My humble go at photography (HEAVY)

[AKG M3]

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Thoughts? Which is the best? or all garbage? Might have taken a few too much.

[Curt2000]

I liked the location, lighting is good, a lot of your macros turned out very nice, overall it looks like a good shoot, what kind of camera/lenses/filters are you using?

[Alen E90]

cool pics!

[Sandye90m3]

I'm not much of a photographer, but I think you should incorporate more shots of the entire car further away instead of to many close ups.

Other than that, cool pics nonetheless

[positiveions]

All look good buddy.

[BESTNDA416]

So Clean you should take some shots of mine sometime great photos

[Nang Vann]

Sweet car,

[AKG M3]

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by Curt2000

I liked the location, lighting is good, a lot of your macros turned out very nice, overall it looks like a good shoot, what kind of camera/lenses/filters are you using?

I used a Canon Rebel XSi and decided to try the sigma AP0 DG lens. Not sure this was the best lens though.

Originally Posted by Sandye90m3

I'm not much of a photographer, but I think you should incorporate more shots of the entire car further away instead of to many close ups.

Other than that, cool pics nonetheless

I hear you. When I saw all the pics when I was done I thought the same. I think the sigma lens is good for macros + my location was not optimal for wider shots. For my next photo session I am taking the normal canon lens that came with the cam. See if I can get some better shots with it.

Originally Posted by BESTNDA416

So Clean you should take some shots of mine sometime great photos

That would be a cool photo shoot for sure, nice contrast between the cars

[GOLFFRR]

its rare to see a M on the forum in its OEM state I love it!! great photos as well

[ADM5]

Here is what I think I and I hope it helps you improve your photography. Overall I think you have a good start on your composition which to me is very important and can really change a photograph. You also have some work to do if this is something you want to keep on doing. I'm by no means an expert and am a beginner myself but here are my thoughts and I hope they help.

Few pros:
-composition ok in a few of the pics
-neat location
-lighting was just ok
-kept the background/foreground distractions to a minimum (no posts sticking out of the roof, trash in pic, etc). This is actually an easy one to overlook but paying attention to this does help keep the photos 'clean'.

Few cons:
-lack of sharpness-> could be the sigma lens (I'm not a fan). Definitely go with the stock Canon lens if that's your other choice, typically Canon's stock lens is pretty good. I work with a Nikon but from what I've seen it's about the same. Also, 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop is your friend, this is a key (IMO) tool in post processing.
-trying too hard for "artsy" shots like the steering wheel shot (too dark and reflection), the side marker shot (odd angle), etc -> I suggest getting down your basic angles first like front, rear, profile, then your 3/4 front and rear shots and then go for artsy things.
-Invest in a polarizing filter if you tend to do outdoor shots where glare can be a problem and you can't control the lighting. The filter can help with the glass glare too.
-Pay attention to your F-stops

[Jay-K]

i like the last pic!

[bluekn8286]

Looking pretty awesome to me

[rjd598]

That last one looked like it could be used in a BMW ad. Great shots

[Z K]

Definitely lack of sharpness... it's so much that some shots almost look blurry with nothing in focus.

Try composing the photos more also.

[AKG M3]

Thanks again fellas for your comments, much appreciated

Originally Posted by ADM5

Here is what I think I and I hope it helps you improve your photography. Overall I think you have a good start on your composition which to me is very important and can really change a photograph. You also have some work to do if this is something you want to keep on doing. I'm by no means an expert and am a beginner myself but here are my thoughts and I hope they help.

Few pros:
-composition ok in a few of the pics
-neat location
-lighting was just ok
-kept the background/foreground distractions to a minimum (no posts sticking out of the roof, trash in pic, etc). This is actually an easy one to overlook but paying attention to this does help keep the photos 'clean'.

Few cons:
-lack of sharpness-> could be the sigma lens (I'm not a fan). Definitely go with the stock Canon lens if that's your other choice, typically Canon's stock lens is pretty good. I work with a Nikon but from what I've seen it's about the same. Also, 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop is your friend, this is a key (IMO) tool in post processing.
-trying too hard for "artsy" shots like the steering wheel shot (too dark and reflection), the side marker shot (odd angle), etc -> I suggest getting down your basic angles first like front, rear, profile, then your 3/4 front and rear shots and then go for artsy things.
-Invest in a polarizing filter if you tend to do outdoor shots where glare can be a problem and you can't control the lighting. The filter can help with the glass glare too.
-Pay attention to your F-stops

Your comments make a lot of sense and I couldn't agree more. Thanks for taking the time to write down your feedback. I will most def ditch the sigma lens and go with the standard Canon lens that came with the cam for the next time. Hope that this will improve the sharpness of the pics. When I was looking at them that is the one thing that kept creeping in my mind...they could be much sharper. However, I haven't touched them in any way with Photoshop.

