Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Derryck on July 25, 2008, 02:48:56 am
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Last month Porsche flew over six cars from their museum in Germany for the 60th Anniversary which was being celebrated in Shanghai. They originally wanted me to shoot them on locations around the city but due to a limited amount of time I had to instead photograph them in a container yard and photograph the backgrounds later. It seemed like a good idea at the time because instead of traveling around the congested city with a convoy of trucks and the hassle of loading and unloading priceless cars I could wander the streets shooting freely. But then it came to drop in the cars and of course while I matched the camera angle, camera height and lens used it's been a bit tough getting the shadow's and lighting on the cars just right.
Below is a shot of the GT1 which was the winner of the 1998 Le Mans 24hr. While I think that the retouching is close I'd appreciate some feedback about how to make it better.
Cheers,
Derryck.
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What stands out to me is the lack of reflections on the car. It's a big painted mirror, and yet surrounded by hard light sources, it's blank.
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What stands out to me is the lack of reflections on the car. It's a big painted mirror, and yet surrounded by hard light sources, it's blank.
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Agreed - the car needs some sparkle and 'zap' about it. It looks a bit too matt.
Otherwise I like it very much.
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Last month Porsche flew over six cars from their museum in Germany for the 60th Anniversary which was being celebrated in Shanghai. They originally wanted me to shoot them on locations around the city but due to a limited amount of time I had to instead photograph them in a container yard and photograph the backgrounds later. It seemed like a good idea at the time because instead of traveling around the congested city with a convoy of trucks and the hassle of loading and unloading priceless cars I could wander the streets shooting freely. But then it came to drop in the cars and of course while I matched the camera angle, camera height and lens used it's been a bit tough getting the shadow's and lighting on the cars just right.
Below is a shot of the GT1 which was the winner of the 1998 Le Mans 24hr. While I think that the retouching is close I'd appreciate some feedback about how to make it better.
Cheers,
Derryck.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=210550\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I have to agree with others, the car needs a lot more snap, here are a couple quick attempts, I hope that you don't mind me working on your image, I'll bring it down once you've seen it. They're basically the same but one is color corrected more for the car. Of course anything in between the two is also possible.
david
(http://upload.pbase.com/ddk/image/100696717/original.jpg)
(http://upload.pbase.com/ddk/image/100696718/original.jpg)
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Could you do a version of this showing that Porsche parked in my driveway?
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Could you do a version of this showing that Porsche parked in my driveway?
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I have friends who can arrange it, but it WILL cost you.
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You might try blurring the wheels to give the impression of motion.
Steve
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Might find some inspiration here: http://www.scottchu.com/ (http://www.scottchu.com/) (Portfolio 1 & 2)
Mike.
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Below is a shot of the GT1 which was the winner of the 1998 Le Mans 24hr. While I think that the retouching is close I'd appreciate some feedback about how to make it better.
Cheers,
Derryck.
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What a beautiful car. I love Porsches. Which other ones did you photograph besides this one? I also love the background you used.
ALain
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What a beautiful car. I love Porsches. Which other ones did you photograph besides this one? I also love the background you used.
ALain
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Something about the rear horizontal spoiler bothers me.Hard to see with the dark bushes in the back.Other than that SWEET!
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Thanks to all those who have responded with great advice and ddk for you attempts with improving the contrast. Thanks Mike for the link to Scott Chu's site. I'm going to work on getting some specular reflections on the edges of the curved surfaces to give it a bit more zap.
Below are a couple other images that I'm currently working on. Attached is also where the cars were originally shot.
I'm certainly no car photographer but when you have an opportunity to work with great product like this it's hard to say no.
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You can keep the GT1 if I can have the 356...
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Great shot - I really like the composition. It's a very good starting point and I bet most people wouldn't even consider that it has been composed of two shots.
I also think adding some radial motion blur on the wheels would help with the authenticity. Remember that motion blur is higher at the edges of the wheels.
Another one is grain. It's hard to tell from a screen-sized shot, but I have a feeling that there's more grain on the background than on the car. Did you use different ISO for the car and the background? Adding the same grain from a blank frame shot with the same ISO might make it more believable.
Finally, I'd crop or clone out the sliver of a street sign on the right edge of the frame.
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You can keep the GT1 if I can have the 356...
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They do look good together though ;-)
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What struck me was 2 things.
The WB and exposure of the car seem to be off just a tad. If you could up the exposure and adjust the WB so the white parts of the car look more white, that will give it the punch.
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This is the final version. Thanks for all the input.
Now with blurred road surface.
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This is the final version. Thanks for all the input.
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Looks good!!!
Steve
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I also think adding some radial motion blur on the wheels would help with the authenticity. Remember that motion blur is higher at the edges of the wheels.
If the car, road underneath it and background are all tack sharp how can the wheels be blurred?
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If the car, road underneath it and background are all tack sharp how can the wheels be blurred?
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I didn't say they shouldn't - I was making a point about the wheels.
edit: What I'm saying either the bg or the car should indeed be blurred as well.
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Here's one more. The background shot was taken a couple of nights ago when strong winds coming up from the south due to a typhoon helped with the composition. It probably still needs work but it's Friday 6pm and time to go get a beer.
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Back to your original post of Porsche. Sorry to jump in so late, but just saw it.
(1). Very little Gaussian blur & small motion blur of background should enhance the car. Also reduce the brightness level of background.
(2). Add truncated headlights trails with grain, opacity & edge fades.
But overall it is a very nice feel of what you have done. that is just my 2c, just a different modified look.
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Here's a couple more. Will have to put this project on the shelf for a while as I'm booked everyday until the latter part of October. The silly season has now begun, not that I'm complaining. Thanks again to all those who have contributed feedback.
Cheers,
Derryck.