Stylin' Hot Rod

[Jamfke]

Here's a nice restoration project my wife's uncle did some time ago. I took this shot at a family reunion back in August. I decided to try out a couple of things with it. Tell me what you think.

Before:


After I:

Unsharp Mask, Saturate, and Contrast Clarify.

After II:

Copy of After I with DOF tweak.

[MSidPhoto]

First of all, nice shot of the Hot Rod

The second picture (first edit) looks very nice. You have put a new life in the grass in the background by making them bright. The overall background looks really nice.
But as for the third picture (second edit), it looks cartoonish...
yeah...dunno why but the way you have blurred the background makes the bonnet stand out like a cartoon car. Thats why to me, it looks odd....

[Jamfke]

LOL

It does look a little cartoony. I should have shopped Roger Rabbit behind the wheel!

Not really thrilled about either of the 3... sorry.

Nice car though, i'm a sucker for the old lead sleds.

[PowerPix]

First one is "ok"

Second is too saturated, especially the green. But it is brighter!

And the third........Ugh.....

[Jamfke]

Yeah well, thanks anyway...

Originally Posted by Jamfke

Yeah well, thanks anyway...

... well, you did ask what we thought.

[Jamfke]

Hey, no worries. But why not tell me what you would have done differently?

[PowerPix]

Originally Posted by Jamfke

Hey, no worries. But why not tell me what you would have done differently?

First one: Do what you did to the second one, just tone it down. i.e. not so much saturation and sharpness.

You don't even need the third, not much to say other than the blur looks horrible.

Originally Posted by Jamfke

Hey, no worries. But why not tell me what you would have done differently?

I'll give you 10

#1 - car angle
#2 - Background
#3 - No trees/water
#4 - No parking lot lines
#5 - No crazy DOF
#6 - Turn the wheels
#7 - More 'negative space'
#8 - Time of day
#9 - Angle of the light on the car is from the back - if you wanted that, use a fill flash
#10 - Show more side of the car

Anything else?

A 3/4's shot like this is more complimentary to cars than this straight on shot.