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

Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
5,979
Location
SouthCentral Ontario
Corvette
www.67HEAVEN.com
...we'd love to read some of your tips for photographing these fine solid-axle and midyear Corvettes.

You know.......lighting; framing; distance; angle; etc.

Let's hear some advice and see some examples. If it all works out well, maybe we'll teach the late-model guys how to do it. ;)

============================================
To start things off, I'll gratuitously include my favourite photo of HEAVEN.

487115s.jpg


I wish I could claim to have taken it, but the thanks goes to Bob Pelland (Stepinwolf).
:w
 
Popular Hot Rodding recently ran a competition for shooting your car. They gave some tips on best car shots.

They liked photos shot just as the sun was going down and positioning the camera down low on the car so that you could see all 4 wheels. they also liked to have a reflector could be made out of cardboard and aluminum foil that reflected the light back into the car above the feature line that runs down the length of the car. The sun would be going down at an angle to the car and the side you would be shooting into would be more or less in the shade, hence the need for the reflector.

The windows needed to be up, not down.

Car needed to be parked on something that the car drives on, like gravel road or paved road or concrete, NOT GRASS.

The above is what they called the money shot......

Here are some of my favorites....

Racing at Indy
193C1891small-vi.jpg


193C1892small-vi.jpg


193C1893small-vi.jpg


The above last shot, notice how the Big Gulp driver is looking down the race track, how his head is positioned. Then look at the Hollywood driver and his head is turned slightly to his RIGHT, I am sure he is think oh crap this is close.....above shot with a Canon 1D at 8 frames per second

'53 vette (well kinda) at 193mph!
193C495053vette191mph-vi.jpg



sIMG_1454-vi.jpg


ok...so this one is on grass....I still like it...
193C7383_RT85X7-vi.jpg


193C8398-vi.jpg


193C0252_RT8-vi.jpg
 
HEAVEN and Herb,
I'd just like to learn how you post your pics under your threads. They are a nice size and always clear,and how do you add text under each photo..
I've read other members w/same issues..You and HEAVEN always have great pics.. Jim
 
My favorite shots to look at are the close-ups, the interesting curves and angle shots. Stingers, fenders, emblems...
 
67HEAVEN said:
If it all works out well, maybe we'll teach the late-model guys how to do it. ;) quote]

Check out my sig!

In the words of my good buddy, Bob Deniro, in "Taxi Driver",

'you talkin' to me? huh?'

:rotfl

SAVE THE :w
 
HEAVEN and Herb,
I'd just like to learn how you post your pics under your threads. They are a nice size and always clear,and how do you add text under each photo..
I've read other members w/same issues..You and HEAVEN always have great pics.. Jim
Jim, if Heaven can't get you straight..let me know...might be easier to talk you through on phone...

Herb
 
193C0271_RT8-vi.jpg


untitledfixed-vi.jpg

above photo I did not take, I cleaned up the photo some digitally....

IMG_3806backrightsideof59-vi.jpg


IMG_381342769-vi.jpg


IMG_3807interiorof59-vi.jpg


IMG_4792small-vi.jpg

photo is ok, but the guys are cool!

smallIMG_4123-vi.jpg

garage find, well sort of. put in a shipping container back in '86....total of 1200 miles, still smelled like a brand new car on the inside....was truely amazing! Too bad the color is all wrong....

I will look for some more.....
 
I prefer a natural backdrop and earth-tones such as grass, trees, water, etc. Perhaps that is why I have a green exterior and a saddle interior. I do not include people in the pics unless they are the highlight rather than the car.

earthtones.jpg
 
I'm not much of a photographer , this is one of my favorite shots; too bad I had to drive 550 miles to take the shot. ;LOL its on Pa 611 overlooking the Delaware water gap
97atthegap.jpg
 
First you need a red car and good location, then get it in position.
http://www.sirgalahad.org/tyler/misc/Bridge1.jpg
Sometimes the car and owner combine to make a good shot. You can see the pride in
this picture as the owner did all the work on a really unique car.
http://www.sirgalahad.org/tyler/buick/FF11_After.jpg
Sometimes it just happens. I saw the rig parked in a parking lot, went home and got
the car.
http://www.sirgalahad.org/tyler/misc/68Bud6.jpg
Sometime you have to think out of the box.
http://www.sirgalahad.org/tyler/misc/s_garage.jpg
The one great thing about the new digital cameras is the feedback is right
there.
Tyler
 
Very nice pictures and the garage picture is cool, did you make it?
 
