more difficult to capture a good photo without an SLR. Example.....

Glare from the sunlight. Excessive shadow. Oh, and I guess I'm not supposed to be on the grass for the photo.

Your car looks great on grass. But the bright sunlight washes out the red and kills it. Also the background is just noise. It's in the way. If it were possible, move the car closer to the tracks and eliminate the trees. Not trying to be critical just trying to help.

Also keep in mind that photography is an art even though some artists may disagree. One thing that many artists will agree on is that artistic impression and opinions are like a$$ holes, everyone has one.

 

[Tyler Townsley]

The one thing about using a digital image and editing software is it teaches one about location, position, and light as you can adjust what you did wrong to some extent. The next time you are more aware and the next shots are better.
Sometimes we get really nice shots but don't know what to with them. When Sebringbill and I went to Monteray we used his car as a backdrop in many different locations but the one location he wanted was on Lombard street. So in Frisco he gave me the camera and I walked down the hill as he drove down 7-8 times as we remember.
The reason he wanted this location was a old ad for a 57 corvette driving down the hill. It took me a couple of years but I finally thought why not use a editor program, a scan of the ad, and one of the shots we took to make a frameable shot. Again I have a 13x19 printer which really works well for this type shot.

http://www.deliquescence.net/~tyler/misc/bill poster.jpg

Tyler

Ain't no walls on my boxes.

 

[Rob Musquetier]

Another great photo a friend of mine (Sander) shot during the 2007 LeMans tour:

​

 

[firstgear]

Another great photo a friend of mine (Sander) shoot during the 2007 LeMans tour:

very nice photo....I really like it!!!!

regards, Herb