How would you edit this shot? Car shot

[Jeep450r]

I am new to photoshop, and am curious as to how you guys would alter this picture in photoshop to make it look... well, better. :P




Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[IABoomer]

Before you get into editing, there are a couple other issues that might need addressed first. The composition could be improved some. You've chopped the tail off the Mustang, and there looks to have been some room to the camera left of the Jeep to better frame the shot.

There also appears to be some artifacting in the sky, like a reflection. Were you by chance shooting this through a window?

If you have CS5, you could play with the HDR tone mapping some to try and restore some detail from the shadows and tone down the brightness of the concrete. Honestly, though, you would probably be better off picking a better angle and re-shooting this, unless it was a spontaneous snapshot and you can't arrange these vehicles again.

[3bayjunkie]

Id say its too cluttered with cars. just get the shot of the one you intended first. and use a tripod with a longer exposure.

[Jeep450r]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

Before you get into editing, there are a couple other issues that might need addressed first. The composition could be improved some. You've chopped the tail off the Mustang, and there looks to have been some room to the camera left of the Jeep to better frame the shot.

There also appears to be some artifacting in the sky, like a reflection. Were you by chance shooting this through a window?

If you have CS5, you could play with the HDR tone mapping some to try and restore some detail from the shadows and tone down the brightness of the concrete. Honestly, though, you would probably be better off picking a better angle and re-shooting this, unless it was a spontaneous snapshot and you can't arrange these vehicles again.

I did have a UV lens filter on. Could that have caused that glare in the sky? There were street lights to the side of the picture that could have caused it.

Any other tips for the actual shooting of the picture? Like, what settings should I try next time? Super long exposure vs shorter? Different camera settings? Im pretty new to this, so anything is helpful.

[IABoomer]

For future forum reference, there is a critique section for these kinds of threads. You'd probably want to read the rules and post future threads like this in one of those sections. For this type of shot, I'd say "Other"

Let's look at how you shot this.

Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS REBEL T3
Lens: EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Image Date: 2011-09-03 10:39:29 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 74mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure Time: 1.000 s
ISO equiv: 800
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: Yes (Auto, return light detected)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined

If you've got a tripod in order to shoot a longer exposure, you might as well knock the ISO down lower and let the shutter stay open longer. You'll get the same overall exposure, but with less ISO noise. If your camera has a "Long exposure noise reduction" feature, use it.

The matrix metering has picked up on the brighter concrete as well as the dark sky and the dark vehicles and attempted to balance all of that. You might do better with spot metering off the darker vehicle to get the detail in the shadows correct. It's easier to tone down some brightness in the pavement than it is to pull out detail in the shadows. Search for "expose to the right" for more information on trying to maximize the detail your digital camera records.

Another thing to consider is bracketing shots and using those shots to get the highlight and shadow detail along with a "normal" exposure. Search for "exposure bracketing" or "HDR photography" for examples and tutorials.

As far as lighting goes, I think the ideal situation would be to find a way to get some light between the vehicles to keep them from blending into each other so much and better define the lines. Someone like maxharvard here does it with speedlights (off-camera flashes) but you might be able to do something with some ghetto lighting (cheap work lights) or light painting (use a flashlight to "paint" light on the vehicle over a long exposure).

As to the flare/glare, a UV filter could have created another internal reflection that got picked up on by the sensor. Another possible reason would be stray light from the side causing a flare on the lens. If you've got a lens hood, I'd try shooting with that, and maybe experiment with shooting with and without the UV filter to see if it's contributing to glare.

Finally (and you may be thinking, "not a moment too soon") you might want to find a composition that's a bit more interesting than just standing at eye-level and shooting. Get close and low with a wide-angle lens to exaggerate scale and make the vehicles seem larger than life. If there's nothing but dead space in the foreground, compose it out and bring in more of the sky (hopefully with some cloud detail for something more interesting).

Keep shooting and posting. This is a good community in which to grow.

[Jeep450r]

Thanks alot for the tips!

Heres another one from that night. Any ideas on how to get rid of the dodge's license plate? I tried filling it, but no luck.

Also, is there any way to darken only the bottom of the picture to darken the bright cement a little bit?

Total newbie here lol

I really appreciate all the help!

[Jeep450r]

Heres the picture: