Learn me: Automotive photography

In reply to pappatho:

That would be a handy feature to have! Sadly, my camera does not do this.

First I'd learn the basics of photography back like you did in the 35mm film days, not saying to get a 35mm camera, but get a nice primer on photography and do everything manual to really learn it. Photography is all about managing light and your own creative eye, any camera can give you good results (even point and shoots) but it's really the lenses that are the most important thing equipment wise.

So get as good a set of lenses as you can afford (used is fine from some place like KEH) for whatever camera you go with. You just need to determine what kind of shooting you'd like to do to determine what lenses you'll need. A normal (50mm film equivalent) to 20mm film equivalent lens works well for static car shots like for cars shows and if you want to do racing photography you would probably want telephoto lenses in the 200mm-300mm range as well. Macros are great if you like to get up close for components of vehicle in an artistic manner.

I personally prefer only using prime lenses (single focal length non-zoom) to shoot. I'm also archaic in using old film lenses on an old digital SLR body (Olympus E-1, 5MP sensor) and compose every shot. I'd love to upgrade to a newer camera body and may do so at one point (thinking used E-3), but my E-1 still works fine and I really don't have money to spend on hobbies now. Racing photography is one of my favorite subjects, but I hardly do it or go to any races...

Some of my favorite types of shots to take below:

A) Late morning/harsh mid-day sun, very sharp images at expense of contrast (without ND filters)...

B) Fog+ overcast = nice diffuse lighting

C) Really late afternoon/early morning, when the sun is lower and not so harsh

Late afternoon

Early Morning

D) Night time:

E) And anywhere with very good lighting setup also works great for inexpensive point and shoots:

F) Engine bay/details of car shots:

In reply to Vracer111:

Thank you very much!!!

I started with cheap throw away for years, then got a camcorder and ditial combo. Used it for a bit till 2008 when I got a nikon d60 that I used till this year when I upgradded to a nikon d5200 combo from ebay that was a greatbdeal for everything that was inculded.

Learn what the different camera settings are for. Nobody reads the manual... but Canon manuals are actually really good and usually describe what you would use different settings for. So read the manual. Actually have the camera in hand and a take photos while you're going through the manual. You will learn a LOT very quickly.

Shoot in RAW and buy the latest version Adobe Lightroom -- it's cheap and ridiculously powerful. Find some Lightroom tutorials on Youtube. It may sound strange, but using good software will make you a better photographer, because you'll learn the intricacies of your photographs and precisely how the settings, lighting, and composition affect the final result.

Get a tripod. If you have a Costco nearby they tend to have good deals on decent tripods. I bought a Dolica carbon fiber piece for $80 last year. It has served me well.

Experiment with different lighting conditions. Don't be afeareded of long exposures. Use your tripod!

Get a good flashlight. This will come in handy for long exposure at night where you don't have any directed light. You can do a LOT with just a small LED flashlight.

Find car photos you like and try to replicate them. Not everyone is willing to share their methods, but it's always worth asking nicely!

If you have them locally, I've found both my tripods at garage sales for under 5$.
As far as lighting, this shot was with the led flash on my smartarsephone

Just a little more general commentary.

It's very easy to get hung up on the equipment, even for experienced photographers. While it's true that certain pieces of kit allow you expanded capabilities, it's more often the case that the plethora of choices gets in the way of good photography. For this reason I particularly like shooting with prime (non-zoom) lenses or fixed-lens cameras. They force you work within limits to achieve good results rather than spending your time trying to figure out how to avoid making hard choices.

Since we've started posting pictures here, I'll put up a few as well. Some I've posted here before, others are new. All shot with a 50mm lens on a 50+ year old camera.

As an alternative to the big 2, consider going with Pentax. I love love love my K-30 DSLR. The controls and menus were a lot more intuitive for me over the similarly priced Canon/Nikon options, and with Pentax you get weather sealed bodies and lenses on even their basic kits. I like shooting outside or having my camera in my motorcycle's tank bag without having to worry about it too much. An additional plus, Pentax is still using the same K-mount from the mid 70's effectively, meaning all your father's or grandfather's legacy lenses will mount and work on even the newest body. With in-body image stabilization, legacy lenses also benefit.

Some of my recent favorites... first two were taken with the kit 18-135 WR zoom, the last with a sigma 28mm mini-wide II film lens I got on eBay for $15 shipped. I want some wider lenses for better shooting the northern lights...

Bump, with intentions to start a photography thread in off-topic.

skierd wrote: Bump, with intentions to start a photography thread in off-topic.

Please do! And maybe with every picture give the details to gear used, techniques, etc. That would be awesome

So, here's a bump and a question: how interested would you guys be in learning the backstories behind the photos in GRM? No promises, but say we let you pick 3 or 4 photos from each issue, and we explain how we got them to the board. Photos we buy from freelancers would be tougher, but we shoot most stuff in-house so it should work.

Thoughts?

I would like that. I'm not a photographer, but I take a lot of photos. I'm always looking at ways to do better.

I like NIKON simply because once you by a lens, it stays with you. Some other manufactures "upgrade" the spears, interface, etc... meaning new lenses.

I use an old Nikon D70. 6 mega pixels. If you aren't blowing the photos up to poster size, it works well. I use a small lens for close in work (15mm-80mm, I think) and an 80-300mm for distance. If you do a lot of static shots, a small lens will be fine. Don't think $10,000 worth of gear will make you a great photographer. There are people that could blow me out of the water with a point and shoot.

If you think car action shots are hard, try airplanes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/106843723@N02/

Some of my photos. I'm still learning but we got a canon T3 a few years ago and I love it. I need to get a better zoom lens for better action shots from the stands but pictures around the pits are great.

slantvaliant wrote: I would like that. I'm not a photographer, but I take a lot of photos. I'm always looking at ways to do better.

Sounds like a plan. Pick a photo—any photo.

Played at it for a long time. Havent had much time for it lately, but I have some I shot a few years back knocking around.

I use a Nikon D70 (no money for better right now)