Topic: Porsche GT1 (Read 9884 times)

Derryck · « **on:** July 25, 2008, 02:48:56 am »

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.

kaelaria · « **Reply #1 on:** July 25, 2008, 07:32:27 am »

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.

Josh-H · « **Reply #2 on:** July 25, 2008, 08:14:29 am »

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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.

ddk · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2008, 08:48:13 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.
[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

TaoMaas · « **Reply #4 on:** July 25, 2008, 09:05:18 am »

Could you do a version of this showing that Porsche parked in my driveway?

ddk · « **Reply #5 on:** July 25, 2008, 09:34:20 am »

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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.

vandevanterSH · « **Reply #6 on:** July 25, 2008, 10:29:33 am »

You might try blurring the wheels to give the impression of motion.

Steve

wolfnowl · « **Reply #7 on:** July 25, 2008, 10:43:10 am »

Might find some inspiration here: http://www.scottchu.com/ (Portfolio 1 & 2)

Mike.

alainbriot · « **Reply #8 on:** July 25, 2008, 04:28:59 pm »

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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.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=210550\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

What a beautiful car. I love Porsches. Which other ones did you photograph besides this one? I also love the background you used.

ALain

peteh · « **Reply #9 on:** July 25, 2008, 08:59:23 pm »

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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
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=210674\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Something about the rear horizontal spoiler bothers me.Hard to see with the dark bushes in the back.Other than that SWEET!

Derryck · « **Reply #10 on:** July 26, 2008, 01:02:28 am »

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.

mahleu · « **Reply #11 on:** July 26, 2008, 01:40:27 am »

You can keep the GT1 if I can have the 356...

feppe · « **Reply #12 on:** July 26, 2008, 05:05:48 am »

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.

alainbriot · « **Reply #13 on:** July 27, 2008, 11:22:13 am »

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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 ;-)

BFoto · « **Reply #14 on:** July 27, 2008, 12:26:10 pm »

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.

Derryck · « **Reply #15 on:** July 28, 2008, 08:32:16 am »

This is the final version. Thanks for all the input.

Now with blurred road surface.

vandevanterSH · « **Reply #16 on:** July 28, 2008, 10:04:33 am »

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This is the final version. Thanks for all the input.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=211143\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Looks good!!!

Steve

DarkPenguin · « **Reply #17 on:** July 28, 2008, 11:42:07 am »

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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?

feppe · « **Reply #18 on:** July 28, 2008, 03:11:39 pm »

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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.

Derryck · « **Reply #19 on:** August 01, 2008, 06:03:26 am »

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.

Author Topic: Porsche GT1 (Read 9884 times)

DarkPenguin