static car shooting

[PHOTO SNIPER]

hi guys

having been to a few recent car shows with overcast cloudy conditions the colours in the image have been a bit washed out and im obviously not happy so i have tried under exposing the shot and talked to a pro tog and he gave a few tips like using flash to saturate the colour.could anyone help me out with tips or advice please and any examples you have.thanks Duncan

 

[shabba]

Shoot in RAW, then up the colour satration and temp in Phototoshop (or simailr program).

Also ensure the white balance is on the right mode, cloudly etc.

 

[Dal]

Can you post up an example of the shots your not happy with so we can help a bit more.

I sometimes use some fill flash to make a car colour pop but it doesn't always work and can sometimes wash out colours.

Setting the right white balance will make a huge difference. If it's cloudy then sunny then cloudy then sunny then you will need to keep changing the white balance (assuming you are shooting in jpeg).

if you do shoot in RAW then you need to adjust it later but I find it easier setting it in camera.

Here's an example I took the other day using fill flash.

Ignore the fact it's not a great photo.

You gotta remember that shooting car shows is tricky with all the background distractions and people walking in the shots aswell.

 

[PHOTO SNIPER]

hi guys thanks for the reply i do try and change the white balance to the conditions and i try and do as much on the camera as possible as i don't like spending hours on the computer and im new to post processing



these two shots i popped up the built in flash and used AP mode and like a Muppet deleted the before shots which was a bit dull by about a stop

this one is just on A P mode,cheers

i will try and chuck a few more up tomorrow guys as i have jammed up my flickr so have to put them in my gallery

 

[PHOTO SNIPER]

this shot was underexposed by one stop

 

[AndWhyNot]

this shot was underexposed by one stop

You need a circular polarising filter (CPL). What you're seeing is not the car's colour but a reflection of the overcast sky. The CPL will cut down on glare and restore saturation to reflective surfaces. Look in this recent shot of mine which used a CPL to see how the car renders as black rather than some wishy-washy reflection of grey clouds.

By underexposing that last shot you've nudged the metering towards the correct values. When using on of the camera's auto modes a dark scene will always overexpose and the opposite is true for a light scene.

 

[PHOTO SNIPER]

You need a circular polarising filter (CPL).

cheers mate i had one in the bag aswell:bonk:i will be going out in my car tomorrow so will do some shots befor and after using my cpl and post them up.thanks again D

 

[Dal]

Hehe, I saw him smack that back corner up at Wembley Allstars whilst showing off doing some doughnuts.

As said above, they just need a circular polariser.

Here's one of that car in action.