Originally Posted by Z K

Definitely lack of sharpness... it's so much that some shots almost look blurry with nothing in focus.

Try composing the photos more also.

Thanks, I read a bit more about photo composition now that you both mentioned it. This is something I have to work on for sure. Will try to think about the rule of thirds, leading lines and background for the next photo shoot.

So to recap, I'll change to the canon lens, work on my focus to increase the sharpness of the pics and when taking the pics, think of composition.

I am spending Canadian Thanksgiving this coming weekend in a cottage close to Mont-Tremblant in Quebec and will have another go at photography...hope the end result shows signs of improvement haha

[SilentAttack]

Great shots!!! You gave me some ideas.

[1OF723]

I think this would is my favorite:



ADM5 made a lot of great suggestions that I agree with. Keep practicing and never give up.

[Ivan@PYSpeed.com]

looks good

[gds52]

Nice shots man.
I'm not a professional but if in some pics you switch on the Angel eyes, that would look cool.

[John Tanglewood]

Hey man,

Good go at it. The first several are very blurry, so definitely either try a new lens, tripod, or increasing the ISO a little to up your shutter speed. You can also open up the aperture a little more, as a more shallow dof will net you quicker shutter speeds also.

Regarding composition you have some work to do. Pay attention to symmetry on those 'head-on' shots, as that will give the overall picture a cleaner look. On your 5th and 6th photos the car just looks awkwardly placed, where as a little centering would make a huge difference.

You did well with the highlight shots of the front fender intake, taillights, and side mirror, but you should ditch all those pictures of the sides of the car. Not only is the car grey, but the background and areas the car is reflecting are also grey. Just alot of grey on grey, nothing really pops.

Also, do a quick read on "the rule of 3rds", as that will help you with car positioning in those shots where you want to show the entire car.

That's my quick 2cents but good start. Composition is key here. If you don't exactly know what kind of story you are trying to tell before you take the picture, you've already lost. It doesn't hurt to experiment (with digital, film is freeee so shoot away!), but if you have somewhat of a plan or story in mind, you can make your shot that much better.


Here's a recent shot by one of my buddies for a good example of rule of 3rds:



and mine



...and one for symmetry

[ADM5]

Originally Posted by John Tanglewood

Hey man,

Good go at it. The first several are very blurry, so definitely either try a new lens, tripod, or increasing the ISO a little to up your shutter speed. You can also open up the aperture a little more, as a more shallow dof will net you quicker shutter speeds also.

Regarding composition you have some work to do. Pay attention to symmetry on those 'head-on' shots, as that will give the overall picture a cleaner look. On your 5th and 6th photos the car just looks awkwardly placed, where as a little centering would make a huge difference.

You did well with the highlight shots of the front fender intake, taillights, and side mirror, but you should ditch all those pictures of the sides of the car. Not only is the car grey, but the background and areas the car is reflecting are also grey. Just alot of grey on grey, nothing really pops.

Also, do a quick read on "the rule of 3rds", as that will help you with car positioning in those shots where you want to show the entire car.

That's my quick 2cents but good start. Composition is key here. If you don't exactly know what kind of story you are trying to tell before you take the picture, you've already lost. It doesn't hurt to experiment (with digital, film is freeee so shoot away!), but if you have somewhat of a plan or story in mind, you can make your shot that much better.


Here's a recent shot by one of my buddies for a good example of rule of 3rds:

Tanglewood brings up a good point that I forgot to mention: use a tripod if you can. I like to use a tripod so I can keep my ISO setting pretty low.

Definitely experiment with your kit lens or the Sigma. Take a look at the link my signature, I shoot with just an entry level Nikon D3100 with the kit lens on a tripod at ISO 100 and an f/stop around f/8 as that's where my lens seems to be its sharpest. Once I figured out how to shoot with the lens that I have I've become a lot happier with my photos.

Keep shooting! Digital is basically free so get out there and keep plugging away at it.

[AKG M3]

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys! All of you. I truly appreciate it and I really want to get better at this photography thing so really eager to hear more feedback and apply it in the field. John Tanglewood and 1OF723 your shots are incredible, period. Not sure if I will ever get to that level

Anyways, I was out both days this weekend with the standard Canon lens taking lots of shoots, freezing my fingers really wishing I had a tripod and also that the weather was hotter. Here are my two favorites. What do you think? Hope that composition is better in these...ADM5, I also touched these up a bit in photoshop with unsharp mark. Hope there is marginal improvement but I still kinda feel that they're not as sharp as they should be