335i

My buddy's 335i. Hoping to get feedback on which one is better, crop vs no crop.

If just choosing from these 2, then the first one - leave some space in the image for your car to drive into. However, you might like to try a different crop - crop the top of the first image, leaving the width (and therefore the space in front of the car).

I think some in between crop might be best. Agree with the above - leave some room in front of the car, but take a little bit off the top, unless you are trying to retain the same aspect ratio. You didn't ask, but I have one other thought. I suspect you applied motion blur to the background in post processing. But the car doesn't have the same thing, the contrast with the background makes it look like the car is just sitting there. I wonder if applying the same blur to the car but to a much lesser extent might help a little.

patrick j wrote in post #17867909
I think some in between crop might be best. Agree with the above - leave some room in front of the car, but take a little bit off the top,

I agree, #1 & if you take some off the top it makes the car look longer.
More important, look at the highlight on the trunk & back window. See the highlights there? They are what makes a car three dimensional. The first thing you should look at before you shoot is what the light is doing in the car, & I'd start by lowering the exposure a little & work on bringing the highlights out.
Look at the light on some of the White cars here.

I agree, I like #1 better.....the eyes are drawn towards the car after looking at the streaks of light....it seems to show that the car is driving fast...not so much in the second picture....

For panning shots isnt the idea to put the negative space in back of the vehicle? Giving it that idea it is speeding through the frame? Maybe its just me but I think both crops are a little off

DThriller wrote in post #17875347
For panning shots isnt the idea to put the negative space in back of the vehicle? Giving it that idea it is speeding through the frame? Maybe its just me but I think both crops are a little off

I guess that it depends on what's IN that space behind it. Personally, I usually like the extra space in the front for it to move into.

I like the feel of the first image,

the bright band on the lower left of gold color starts to compete with the car in the 2nd image

That makes sense. Looking at #1's crop again I think its more the excess of headroom and lack of a tiny bit of left room that bothers me

Thanks for all your thoughts. I decided to remaster the photo for more realism.

I prefer the remastered version.

the remastered version does have it's charm, it seems more approachable, more considerate