first post/HDR. my car

[thebrelon]

hi all,

let me quickly introduce myself as this is my first post here.
my name is vincent, I'm 31 and i recently bought a used EOS 400D from a friend of mine after years of considering getting a "real" camera. since then i'm trying to learn on my own and I feel like some healthy comments and critics should help me to improve faster...

well, here is the picture I would like to be C&Ced:

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2856/gtihdr004.jpg

it was shot using my sigma 18-50 F/2.8 at 45mm, 3.2 aperture, 1/160 speed and iso 200 using Av mode.
it's a HDR made of 3 different pix using photomatix

here are the issues I can see:
-the leaf and the front left hand tyre is distracting.
-DOF could have been improved as the rear tyre is blurred.
-the whole picture is too soft. the original HDR (58Mb) isn't but the conversion to JPG took its toll.

any comments and critics is welcome. as well as any advice regarding the conversion to jpg (I have DPP, lightroom and photomatix).

thank you

[nyc2sd]

I'm not sure if you intended to show the road, but I think you could have cropped a bit tighter with less road and less sky.

[pickupman92]

possible to add just a tad more contrast and saturation? the trees and the sky seems very flat. I like the HDR image though, good job.

EDIT: Just a suggestion...You can even do a panoramic crop and crop out the sky.

[int2str]

I like the image a lot, except I think the car is in the wrong place!

The way it's angled it seems like the car is in a ditch - stranded, broken down. I think the same exact camera angle would work much better if the car was fully on the road over to the right.

[pickupman92]

I like the image a lot, except I think the car is in the wrong place!

The way it's angled it seems like the car is in a ditch - stranded, broken down. I think the same exact camera angle would work much better if the car was fully on the road over to the right.

I'm on a quite a few automobile forums and the composition of this shot (car pulled over a little to show the road behind it and where it is) is quite acceptable to enthusiasts.... maybe not so much photographers:)

[int2str]

I'm on a quite a few automobile forums and the composition of this shot (car pulled over a little to show the road behind it and where it is) is quite acceptable to enthusiasts.... maybe not so much photographers:)

I'm much more of a car guy than a photographer, trust me :D
This looks like the car is broken waiting for a tow truck ;)

Just get it on level ground, really...

[vk2gwk]

I like the composition too. The car pops as it should - being the main subject. The background is pleasing and gives some atmosphere... And I would not have noticed the leaf on the tire, but yes, now you mention it.... it adds to the over all mood of the picture.

[AlphaChicken]

I'm much more of a car guy than a photographer, trust me :D
This looks like the car is broken waiting for a tow truck ;)

Just get it on level ground, really...

Disagree. Car is shiny. Looks ready to go.

[Architective]

I'm liking the car! I think that shot compositionally would benefit from a little more of a front quarter view - i.e. step 4 steps to the right. It's hard to tell that is an HDR picture. I guess i'm used to them being way blown out and obnoxious. Keep practicing, this is a good start.

[thebrelon]

first of all thank you for your comments!

I'll give you some background regarding that picture. it was shot to enter a mini-photo contest on a car orientated forum. the theme is the ongoing month (november in that case), each 2009 winner's picture will then be used for the 2010 calendar. the rules are simple the shot has to be 4:3 and there should be some free space in the picture for the calendar.

regarding your comments:
-nyc2sd: I attended to use the road to create some sort of perspective. I may not have been far enough in that way, and should have either cropped the road out or included it in its full width... I'll submit a cropped picture later today, as you suggested.

-pickupman92: I'll try to change the contrast and saturation and see if the background stand out better. by the way I think that it seems so flat because it is out of focus, or am i mistaken? I'll do a panoramic and post it for further comments

-int2str: I agree that the picture would be better if the car wasn't banked. that's a point. the car being already in the lower left corner facing that corner, the fact that it is banking left isn't happy and unbalance the composition of the shot. but it doesn't suffer too much from that as the bank isn't too prononced.

-alphachicken: thanks for the comment!

-architective: thanks for the nice words. I have to check but I think I have other shots from the position you suggested. i will post one, even if it won't be HDR, to see if the compo works better.

thanks again!

[thebrelon]

ok, this is after some more PP using lightroom. it may be a little bit too much...

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/8628/gtihdr1001.jpg

[EnglishBob]

I like the 2nd version much more.

[thebrelon]

next one is cropped to take some of the sky out. i'm not that happy with that one as now, the bank is really annoying...

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8176/gtihdrcrop001.jpg

[PhotosGuy]

I'm on a quite a few automobile forums and the composition of this shot (car pulled over a little to show the road behind it and where it is) is quite acceptable to enthusiasts.... maybe not so much photographers:) I agree with the last part. IMO, only ADs like that non-dynamic framing so they can run type in the image.

Generally, I don't think that HDR works very well for cars, but it's mostly user error, & your PP using lightroom looks much better.
My biggest objection is that, for a single shot not part of a series, the car should look as good as possible & you have reflections from the trees that destroy the natural highlights in the body. And the background shouldn't compete with the car for our attention?
See the links in my Sig for more.

[thebrelon]

I like the 2nd version much more.

thank you! but I didn't realise it was so much off... I really learned something!

[thebrelon]

and lastly a panoramic. not sure about that one too... may be a tighter crop.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7463/gtihdr1002.jpg

[thebrelon]

I agree with the last part. IMO, only ADs like that non-dynamic framing so they can run type in the image.

Generally, I don't think that HDR works very well for cars, but it's mostly user error, & your PP using lightroom looks much better.
My biggest objection is that, for a single shot not part of a series, the car should look as good as possible & you have reflections from the trees that destroy the natural highlights in the body. And the background shouldn't compete with the car for our attention?
See the links in my Sig for more.


thanks for the comments.
regarding the background, as I explained the intent of the shot was to illustrate the month of november, hence fall. the car being only one part of the shot. but that's also why I tried to limit the DOF to the car.
but its true that there may be too much stuff in the background.
I'll have a look at the links in your sig and see how I can improve my technique!