Old cars and hot rods C&C welcomed

[KimC]

Kim, I think both of these of great. Both are great compositions, colors are vivid and eye catching but, my eye keeps going to the second image. Something about that '56 Chevy and the mustard color....

Thank you Jack. I usually don't like yellow, but I agree about the mustard color :-)

[KimC]

I really enjoy these pictures as I am a bit of a car enthusiast, perhaps more in the past than now. I am prejudiced towards the Fords though even though the mustard colour looks nice. I like the choice of view with these.

Thank you Tony. I love cars as well -- especially sports cars. My dad had a '76 Corvette when I was a late teenager and boy, did I love driving that!

[KimC]

Speaking of which, what is the purpose of the choice of view with these? I think a front-side angle shot would have shown the cars better overall. No problem, just curious.

Nick, thanks for both of your messages. The venue was very crowded and there was stuff all over the place. I would have liked to get a side shot, but nothing lent itself to that view.

[KimC]

Is that the lens we talked about?

Outstanding rendition when it comes to colour characteristics.
Focusing is not to the level, though.

Exif of the first shot says:
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/400 sec, f/2.2, ISO 900
I would have chosen ƒ5.6 or more… DoF a tad too shallow!

Exif of the second shot says:
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 200
Again, DoF a tad too shallow and PoF at the improper place, IMO.

Don't you ever give up! ;-)

Daniel, thank you for pointing me in the right direction with this lens :-) I can't wait to play with it this weekend! Thank you for being very specific about what you would have used for DOF - very helpful. Focusing seems to be my nemesis - I know I need to get it off auto focus, but I've had trouble with manual.

I have no plans to give up - no way! Love it way too much! :-)

[KimC]

As usual, I will go for #1 because of the simplicity of the shot. Period. I would advice using a CPL next time you shoot static cars like these one to tone down the shine.

Thank you Izzie. I know there were a few comments about toning down the shine. It's funny thou, as I actually love the reflection in the mustard car... I will experiment next time with a shiny object to see the difference a filter would make.

[KimC]

Very nice Kim, great colour and again your well controlled PP work

I will not mention the DoF because I suspect these were very much a trial to see what it could do.

As for outside your comfort zone the results suggest it certainly was not outside the lens or cameras

Grahame

Thank you Grahame. With PP, my goal is to try and keep it as close to natural as possible; otherwise it's only an illusion (IMO)...

[KimC]

Try out a very different mindset: Make high ISO your least important concern. Capture the photo in every other respect the way you want it even if it means using a high ISO. Example: Would you rather have a sharp photo with high ISO or an unsharp photo with low ISO?

This isn't to say that you should ignore the impact of high ISO. As an example, if you need to use a certain large aperture to be able to shoot at a low ISO, look for the images that can be successful using a large aperture; the images that require using a small aperture will have to wait for another day.

Having said that, if you're trying to avoid noise, nailing the exposure will usually do more for avoiding noise than using a low ISO. I shoot at high ISO regularly (albeit using a camera that handles it reasonably well) and rarely have issues with noise. I never have them when I have nailed the exposure.

Mike, thank you for both of your posts. You provided some very good practical advice which I plan to start applying immediately. I think your comment about not worrying about the ISO will really help with DOF. I also plan to start looking at the LCD as you described (have had a hard time with that since it's not large - may have to get some "readers").

[KimC]

It's always good to stretch your shooting outside the box. You never know what you can learn that might help what's in the box. Nice image of the antique with a different sort of composition. Nice colors in #2.

Thank you Steve. I agree. I always try to travel outside the box as that is what stretches us -- apply that to my work life as well.

[KimC]

Hi Kim,

If #1 was mine, which is very unlikely because I have never thought, when out shooting, to compose like that; I either go for the whole car or a (much) smaller part of it
I digress (to compliment you) anyway, I would consider, in PP, changing the colour of the red rectangle as it attracts attention away from the subject.

Cheers, Dave

Thank you Dave... this is why I love this site. I found your comment about the red color very interesting. After I looked at it from your perspective, i viewed the image differently. I liked the red... but I appreciate my thinking being challenged as it opens the mind. As for changing the color, I am learning LR first... so I don't know how to change the color yet... but it will come with time.

[Stagecoach]

I know I need to get it off auto focus, but I've had trouble with manual.

Hi Kim,

Interesting comment which suggests you believe you may get better results with manual focus

For me Manual Focus is the best way to go in certain situations and with what I do this is 99% the method I use in macro work.

Having had a lot of experience in Manual Focusing at one time I believed it the way to go for best accuracy in general photography, I soon found this was not the case. From my experience I found that AF was extremely accurate and reliable once I had disciplined myself with the procedure to focus and re-compose correctly.

I am now almost a 95% convert to focusing using 'Back Button Focus' and re composing whilst always using 1 single centre AF point, and even in pretty low light conditions I find this works. The solution being that you have decided why and what to focus on.

Grahame

[KimC]

Hi Kim,

Interesting comment which suggests you believe you may get better results with manual focus

For me Manual Focus is the best way to go in certain situations and with what I do this is 99% the method I use in macro work.

Having had a lot of experience in Manual Focusing at one time I believed it the way to go for best accuracy in general photography, I soon found this was not the case. From my experience I found that AF was extremely accurate and reliable once I had disciplined myself with the procedure to focus and re-compose correctly.

I am now almost a 95% convert to focusing using 'Back Button Focus' and re composing whilst always using 1 single centre AF point, and even in pretty low light conditions I find this works. The solution being that you have decided why and what to focus on.

Grahame

Yes, that was my belief Grahame. Appreciate your thoughts - I will have the check this out this weekend :-)