Storm Titanium industrial photo shoot

[skiddo]

a few basic tips.

1. keep it simple - avoid ugly distractions - good example is the disabled signs and bushy tree in your first shot

2. give the subject a little room to breathe - background, foreground and from the edge of the frame

3. avoid things that cut the lines - lambo shot 2

4. square up your shots - buildings/horizon etc

5. be aware of reflected surroundings - unless you're using them for effect

are you tall? looks like to are, get a little lower.
try slighly underexposing your shots too - once the highlights have gone there's no bringing them back...

[skiddo]

from a bit back...

[ChrisStarrUSA]

Haven't posted in a while... this one is a silhouette with extra grain...

[308tr6]

Ive just started poking around this forum and happened upon these shoots.
Already been said, but stunning work guys!!!! (begging for more)

[fj0]

Great photos of a beautiful car!

[Trendy Exige]

Those town hall Manchester pictures made an impression on me. Where do I sign up for this photopgraphy class???

Some of the visual elements such as tone and color are difficult to capture harmoniously in Los Angeles, we don't quite often get the opportunity to find a gloomy mystical environment since its usually very sunny and smoggy here.

Skiddo, if you ever come by to Los Angeles, you think you can take pictures of some of the Lotus exige/elise guy's cars?

The pictures you've taken are indeed phenomenal, they should be submitted into the Lotus Exige brochures! It was because of your photographs, I was compelled to purchase a Storm Titanium Exige S!

Your photogrpahs make our import car magazines pictorials here in the States look like a joke.

I'm definitely subscribing to this thread....

-andy

[skiddo]

i'd love to come shoot in LA! it's rained here everyday for over a month!!! am borderline suicidal at the minute. if i'm ever there i will get in touch and you can line up some cars to shoot.

appreciate your kind words and those of others, cheers.

i would dearly love to work on shooting some images for lotus - i doubt they would ever entertain it though. it just doesn't work that way.

glad to have notched up yet another sale for them - lol, i mean, why pay me, when i'm doing it anyway?

[Vishus_1]

Following your advice, here are some new pictures

[Vishus_1]

Oh ok...here is another new one

[Vishus_1]

and one last one from the original batch... (not as good but interesting subject matter)

[ZAMMY1]

absolutely stunning work!
thank you so much for sharing!
sam

[XPcarguy]

Originally Posted by skiddo

a few basic tips.

1. keep it simple - avoid ugly distractions - good example is the disabled signs and bushy tree in your first shot

2. give the subject a little room to breathe - background, foreground and from the edge of the frame

3. avoid things that cut the lines - lambo shot 2

4. square up your shots - buildings/horizon etc

5. be aware of reflected surroundings - unless you're using them for effect

are you tall? looks like to are, get a little lower.
try slighly underexposing your shots too - once the highlights have gone there's no bringing them back...

Those are all great tips but you are oversimplfying. More to the point, you're sidestepping the single most important aspect of your photos... the light. Most people take snapshots. Even the best composed snapshot is still boring to anyone not emotionally invested in the subject. Your photos are breathtaking because you understand light. BTW, in "from yesterday", did you control the light or just get lucky and find a place and time of day that would produce the effect you wanted?

[mopho]

Originally Posted by XPcarguy

More to the point, you're sidestepping the single most important aspect of your photos... the light.

And the post work in Photoshop, which has more to do with the look than the light

[UltimateLurker]

I agree, Skiddo's lighting is just the absolute best. I've tried to mimic his stuff in Photoshop 'cause I don't have a great camera (or great skill for that matter), and it's crazy difficult to be even mildly successful at it.

Here's one that turned out OK (sorry it's an STi)

[mopho]

That is because he is shooting on overcast days (every day in the UK ) or in open shade between buildings, which makes the light soft, which is great for cars that don't require a lot of sun to make the color pop (or when shooting B&W)
But the majority of the look he is achieving is created through creative PS work (and could have been done in a dark room in the good ol' days) and not some miraculous use of light

In no way trying to take away from what he is doing, as the real creativity is in the compositions and how he applies the post work



Did this real quick



Here is the before

[skiddo]

lol. that lil' ol' side stepper me! i did say basic tips!

vish - much better - square off the images and they will be even better still.

xp do you mean the early shot by the imperial war museum north? if so, luck not judgment. turned up couldn't find any empty shade without other parked vehicles. that was the only spot. it was dazzling sunshine, so looked at how the light was hitting the surroundings and parked the car to catch it and have the shadow of it cut the path. then shot it from every angle possible.

UL i like the your sti pp - light/shade on the car looks excellent. now if you'd placed the car to either miss the trees and low bush or have it sit in harmony with, i think the shot would have been killer. you are on the right track for sure.

morgan you are spot on. i come from film and darkroom. one of the things that terrified me about going digital was not being able to chose a film stock for it's aesthetic properties and then not being able to go in the darkroom and burn and dodge... shudder. i got over it by making my shoots look less digital (hopefully).
i spend time in post to get the mood i think suits mine and the shot.

so lets run it again less simply.

keep it simple

square your image (unkess you are tilting for effect)

composition - find harmony - avoid ugly distractions

light - it's everywhere, but not always of the same quality, it's important you try and make the most of what you have...

exposure - get it right.

focus - get it sharp

post production - get creative - the trick is to try and not make it look like you've fudged it!

this is a great thread. i love it.

[Pesky]

Originally Posted by skiddo

this is a great thread. i love it.

About time you got your car on track, instead of playing with your Kodak Brownie!






Only kidding - keep up the stunning work


PS Some great shots, by others too

[UltimateLurker]

Originally Posted by skiddo

UL i like the your sti pp - light/shade on the car looks excellent. now if you'd placed the car to either miss the trees and low bush or have it sit in harmony with, i think the shot would have been killer. you are on the right track for sure.

Thanks for the tips. The STi is a bit of an ugly-duckling, so the angle I chose is the best angle for the car, which helped the pic a lot. I know what I really need; to hop on over to your place for a photoshoot...lol.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by skiddo

one of the things that terrified me about going digital was not being able to chose a film stock for it's aesthetic properties and then not being able to go in the darkroom and burn and dodge... shudder.

Heehee.

No reason to stop - pick up a secondhand Toyo/Sinar/Calumet and make us some big prints, mate!

[mopho]

Originally Posted by codymac

Heehee.

No reason to stop - pick up a secondhand Toyo/Sinar/Calumet and make us some big prints, mate!

But digital is much better, you have many more options for creating a "film stock" and you have a thousand times more control for dodging and burning plus many more tools to create different looks that you could never do with film.
Not to mention the fact that when you are done, you can save it so your next print is exactly the same as your first, even if you print it months later, something that was impossible with printing in a darkroom






I have not touched my medium format or 4x5 cameras in over 5 years. I miss the cameras, not the film. I wish medium and large format digital was more reasonably priced