Car Show

[djb28]

A few months ago i went to a car show to shoot something new. It was hard because so many people kept walking in front of me and around the vehicles. Many times i had to shoot quick to get the best shot in between so much activity. It doesnt look like much but it was a lot of post work to make these shots that i had literally seconds to shoot. With both photos i used the same procedure, Just at different levels of processing.

Both pics were on a good day, so i used ISO of 100 between F4 and 5.
I used flash on cars that faced the shade and cupped my hand to minimize hard light.

In processing i had to use the clone tool to get rid of myself and others who reflected in the cars. This was as simple as getting samples on the left or right of the reflection. After i removed all the unwanted reflections i traced with the polygonal lasso tool and removed the vehicle. I blurred the background and then upped the contrast and saturation. Then used another blur. Gaussian blur at 9.0

Then i placed the vehicle back in the picture. Used the Clone to remove window stickers that they used from the car show. Cut out the back windows and used the same blur technique as the background. Add contrast and saturation to the car itself then paste it all together.

Then i fine tuned the entire photo with selective color. Usually the whites and neutrals get a lot of attention so they are not glaring too much. Then i pop any color i want more of and play with the saturation to taste. Thats about it. It is a process but it is well worth it. Especially once the owners see their cars and want more! I always ask for an email address when i take a shot. I will send the owner a freebie.( that always hurts me to do) But i do it, It is then up to them to tell their friends and usually they want more angles of their vehicle done too!

Thanks for looking.

[HockeyFan]

Wow. You sure went to a lot of trouble. Great results. Normally at car shows, I just shoot within the second or two that I can get a clean shot, and don't really do that much in post processing. I wish I had the patience to do the cloning to removing annoying artifacts like you did.

[kelvin51]

Very nice work. I do a lot of car and motorcycle shows. I can certainly understand the frustration that comes with people walking around in front of you.

[djb28]

Thanks. I took alot of pics but only 10 or so made it to post process. It takes some time, But if i am getting paid, Its worth it. And i did get three jobs from the day i spent there. I learned a few new things and made a few people happy.

[Century Guy]

Very nice. I think post processing is always worth it...paid or not.

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

very very very nice...

[Petite_PhotoGirl]

Love the old cars. Great pics,

[Goldcrown4]

I agree 100% with CenturyGuy... for example, if I hadn't "rescued" some photos from a baby shoot I did 2 months ago (when I miscued the ISO... see one of my recent photo albums on my profile page), I'd have lost out on what resulted in some very artsy black and whites.... oh, GREAT quote on your signature there CenturyGuy.