Mkiv TDi Golf

I took these trying to get a little more "low" light practice. I took these around 10:30 at night. Both shots were Iso 400, f4 on the 24-105, the side was 1/4, and the front diagonal was 1/5 exposure. Both shots are straight off the camera other than resizing. As usual, any and all feedback appreciated.

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Nice light on the side in #1!

How long after sunset is that for you?
I'm assuming that you want to keep the arrangement with the poles, so you won't want to crop tighter. I've had to shoot crops like that to leave room for type & think you should think about cropping out a lot of the road which doesn't add to the shot.

How tall are you, anyway? I might move the seat forward so the headrests are partially hidden behind the B-post.

I honestly don't care for the location (the poles, there's also a big billboard from another angle). I really just wanted to practice automotive photography some more as I haven't done so for almost a year now. This spot at least allowed for the direct side lighting. Moving the seats / head rests is a good idea. I'm 6', but I prefer to sit as far away from the air bag as possible (without losing reach of the pedals).

I'm happy with the lighting of the hood and top of the car in the 2nd, but the side has a lot of reflection in it, and the headlights are a bit overexposed. I suppose I could experiment using 2 cpl's (I just ordered another set to try out the Hoya's, and for the new 67mm lens).

This was all of half an hour after sunset. It really doesn't get dark until 12 or so, and even then it isn't easy to see any stars. The light looked nice around 3-3:30 this morning (about an hour before sunrise), but I was hoping to go back asleep instead of taking a few more shots.

I don't mind the side reflections as they add interest. Might tone them down a bit of blend in a slightly later shot. Same for the headlights.
Try a Layer Mask for easy local changes. Post #9:
Airport runway shoot

I think they look a tad soft.

I agree on the reflections. They look cool.

MKV tdi owner here (and I've had at least a dozen dubs)

Maybe a tighter crop and the use of a CP would have helped a bit. Not bad though.

And if you are there, and in true vwvortex style..... LOWER IT

Both of these were with a CP. I was trying to brace myself for these as they were handheld, but the 2nd is still a bit soft.

syntrix I won't be modifying this car. I'm here for another year and want to be able to sell it quickly and easily. With how expensive cars are here, I don't need to lose possible customers over a set of springs. I could have bought 2 new Golf's in the US for what this went for at 4 years old

So I got to spend some time on photoshop today. I worked with a few shots. Here's a before and after of one of them. The biggest improvement to me was cleaning up the reflections. I also did a very light blur on the background and foreground, as well as a very soft vignette. My goal is only to enhance the picture, not make it look fake. Please let me know if there's anything I should do differently.

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syntrix wrote in post #5990618
MKV tdi owner here (and I've had at least a dozen dubs)

Maybe a tighter crop and the use of a CP would have helped a bit. Not bad though.

And if you are there, and in true vwvortex style..... LOWER IT

ROFL!! First thing I thought when I saw the photos...

LOWER!!!!!!!

I had a 2.Slow in the same color. I miss it.

I'm tempted to chip it, put some some nice coil overs, and lightweight wheels. But I already have 1 project car (in storage with a fully built engine that's never been cranked ), and I'd rather not make this harder to sell.

Any feedback on my latest?

I think you can throw some more contrast in there.

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tedBalog wrote in post #6014286

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I think this is awesome! I like the edit and the best part, the image doesn't look "fake" like the OP had feared.

Definitely like my dubs!