Trophy at sunset

[quik5i1ver]

Had a little free time last weekend following fitting my silvervision indicators.. So as the sun began to set, I grabbed my 350d and headed for the only high point that I could think of locally... View turned out not to be as good as I had thought and the sunset was a let down but here are the photos anyway...

They're by no means ground breaking but any constructive criticism would be gratefully received!!! I spent my time playing with shutter speed and ISO settings. I have shopped 2 of the images and made small adjustments but have tried to keep them as original as possible.. 8)

Rich

 

[Matt X2C]

no constructive criticism needed really, they are great pics!

I really need to get some good ones of my car. Think im gonna have to get a new digital camera as the one I have atm is a fairly old one. Not too great. Gonna have to either buy one or get some mates to take some photos for me!

 

[FunkyMunky]

great pictures..... though i find the car looks 'moodier' with just front sidelights and no foglights when taking pictures in low light

 

[Steve]

They look spot on to me, it's very tricky getting the exposure right for night/dusk shots, you want some definition and contrasts but too much and it looks like a poor day shot!

Do you tend to use auto-levels and auto-contrast as a mandatory first step in Photoshop? A semi-professional photographer told me once he always used it without question, but I'm not sure it's always needed.

I wanted 350D for three years, just about saved money/ watched it drop in price enough and the 400 came out! It started at £900 but can now be had for £480 from www.warehouseexpress.com . An absolute bargain in my opinion.

 

[Cue]

nice pics, i'm with Matt, I need to get more shots of the trophy, i'm more bothered about driving it though and always forget about the scenery and snapping the trophy against it..... next time the bucket and sponge comes out !

 

[oliie]

Good shots. Here are my suggestions:

- Look at the picture as a whole. In the first one moving the car back a couple of metres may have meant not having the metal tower in the background (likewise the shots with the light posts - one of which is growing out of your roof!). The last photo also shows a nice silhouette of the Recaros (one of the cars main features) but then there is a sign growing out of the side of it...

- Consider using a higher Fstop if you've a tripod. Bringing the Fstop to about 4.5 will mean that the depth of field places the emphasis on the car, not the background. However if shooting a back/front quarter shot then you need to ensure that the Fstop is not too high otherwise the depth of field will be such that you lose sharpness on the front or rear of the car (whichever is furthest away).

- Use the lowest ISO you can support if you've a tripod. I see quite a bit of grain in the last shot on the tailgate where the red is darkest. The 350d at the right ISO should not show this (if I remember rightly it supports 50 ISO).

- Experiment with filters. A graduated filter will bring great drama and sense of occasion to the photo - dark sky by bright car. Topgear regularly do this... a nice little trick

Happy shooting

O.

 

[Steve]

EOS 350D/400D supports ISO 100/200/400/800/1600.

Nice tips there Oliie.

 

[oliie]

They look spot on to me, it's very tricky getting the exposure right for night/dusk shots, you want some definition and contrasts but too much and it looks like a poor day shot!

Do you tend to use auto-levels and auto-contrast as a mandatory first step in Photoshop? A semi-professional photographer told me once he always used it without question, but I'm not sure it's always needed.

I wanted 350D for three years, just about saved money/ watched it drop in price enough and the 400 came out! It started at £900 but can now be had for £480 from www.warehouseexpress.com . An absolute bargain in my opinion.

400D is now £426 from Pixmania including shipping (Pixmania is now owned by DSGi who also own Dixons, Currys, PC World etc.) so it is a safe buy

As you say Steve - very good value for money!!!

O.

 

[Steve]

It's £432.50 and that's without lens, £438 from warehouseexpress without lens and if you show them this they will take 125% off the difference so £431.13. Crazy! Witht he lens kit, you can't get cheaper than £480, they price it to not be beaten otherwise it costs them more by paying the difference.

 

[hoolio]

It's £432.50 and that's without lens, £438 from warehouseexpress without lens and if you show them this they will take 125% off the difference so £431.13. Crazy! Witht he lens kit, you can't get cheaper than £480, they price it to not be beaten otherwise it costs them more by paying the difference.

Mental.... When i bought my camera just over four years ago- cannon EOS3- with a good lens it cost me £1400 and i would have had to have taken out a small mortgage to get a DSLR of the same quality. :shock:

 

[oliie]

Apologies Steve - had not realised it was with a lens! Very good price Much cheaper than a Mamiya digital back (but they do produce a 35 megapixel image...). Not the easiest of files to email....

 

[quik5i1ver]

Yikes, so much to reply to, this may not cover all comments but thanks to everyone for their feedback!!

- Look at the picture as a whole. In the first one moving the car back a couple of metres may have meant not having the metal tower in the background (likewise the shots with the light posts - one of which is growing out of your roof!). The last photo also shows a nice silhouette of the Recaros (one of the cars main features) but then there is a sign growing out of the side of it...