Very nice pictures and the garage picture is cool, did you make it?

Wife has a good friend who makes prize winning doll houses and had her make it for my xmas present several years ago. Won first prize in local doll show.

Tyler
 
I thought I would post one that has all kinds of problems but its just all you think you can get.

http://www.sirgalahad.org/tyler/bloom3/88bmt2003.jpg

Shot inside a building with a mixture of incandescent, neon lighting and flash with bad composition. This is at the special collection at Bloomington, inside, bad color combinations and barrier. In this case the car is a 88 ZR1 something you not see too often so getting any picture is the first choice. In some cases you can inquire about moving the barrier, since I work this room I would try to help you if you are polite and sincere. I usually tell people that if they come early in the morning I can take down the barrier for a quick shot of a select car. So what you could do is try several shots using flash, speed or tricks at that time, take the images back to a computer and see what works best then when you come in early you know what works because you have tried it.

Tyler
 
My humble contribution

Some of these have been posted in the past, but I don't tire of seeing them, and I hope you all don't either.

I took this when getting a little shade for myself, waiting to leave on a Corvette cruise


vet1.jpg


This is my interpretation of what a three-some should be

vet2.jpg



Not where photos should be taken (on the grass ) but I couldn't help myself

vet3.JPG


This one is called clean lines

vet4.JPG


This one you can check out in the latest edition of Vette Brakes Catalog

vet5.JPG


This one is called, climb in, sit down, shut up, and hold on,,,

vet6.JPG
 
The are some cool pictures
This one reminds me of an old Chevy commercial with Dinah Shore
See the USA, in a Chevrolet
vet6.JPG
 
Sometimes I can find a nice little shack for a background...

biltmoresm.JPG



Or maybe a little hill...

rtcous550.jpg



Then there's always the nice clear day...

brpkytopsm.jpg


BTW, thanks, Tyler!
 
I still find this the nicest shot of the three Vette registries:

car_30837S107421SM4372da29793c7
 
Here's a few I took....not the best, but not bad..

0000533pt1.jpg


0000535tc3.jpg


0000538ui3.jpg


0000537cb0.jpg


0000542ep5.jpg
 
Some Photo Tips

Here are some thoughts from close to 50 years of picture taking:

1. I think my biggest issue with a lot of photos that are posted on all web sites are that people are too far away. Unless the car is of secondary importance, which is what they really are in the picture of the Delaware Water Gap for instance, get close. You need to fill the frame. Decide what is important and fill the frame with that.

2. Digital media is becoming so inexpensive that there is no reason to run your camera at any resolution but it's highest. I just bought a 6mp pocket camera and I get 360 pictures on a 1gb card that I bought for $30. The screen that I'm sitting at right now is bigger than an 8x10 photo. You wouldn't want to use anything but your camera's best quality to produce 8x10's! A second advantage to this is if you can't get close and have to crop the image to fill the frame, there will be enough there that it just doesn't look like vegetable soup.

3. Force your flash to fire even in bright sun. The picture of an engine compartment is greatly improved and gives some sparkle to the chrome. Pictures of people with hats no longer have their faces in the shade of the brim. Most cameras have an easy way of forcing it on, check your manual.

4. Take lots of pictures. Fill the card if you can. Learn how to set up folders on your computer and transfer a particular subject to that folder and don't worry about editing out the blurry, off center, and poorly lit shots until those cold snowy nights.

5. Get a second battery and keep it charged and with you. Espcially if you use my flash tip you will need more power to run the flash.

6. Finally if the event has flyer, take a picture of the flyer or better yet if you have access to a scanner scan it, and include that in the folder with the pictures so there is no question about where they were taken.
 

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