Fast Car | Cold Hill

[Sime]

Here's a picture of a car on the side of a hill. Isn't it lovely...



Question: Is the darkness a problem, or does it highlight the subject?

Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
X-Resolution 150 dpi
Y-Resolution 150 dpi
Software Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh
Date and Time (Modified) 2011:06:07 15:12:27
Artist Simon Pollock
Copyright (C) Simon Pollock
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2011:06:04 07:24:30.05+10:00

[Niresangwa]

I think the transition between the vignette and regular image is a little too harsh... not just the sky, but also the tree vs the grass beneath it.

I like the use of the wide angle here though.

[Bruce A]

"Here's a picture of a car on the side of a hill. Isn't it lovely..."

The shot or the car? Answer - both

From my amateur point of view: Sometimes vignetting doesn't work and ordinarilly with the dark clouds and trees on the side I'd tend not to even think about adding it. In this case though, I think it works very well drawing the eye to the car. The angle of the car you chose for this seems spot on to me. Looking for an assignment from Audi are you?

[SamCox]

The darkness in the lower left certainly adds punch to the car but the dark corners upper left and lower right are distracting. I mean, skies aren't supposed to look like that, are they?

-- Sam

[Sime]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

Looking for an assignment from Audi are you?

Hehe... no.

Originally Posted by SamCox

I mean, skies aren't supposed to look like that, are they?
-- Sam

Heck no, just playing :-)

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

I think the transition between the vignette and regular image is a little too harsh...

Totally agree!

thanks for your feedback thus far

[reelko]

I think that my eyes are drawn to the car first.. and the scenery second.. good composition of the car, and it draws you into the rest of the scene

[OsmosisStudios]

vignette is a little harsh in the top left. Feather that out a bit and you're golden.

[pittbug]

Here are some things I would change if it were my shot:

1) the car tires are not in the middle of the tracks, the right side is in the grass, giving it an appearance that it's about to drive off the road. Placing it in the middle would also give it distance from the grass and help show the back wheel more.

2) With a lower angle, you would be able to highlight the back wheel and possibly try composing with just the green hills in the background and a lot less, or none of the valley floor to keep focus on the car.

3) As others have said, the vignetting is too obvious and seems to detract from the overall quality of the shot. It also darkens part of the rear so you can't see any details of the exhaust, or lower body area.

4) A lot less contrast in the clouds and sky would prevent the eye from wandering up there. In fact I might try a version with the clouds at the top removed and maybe just some very light wispy cloud streaks added for effect and have the color changed to a gray/blue.

[Brown Sparrow]

The darkness is really too dark at the back of the car. This leads my eye to the front of the car where it is brighter. However, the car is pointing toward the trail which leads the eye right off the car into the dark and then back along the horizon. So then I'm not certain what the subject is; the car or the beautiful scene. In any case the vignette is too much.

[DPatton]

Perhaps instead of the vignetting use a black graduated filter from the top down to roughly middle then set that filter layer to soft light...it may help bring out the detail in the clouds, darken the sky but not car too much. Just a thought... An absolutely amazing photo however as it is.