My first car photoshoot

[Mastamarek]

Hi everyone.
I m a new user here but it seems like you have a great community here. I have a canon XTi and thats about it. lol. I have just ordered a 50mm 1.8II and 28-105mm II lenses as I m on a budget. So hopefully some better pics will come soon. I m looking for critique for my current pics. Some of them might not be too sharph as I used a $5 UV filer and ya, it degrades quality quite a bit. lol Anywas here are my pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastamarek/sets/72157621410012683/

thx in advance
Marek

EDIT:
here are teh pics:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3725290633_aa597c9d95.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/3725290689_d7fb5dd4e2.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3422/3726098522_3cd7e70f8b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/3726098568_407d762bbc.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3726098624_fc99de0910.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2672/3725290881_9a1ac5bc70.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/3725290951_982d5f28c1.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3725291047_4c19f24495.jpg

Higher res pics are in the first link.

[BCDH]

First, people like when you embed images into your post, so you might get some more responses if you do that.

As for your pictures -- not a bad start! They're well exposed and the angles are decent. The most prominent issues with your photos are your backgrounds and reflections.

Your backgrounds are busy and take your attention away from the car. The poles and signs growing from the car are also pretty distracting. Try to look for angles that hide the busy background or, if you are allowed to move the car, don't hesitate to do so!

As for reflections, a car as basically a big mirror (some paints do a better job at reflecting than others) and this is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you NEED this trait to make the cars look good. Highlights are one of the key factors in automotive photography since they help show the shape of the car. On the other hand though, reflections can hide the shape of the car and can be distracting. Trees, poles, and buildings do the most damage I find. You need to find a location (or set up lights yourself) that will give you good highlights but minimize nasty reflections.

Also, take a look in the Transportation forum. You'll find a lot of awesome info in there.

Keep at it!

[Mastamarek]

First, people like when you embed images into your post, so you might get some more responses if you do that.

As for your pictures -- not a bad start! They're well exposed and the angles are decent. The most prominent issues with your photos are your backgrounds and reflections.

Your backgrounds are busy and take your attention away from the car. The poles and signs growing from the car are also pretty distracting. Try to look for angles that hide the busy background or, if you are allowed to move the car, don't hesitate to do so!

As for reflections, a car as basically a big mirror (some paints do a better job at reflecting than others) and this is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you NEED this trait to make the cars look good. Highlights are one of the key factors in automotive photography since they help show the shape of the car. On the other hand though, reflections can hide the shape of the car and can be distracting. Trees, poles, and buildings do the most damage I find. You need to find a location (or set up lights yourself) that will give you good highlights but minimize nasty reflections.

Also, take a look in the Transportation forum. You'll find a lot of awesome info in there.

Keep at it!

thx for the input. Yes, the parking lot I shot was pretty busy and I couldn't really move the car around. I really need to find a new place to shoot. I wish I had the $$ for photoshop as I feel that some of those growing poles can be edited out.

[gonzogolf]

Couple of things. If the $5 uv filter is degrading your sharpness, take it off... Secondly, don't depend on photoshop to fix things you could take take of when you shoot, it leads to bad habits. If you cant afford photoshop right now, google GIMP. Its a free distribution image software with near photoshop functionality. Did I mention its free?