Some new shots with post processing
from nasioc - http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1263892
• Centered is rarely best – It’s easy to take a picture and put everything you want in the center, but unfortunately it doesn’t make for good photography. Generally, you want to follow the Rule of Thirds, which basically means that you want to put your subject at the cross section of two lines that cut your photo into thirds. An easy way visualize this is to imagine a tic-tac-toe board on your screen or viewfinder. Some cameras may even have this as an option to overlay on the screen. Here is an example of the Rule of Thirds in action:
Notice how the car is situated in such a way in the photo that it’s sitting right where an imaginary line would be to cut off the bottom third of the picture, and where a vertical line would intersect with that line, cutting off the far right third of the picture.
• Centered is rarely best – It’s easy to take a picture and put everything you want in the center, but unfortunately it doesn’t make for good photography. Generally, you want to follow the Rule of Thirds, which basically means that you want to put your subject at the cross section of two lines that cut your photo into thirds. An easy way visualize this is to imagine a tic-tac-toe board on your screen or viewfinder. Some cameras may even have this as an option to overlay on the screen. Here is an example of the Rule of Thirds in action:
Notice how the car is situated in such a way in the photo that it’s sitting right where an imaginary line would be to cut off the bottom third of the picture, and where a vertical line would intersect with that line, cutting off the far right third of the picture.
if you find yourself heavily adjusting the temperature then you need to experiment with your white balance. The temperature can always use some fine tuning but rarely should you find yourself drastically changing it
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Thanks guys. I'm going to try and remember the rule of thirds. Thank you for the pointers. I think i can actually crop my picture so they will fit the rule. I actually cropped these photos just incorrectly lol.
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You have it great. A white car is the best to white balance. The EXIF says you are using Photoshop and you said you're shooting RAW. Mess around with RAW in PS and you can make a lot of changes.
I tried to WB the first shot, but it blew out the sky. A better job could be done with the original file
I tried to WB the first shot, but it blew out the sky. A better job could be done with the original file
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From: UK
there are some really good photography tips on the Kodak website if your quite new to it all...
Click Here
the main difffrence between the first two and the third is the natrual light, the thing that makes the third one stand out is the light contrast, shadows and colour from more light then the first two.
I very much believe that editing shoud only make a good photo great, so try out a few of the tips on that site and pick a nice sunny day for the next time to really pick up the colours!
Click Here
the main difffrence between the first two and the third is the natrual light, the thing that makes the third one stand out is the light contrast, shadows and colour from more light then the first two.
I very much believe that editing shoud only make a good photo great, so try out a few of the tips on that site and pick a nice sunny day for the next time to really pick up the colours!
Last edited by (Ryno); Aug 10, 2010 at 12:28 PM.
There's nothing bad about using a basic DSLR like the Rebel XS. I use an old XT and have some fine results.
Shooting in overcast conditions is generally very difficult - because it does "dull" out all of the colors and sharpness of the scene. Typically, if I can arrange it, I'll try to stage a shoot either at dawn or dusk. During such times, the natural sunlight is very soft and simply great for automotive photography. Or any photography in general, actually.
I do think you could have touched up a couple other adjustments in your pictures a tad more. Making corrections to the color balance, contrast, highlights, etc. I grabbed your first picture and adjusted it to what I would normally do to my pictures.
Since you have photoshop, I'll outline the tools I used and explain why real quick:
That's what I remembered off the top of my head real quick. Of course, this process will look best if used on the original RAW file,
.
Overall, great shots indeed! Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions - as I do tend to hang out in the Ralliart section more.
Shooting in overcast conditions is generally very difficult - because it does "dull" out all of the colors and sharpness of the scene. Typically, if I can arrange it, I'll try to stage a shoot either at dawn or dusk. During such times, the natural sunlight is very soft and simply great for automotive photography. Or any photography in general, actually.
I do think you could have touched up a couple other adjustments in your pictures a tad more. Making corrections to the color balance, contrast, highlights, etc. I grabbed your first picture and adjusted it to what I would normally do to my pictures.
Since you have photoshop, I'll outline the tools I used and explain why real quick:
- Color Balance - Overcast conditions normally make the scene look very dull and gloomy. This was used to reduce the gloomy/grey feeling by adding some minor color adjustments.
- Saturation - This will highlight some of the background colors, giving more contrast to your beautiful white car.
- Clone Stamp/Healing Brush - Cloning out some "noise" or distracting elements in the background will bring more focus to the subject (in this case, that sexy MR).
- Highlight/Shadows - I increased the highlights a little bit to make the white "pop" a little more against the other colors in the background.
- Adjustment Layer/Blue Photo Filter - I saw your had really cool clouds in this picture, and wanted to give them a nice cooling touch. So an adjustment layer with cooling filter 82 was used. Then blended in the "Soft Light" blending mode.
- Crop - I cropped the image as best as I could, so your EVO was taking up the majority (2/3) of the space. Leaving the other third (both horizontal and vertical thirds) of the image free for the background/texture/etc.
That's what I remembered off the top of my head real quick. Of course, this process will look best if used on the original RAW file,
.Overall, great shots indeed! Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions - as I do tend to hang out in the Ralliart section more.
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From: walnut
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From: Singapore
Technically speaking, the photos look pretty alright to me. I think what you find lacking is the "WoW" factor in your photos.
Rule of Third can be applied but does not apply to all. You can use it if you are using a wide angle or your subject is far away. However if your subject fills close to your entire frame, then it does not matter to place it in the centre.
Background. Looking for a good background is the trickiest part of all. There are some areas that may look dead gorgeous to you but may actually be difficult when it comes to incorporating with your subject. One important factor is the lines. It may not always be good to take the entire building with your car. Rather, taking right in front of the metal gate alone may turn out better.
Editing. Unlike yester years where all the Great grand masters truly dependent on their skills, we have softwares like Lightroom and Photoshop to assist us. Make full use of it! I've edited one of your potentials using lightroom and the key is to play around with it until you get it right.
Lastly, there is no hard or fast rule to photography. Photography is all about creativity. At times, taking even half a wheel + rotors + bumper may looks good. Creativity does not restrict to photography alone but in your editing skills as well.
Hope it helps!
Cheers!
Before
After
Rule of Third can be applied but does not apply to all. You can use it if you are using a wide angle or your subject is far away. However if your subject fills close to your entire frame, then it does not matter to place it in the centre.
Background. Looking for a good background is the trickiest part of all. There are some areas that may look dead gorgeous to you but may actually be difficult when it comes to incorporating with your subject. One important factor is the lines. It may not always be good to take the entire building with your car. Rather, taking right in front of the metal gate alone may turn out better.
Editing. Unlike yester years where all the Great grand masters truly dependent on their skills, we have softwares like Lightroom and Photoshop to assist us. Make full use of it! I've edited one of your potentials using lightroom and the key is to play around with it until you get it right.
Lastly, there is no hard or fast rule to photography. Photography is all about creativity. At times, taking even half a wheel + rotors + bumper may looks good. Creativity does not restrict to photography alone but in your editing skills as well.
Hope it helps!
Cheers!
Before
After
Last edited by Lmodel; Aug 10, 2010 at 05:41 PM.