I was debating about getting a SLR camera (probably a Canon) and was wondering how my entry level photos are of my car with my cheapy point and shoot Panasonic camera...






Thanks

 

pretty much point and shoot?

 

ya I have a setting on my camera for night shots, but I need a tripod in order for the pics to come out visible so these pics are just from the auto setting on my TZ1

 

With my D80, I would have used a slow shutter speed (say 1/20th) and the speedlight with a bounce card, angled about 45 degrees or so. Speedlight to evenly light up the car, slow shutter speed to capture the light from the background.
(If I had more speedlights, I'd put them into wireless and hit the car with light from more angles. :D)

 

buickid any examples of some of these types of pics

 

Hmm, don't have any at the moment, I'll try and snap some when I get the chance.

 

the last couple shots need a tripod.. play around with the manual setting so that you can learn about the effects of shutter speed and ISO.. play around with those settings with the flash OFF.. here are a couple shots with a long shutter speed (30 secs) and a low ISO shot with a canon rebel XT.





the composure of the other pics are good but i think that one mistake that everyone makes is that they turn the wheel the wrong way. you see how the first and third pic you have the wheel pointed towards the camera and thats not where you want it to point. next time turn the wheel the other way so that you dont show off the narrow tire and the fender liner. turn it the other way and youll show off the face of the wheel. hope it helps and im glad youre getting into photography!

 

Some tricks to get good shots with a point and shoot is put the camera on a 2 second delay timer function. that way your not moving the camera around when you press the button to take the shot.

Especially with night shots its always good to have lighting like in the second 2 last pic ur xb would have come out better if it was right under the building light since the flash from the almost all cameras is never powerful enough even using the night mode on a camera.

just my opinion the if your going to have your front wheels turned in a shot they should be facing the other way in shots that way your able to see the entire wheel and it looks more pleasinf to the human eye

 

ocrida
great lookin xb2
clean and sweet

 

yes! ocrida thats what i mean pointing the wheels the right direction.. why show off the tire and what youve run over?

 

I use a canon Rebel XTI. I just got it so I am still learning all the functions and what they do. But here is a couple pics of mine that I was taking in the garage the other night to see how it looked.
In Night mode.


just normal mode with flash



Not the best pics at all. But I am trying to learn this camera.

 

wow thanks guys this is really helping me out and the next chance I get off work I will play around in manual mode and get a tripod and see what we can come up with. I will keep posting pics if you guys will keep giving pointers!! Really appreciate the help!!

 

no problem thats what the scion family is all about

 

i just bought the same type of cf engine cover nolimiitzind. from fastscions.com, but it looks to plain i want to add something to the middle like the oem one any suggestion peeps? do u guys think a vinly stickers would melt on the cover?

 

Hey i use a nikon d2h. and like others have said i am still learning all the functions the camera has. But i have learned two things: 1. play with the camera and try all the settings to see what it comes out like and 2. read the manual!!! if you are like me you would rather just play with it til you get, but surprise surprise when you read you can sometimes learn things faster...

just my .02

 

First thing's first, if you're going to do night stuff like that you're going to need to invest in a tripod before anything else. Secondly, with SLR's getting more affordable by the day, upgrading to one is a lot easier now. There's tons of used stuff as well but if you're going to go with an SLR it won't be as straight forward as your point and shoot.

For now, just work on getting your setup to where it looks good and then once you upgrade worry about camera settings. Some basic tips, watch for reflections on the body, don't go overboard with your angles, rule of thirds (google it if you don't know what it means,) leave room around the car so it's not stuffed over to the top of bottom, etc.

Practice, practice, practice... look around at what other people do and get your own style from there.

Here are a few examples of what I stated:

 

Great job This one is dope! it just screams faaast!

 

Those are some nice pics as well.

 

wow thanks guys! I just talked to a camers goo roo at my work and basically said the same kinda stuff. I hope to get some decent weather tomorrow to practice more

 

Here's some other examples of some really nice pics IMO...







This one does a pretty good job of the rule of thirds...