Automotive Photography Tips.

[VisualEchos]

You can definitely make it hard, or easy on yourself with camera placement, and background. I used to concern myself with this because I wasn't too good at editing out the rig, but like many photographers, editing rig-shots made me good fairly quickly, so now I just look for pleasing angles and consider the editing a challenge . The shot closer to the top of the page was a real challenge, probably 4 hours editing that one. Note to self: don't shoot rig-shots into the sun with trees in the background hahaha.

Like a guitar, booms need to be tuned to themselves, as you are balancing weight, length, and rigidity to get optimal performance. Back when I was doing research on rig-shots, I quickly found that all the standard parts needed for a DIY (do it yourself) rig were available at the major camera supply retailer Adorama (I can provide a list if you need). All except for the boom. I tirelessly researched every rig-shot thread on every forum I could find to see what people were using. I had an Excel spreadsheet with about 70 different types of home-made, or DIY booms, and none were really that successful. Do they work? Sure, but the results weren't spectacular, even under great conditions. What's more is that people were hanging their expensive equipment off of junk booms like it was nothing. Such is the lure of the rig-shot.

I decided that I valued my equipment more than that, and that I wanted better results. I called an electrition friend of mine that also welds aluminum, and asked his opinion. Carbon fiber, it seems, is the way to go. Unfortunately, CF is cost prohibitive for most of us, with the least expensive CF boom costing about $1200. Aluminum was second in line, and the obvious choice, but I needed optimization. This is where I started researching what camera's most people used, as well as which lenses they chose for rig-shots. This gave me the length I needed for a decently wide shot. Talking to several aluminum suppliers gave me the exact type, and wall thickness to get the most rigidity with the least amount of weight for the length I needed, and at last, the Super-Boom was born .

Now, this is NOT a sales pitch, shipping to where any of you are is most likely cost-prohibitive, I am only advising you on how important a good boom is. PLEASE use care with the equipment you buy.

On crop-sensor, the Sigma 10-20 seems to be the most popular lens because of how wide it is, and how inexpensive. This lens is followed by the Tokina 12-24, and lastly the Tokina 11-16. The latter, Tokina 11-16 ƒ2.8 is the lens to have for crop-sensor camera's, I assure you, it easily blows the others away, but is also more expensive. On full-frame I can only advise you that the Nikon 16-35 ƒ4 is the lens to have. Remember, it's not just wide-angle that you need, it's zoom for placement, and a lens that can take filters (circular polarizer and neutral density).

As far as the roads I use, I live in a small town, so I just pick a low-traffic area at low-traffic times. Yes, I have been run-off by police officers, but they are always nice about it, and usually let me stay.

Wow, I've written a book...again. Sorry, this is a subject I'm passionate about!

[VisualEchos]

Alright guys, on to composition.

Remember this: composition is KING.

Composition is what makes or breaks your shot, plain and simple. You can do everything wrong, and if you get the composition right, people will still like your shot...and not even know why. Some of the most famous photographs in history are technically terrible, but beloved anyway, and it's all due to their composition.

What is composition? The best definition I have found thusfar is this...

"An arrangement of the parts of a work, so as to form a unified harmonious whole."

This simply means that your subject and surroundings will be viewed as one, and as a photographer, you must realize this up-front, and try your best to see the image that way as well. There is one basic rule of composition called the Rule of Thirds. Wiki link below...

http://en.wikipedia..../Rule_of_thirds

Basically it states that placing your subject, or the most powerful parts of your subject, in one of the 4 crossing quadrants, instead of in the middle of the frame, is more pleasing to the eye. But this is only the case if the photograph is balanced. What do I mean by balance? Have a look at the photograph below...

Notice not only where the subject is placed, but the light and dark sections that draw your eye to certain areas. Notice also that without the power poles on the left, the image would be very heavy on the right, as there would be nothing to balance it. Here's another, more classic approach...

Notice again where the subject is in the frame. But also, again, where the lightest, and darkest sections are, and how they tend to move your eyes through the frame, instead of allowing them to stay in one position. This photo draws your attention first to the front wheel/front fender, then up to the windshield that is covered in reflected color, then to the trees at the top right. Do you think this scene really looked like this? It didn't. I intentionally made those places brighter so that the viewer could move through this photo with me. Movement is very important to a successful photograph.

Another great tool to composition is the Leading Line, which is anything in the frame that leads your eye to the subject. Really successful leading lines can lead you to the subject, away, and then back again. Here's an example...

