How to take NICE pictures?

[00Bolt]

i have a decent digital camera... its a Sony DSC-P32 if anyone knows much about them...

anyway, iv taken quite a few pictures of my truck and Im never happy with any of the pictures... there is always shadows or glares or sun too shiny or something...

I see lots of pictures of Ls and other cars for that matter where the pics look great... can someone give me some pointers... should I take picture in shade, in sun? turn on flash, turn off?? what do i do???

thanks

p.s. here are a few I took this morning... they look ok, but not really what I want... see how there are too many shadows and glares... i tried to take this one in shade, but still no luck...


http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/578DSC00712-med.JPG

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/578DSC00710-med.JPG

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/578DSC00708-med.JPG

[Silver_2000]

Its all about the light

Get the light right - If you can put the sun behind you

To eliminate shadows use the flash to fill in but be careful that it doesnt wash out the colors or cause glare

Since its digfital take a half a million pictures at different angles and settiings and delete the ones you dont like

Black trucks are going to be tought to shoot - You might try to find a bright partly cloudy day and park the truck near a bright colored wall that is out of frame - Line up the truck so its near the wall but not too close and the sun is behind you - You want the light to bounce off the wall to fill the dark areas on the truck and give the shine onthe truck something to reflect...

Ideally the sun would be lighting one angle of the truck and the sun off the wall lightning the other

Good Luck

[sonicbluetommy]

Everything he said, plus get away from the trees, they are causing alot of your problems, try a big open mall parking lot.

You may also want to check into getting a lens filter. I had one on my 35mm EOS Rebel. Surely they are available for digital cameras. You would turn it and it would change the shadows and the lighting with out moving around the vehicle or changing the lighting. You will have to go to camera shop to find one though as they are normally bought by professional camera guys. If I remember right it wasnt too expensive 15 yrs ago, about $20.

[rdepa]

Ditto Sonicbluetommy. I use a Polarizing filter on my Nikon D100. I recently paid $12 for my 62mm filter. It will illiminate a lot of glare. Go to a camera shop, tell them your problem and they should be able to make suggestions. The filter will also protect your lens and it is cheaper to replace than the lens.

[sonicbluetommy]

Thanks, for the life of me I could not remember what they called that filter. Must be old age (36)! If so I am in big trouble later on!

I have taken alot of car show pics and that filter made the pics alot better.

[r1eater]

Just run them through photoshop...

Original....

http://www.revlimitracing.com/boltvids/578DSC00712-med.jpg


Touched up... Keep in mind this was really quick and I didnt spend much time on it..

http://www.revlimitracing.com/boltvids/touchup2.jpg
http://www.revlimitracing.com/boltvids/touchup3.jpg

This one is my Fav..
http://www.revlimitracing.com/boltvids/touchdup.jpg
http://www.revlimitracing.com/boltvids/touch4.jpg

[Tex Arcana]

Composition has alot to do with things, as well as lighting. Check this out:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/407PICT05821.JPG

Nice backdrop, but it doens't dominate the subject, and I made sure that the sun was behind me, too.

This is the other side of the truck, on the same day. I tried to get a sunlight flare on the windshield header AND do a flash fill, but all it did was end up blurry. :( My digital will "see" light flares and starbursts, 'til you take the shot, and then they go away. I ahven't figured out how to beat that yet.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/407PICT0584.JPG

This one was done on a cloudy day, so you can see the flash flare on the fender:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/407PICT0568.JPG

[r1eater]

Also Black is very hard to photograph.

[Sixpipes]

It's all about the lighting conditions and interesting backgrounds.

Derrick's ride at Lightningfest 2003.

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/8derek.jpg

Young Go_rila at Ivanhoe Farms' place.

http://www.go-rila.com/Appearance/211-239-6658.jpg

Go_rila with stock wheels/tires way back in 1999.

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/images/211-239-6649.jpg