Photos to illustrate this blog were difficult to find because feature cars like these two vintage BMWs normally don't have the issues discussed in the blog, so they don't require the techniques discussed. Thus, these photos will simply show the differences in the angles and what they reveal or obscure. Photos by author.
Few things are more annoying than going over your photos after a shoot and discovering things in them that you prefer weren't there. As we know most cars aren't perfect, even when new. And many of our vintage vehicles are weekend drivers that have experienced their fair share of road rash and possibly have other cosmetic issues.
Just because they may have battle scars, doesn't mean they can't look good in photos. The trick when photographing our own cars is to accentuate their positive aspects and diminish the negative ones. What follows are a few tips on how to do just that.
Evaluation
Chances are one side of your car looks better than the other. Since you may never have looked at it this closely with taking photos in mind, here are a few things to consider before you even head out to the location.
Body
Paint—Chips, scratches, fading, discoloration, mismatched color due to repair
Dents—Small parking lot dings to moderate sized blemishes
Bumpers—Condition of the chrome or paint, dings, straightness
Grilles—Chips in the paint, fading, cracks, broken pieces, straightness
Emblems—Condition of the finish, straightness
Body panel gaps—Size, continuity
Graphics and/or stripes—Condition, straightness
Trim—Dings, scratches, shine or lack thereof
Glass—Chips, cracks
Wheel-wells—Chips, scratches, fading, discoloration, mismatched color due to repair, rust
Undercarriage
Suspension—Condition of the finishes, rust
Wheels—Condition of the chrome, aluminum or paint (color or clearcoat), trim rings, lug nuts, wheel center emblems or wheel covers
Tires— Condition of sidewalls, especially white letters if so equipped
Add up the pluses and minuses of each side to help decide which one to photograph.
Procedures
Here are some techniques to draw attention toward the positive visual aspects of your car and away from negative ones. Dead-on front and dead-on rear photos will reveal every crooked component in those areas because both sides of the car, which are mirror images of one another, can be directly compared.
When trying to downplay aesthetic issues, try to avoid using the 35mm to 80mm "normal" range focal lengths and 90mm to 150mm and higher telephoto settings and moderate or low camera positions, as they render the front end evenly, allowing for instant comparisons side to side. Compare this nearly dead-on front photo shot at 85mm to the lead ¾ front photo shot at 26mm. See the difference in the distortion of the nose? Note the relative size of the head lamps in the two photos. They're almost equally sized in this photo but the in the lead photo the one closest to the camera is considerably larger.
My advice is to instead shoot front ¾ and rear ¾ photos. First, more of the car can be seen in each shot. Second, the composition is usually more dynamic. Third, a poorly fitting grille, header panel, valance panel and/or headlamp door and slightly crooked front or rear bumper will be less obvious, as will wide panel gaps on the side of the car (when compared to a dead-on side shot).
Too lessen the impact of a slightly hanging bumper or misaligned grille etc., try shooting your front ¾ photos with a wide-angle lens—28mm or down to 16mm (not a fisheye). The slight distortion of using a wide angle, the diminishing perspective and the ¾ composition will all conspire to make less obvious the fact that not all of your car's front end parts (or rear end parts) are lined up perfectly.
This is a "grab shot" that was taken simply to check exposure prior to doing action photos, so please disregard the lighting, reflections on the car and the background. Concentrate instead on the front end. This photo combines both the wide angle (17mm in this case) with a higher shooting position (standing, eye level). You can still see the front end of the car, but if the bumper was slightly tweaked or the front spoiler was misaligned, you wouldn't see that. You would, however, in the previous photo.
Also, experiment with the camera position relative to the car. Check it eye-level, and up high, a little to the left and a little to the right to determine which one provides the best look with regard to hiding components that are somewhat askew or aesthetically challenged, while still retaining a favorable composition.
Keep in mind regarding the low angle, if the valance panel or bumper is not straight or its dinged, or the suspension of your car is not detailed, those dramatic ground-level shots where it looks like the car is going to roll over you at any second, may not be the best idea. This is because the valance and bumper will be even more prominent in the photo than when shooting from a standing position. Additionally, grimy suspension parts may be visible in the photo and may even be lit by the sun if it's very late in the day, so it competes with the shiny body paint for attention. If, however, the car is very low in front or there's a front spoiler that obscures the suspension then you may be able to take this type of photo.
The rear of this BMW was shot at a 70mm focal length.
Sometimes a sun visor just doesn't stay up anymore, no matter what you do. If this is case with your car then put them both down. This way it looks more like you did it on purpose and not by accident.
Exposed windshield wipers are rarely even with one-another, but still try to at least get them close on the windshield by carefully moving one by hand just to take up any slack in the system. Make sure neither are touching the reveal molding at the base of the windshield.
Sometimes you get the car set up just right and position the camera exactly where you want it to get the perfect composition. You look through the viewfinder or at the screen only to see an intense hotspot from the sun reflecting off of a piece of stainless body trim that will ruin the photo. Yet if you move the camera far enough to make it go away, the composition is then compromised. The quick fix in this situation is to place a piece (or two) of clear Scotch tape, the satin finish not shiny, over the offending area. More times than not, the hotspot will be reduced to the point of it being a non-issue in the photo, and if done carefully, the tape won't be noticeable.
And this one was taken at 16mms. Note how the size and, consequently, the impact of the passenger side taillamp is diminished in this photo when compare to the previous one.
Parking lot dings can be made more obvious by reflections in the side of the car. Using a polarizing filter to remove, move or lesson (depending upon the lighting conditions) these reflections can render the dings less noticeable and in some cases, nearly invisible.
Many of us enjoy taking photos at dusk with the parking lamps or headlamps on. Invariably, that's the first time we realize that one of the head lamps, front parking lamps or taillamps appears to be slightly brighter than the other. It will be obvious in a dead-on front or rear shot. But again, the wide angle ¾ shot may come to the rescue. Compose the shot so the dimmer of the two lamps is closest to the camera and you may be able to render both as evenly lit in the photo, since the brighter lamp is now further from the camera and smaller in the frame than the dimmer lamp. You can even try the opposite set up, placing the brighter lamp closer to the camera so that the viewer assumes the far lamp was just as bright but doesn't seem so because it's further away.
Conclusion
Though the best course of action would be to repair and/or realign the items discussed in this blog before you take photos of your vintage vehicle, not everyone has the resources to do that. The point of owning these cars in first place is usually to have fun with them, so by giving the exterior no more than a thorough cleaning and then employing these tips as needed, the resulting photos should make the car look better than if no thought was expended on reducing the prominence of its battle scars or less than perfectly aligned body parts.
Using the information regarding camera settings, and the basics of setting up the photoshoot and preparing the car, from the blogs Take better photos of your car, today, Ideas for backgrounds when photographing your car, and A few lighting tips for photographing your car can also help to maximize your vintage vehicle's photographic potential.
from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1sOCacY
No comments:
Post a Comment