First notice again where the subject is placed. Then notice the light and dark areas. Lastly, pay attention to the lines of the fences, and where they lead you. Think about what you see first, second, third, and last. Think about the areas you keep coming back to. Try to remember that composition is absolutely tied to the light and dark areas of the photo as much as it is to the subject and surroundings. Would this photo be as successful if the largest part of the fence in the bottom left of the frame was also the brighest part? Not nearly. So composition is not only placement, but control of the eyes through light.

Lastly, I want to spend a moment on cropping. Most people throw print sizes around as if they were all the same, like "can I get a 4 x 6 of that? How about a 5 x 7? Is it available in 8 x 10?" They simply have no idea that all three crops will look different once printed, and have an effect on the overall composition, as the ratio of 4 x 6 (nearly widescreen) is quite different from that of 5 x 7, and 8 x 10 (nearly square). Because of this, printing the picture below would have drastic consequences on the composition. I don't even sell 8 x 10's for this reason, only 8 x 12's. If you're shooting mostly for display on the Net, you can crop however you want, which is what I do, but if you plan to print, try to take into account the size you may try to print.

[Guest surferphil]

Hello Andrew,

I have been taking photos with a Cybershot for years and getting really nice images (holiday snaps). Whilst I have some really nice photos I am limited in photo shop by jpg file format and limited in shot by the lens and the auto focus (slow and hit & miss).

I want to buy a professional camera to take shots that are set up (not something I have done before other than my car for sale pics).

Is there a camera that sticks out as being 'the one' to get for car and backplate photography or things to avoid?

I'm pretty clued up so I'm not looking for a half way house or a stepping stone to something better when I get better.

Something I'd end up with for professional shots I could earn a living with. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Phil

[VisualEchos]

Sorry this response is so late Phil, I must have missed the email that there was a reply to the thread.

If you're looking for Nikon I can help you, if you're into Canon you'll need to ask someone else, as I don't have quite the knowledge on that front. My advice is to first go to your local camera shop and see which one fits your hands the best, or has the most intuitive controls. Both are great manufacturers, so you're save with either.

For me it was Nikon, it fit perfectly in my hands the first time I picked it up, and felt much better in every way than the Canon. I wasn't concerned with price, so the fact that Nikon is a bit more expensive didn't bother me either.

For my money, it's going to be very hard to beat the new Nikon D7000. This body is a stellar performer in every way, and handles ISO as good as full-frame! This is CRAZY! Trust me on this one, the D7000 is the crop-sensor Nikon to have (if you have the money).

From there we would move on to your lens kit. I like sharp, contrasty, wide-aperture lenses because they give me so much control over background blur and no-flash light, so my kit is made up of all primes (except for the one zoom I use for rig-shots). The cool thing about primes is that they're less expensive than zooms. The 35mm 1.8 is $200 USD, the 50mm 1.8 is $150 USD, and the 85mm 1.8 is $450 USD. This is a GREAT kit, and for $800 can't be beat, period. Of course, there are times when you might need something longer, or more convenient, but this is an excellent starter kit that will allow you to take all manner of professional-quality photographs.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions, please fee free to ask.

My latest, "Fire Alarm"...

Edited September 4, 2011 by VisualEchos

[Guest surferphil]

Wow, that's a brilliant answer, thanks for taking the time to go through with such detail! I understand the lens choice too as I use 35mm and 50mm a lot for full frame shots of cars, even though they are computer generated ones. I could always use the camera position to adjust the lensing effect a little and crop, but this will be mainly used for back plate photos, which require a rough lens match to the ones I will use in Maya, so it's not too critical.

I think I'll go for the Nikon starter pack you listed and see how I get on, it does HD video as well which is ideal for the odd short videos I shoot.

Price isn't too important as it will be a company purchase and therefore an asset, so it will earn it's keep. I'd like to try some proper staged car photos rather than happy snaps of what happens to be in front of me.

Thanks again for your advice!

[wevster]

Great thread, awesome photos!

[VisualEchos]

Thanks :-)

I'll need to tackle some new stuff soon, looking forward to the write-ups.

[Ben MacRae]

Wow. The quality of these photos are unreal! Defiantly have given me something to think about. Ive been looking at getting a car rig for a while now and I dont want to particularly want to do it my self but cant find a good one to buy in the UK!

[VisualEchos]

Why buy in the UK, the shipping isn't that expensive.

[johnpwalsh]

Good god guys, I got lost in the first paragraph, I have a new Nikon D3100 with a couple of lenses that the shop suggested and am only just learning what the thing can do, I love macro shots and would love to do more but lack of experience kind of holds me back.

Edited June 26, 2013 by johnpwalsh