I have a tendancy to rush into my shots without looking around properly, I did move the car to some degree but part of my problem was that there were numerous random objects like pipes and crane towers all over the place so really my location was not the best choice. I also noticed when looking back over the shots that there were a couple where the light from the lamp post was literally just hovering above my roof.. Clearly these are things that I need to look out for in future

- Consider using a higher Fstop if you've a tripod. Bringing the Fstop to about 4.5 will mean that the depth of field places the emphasis on the car, not the background. However if shooting a back/front quarter shot then you need to ensure that the Fstop is not too high otherwise the depth of field will be such that you lose sharpness on the front or rear of the car (whichever is furthest away).

Is this in relation to the aperture and depth of field? (Without sounding stupid!) I think that this is a setting that I have had mentioned to me before but have been unsure of how to use it so I haven't bothered yet.. Some reading up needs to be done methinks..

- Experiment with filters. A graduated filter will bring great drama and sense of occasion to the photo - dark sky by bright car. Topgear regularly do this... a nice little trick

I think that EVO do this too? I have thought about investing in some filters, perhaps now is the time to do so.. Does it matter what the lighting conditions are like - could you get away with them at dusk?

i find the car looks 'moodier' with just front sidelights and no foglights when taking pictures in low light

I'll have to play with that, part of my reasoning was to get more light into the scene...Not sure that was really successful tho! :?

Do you tend to use auto-levels and auto-contrast as a mandatory first step in Photoshop? A semi-professional photographer told me once he always used it without question, but I'm not sure it's always needed.

I have only really just started playing with my images to any great degree in photoshop. I'm completely self taught and basically I just experiement.. I have read a little from dpchallenge.com(?!) taking note of filters and settings that people on there use. I have never used auto levels, I initially add a levels layer and move the stops in to take out any areas that don't show a reading on the histogram. I quite like using contrast too - I did that in the first photo to exagerate the colours a little more.

As for camera choice, I was gutted when the 400d came out because I had taken so long to buy my 350d (only purchased it last summer for a trip to the USA) but hey, it does the job!!

Thanks again for all your comments guys!

 

[FunkyMunky]

^^^^

thats a serious amount of quoting there.... :wink:

 

[quik5i1ver]

what can I say, I tried to keep everyone happy! :lol:

 

[oliie]

Wow good response!

Re fstops: experiment as follows. Place apple on table. Sit looking directly at apple (same line of sight - no angle up or down) with camera about 30 cm away from apple. Make sure something is in background.

Focus on apple and take photo at smallest aperture (this means using the largest number possible for the light - say F18 or F22). You will see that the background is clear and relatively sharp.

Now do the same but set a large aperture (say F3.5 if your lens supports it) and you will notice the background is blur (less time for the light to enter the lens = getting the detail to the sensor that is closest to the camera).

This effect is most pronounced when you 'zoom' with a lens (e.g. if your lens is 28-55mm then you get maximum effect at 55mm).

Sorry - bit of a crude explanation but hope it helps. Experiment... there is no film to develop!!!

O.

 

[ducks butt]

looks like the top of the brewery car park in romford.

Very nice pics,

 

[Olliev8]

wicked pics dude!!! (tup)

 

[quik5i1ver]

Re fstops: experiment as follows. Place apple on table. Sit looking directly at apple (same line of sight - no angle up or down) with camera about 30 cm away from apple. Make sure something is in background.

Focus on apple and take photo at smallest aperture (this means using the largest number possible for the light - say F18 or F22). You will see that the background is clear and relatively sharp.

Now do the same but set a large aperture (say F3.5 if your lens supports it) and you will notice the background is blur (less time for the light to enter the lens = getting the detail to the sensor that is closest to the camera).

This effect is most pronounced when you 'zoom' with a lens (e.g. if your lens is 28-55mm then you get maximum effect at 55mm).

Sorry - bit of a crude explanation but hope it helps. Experiment... there is no film to develop!!!

Excellent, cheers Oli! I know I should take more time to just sit down and play but there are so many other things to do! I tend to experiment with settings, just playing randomly but I subsequently forget to go through the finished article and remind myself of exactly what I have used.

looks like the top of the brewery car park in romford.

Good identifying that man, it is indeed the very same and of course, highly delightful place that we know and love!.. maybe :lol:

Hopefully if I get enough practice in then I can pull out some crackers at the Goodwood breakfast run for French sports cars - put the date in your diaries! (see post in meets i think..)

 

[Steve]

Nice explanation oliie, I'm going to try this out, don't have apple - is a banana OK?

Nice to meet you last night Rich, see you at the Breakfast Club, get polishing!

 

[quik5i1ver]

Yeah good to meet you Steve, roll on the breakfast club, I'm hungry already!!!

Personally I think a nice pair of melons would be better than a banana... :lol: