photographing cars - help

[freybear3]

I am going to be photographing street racing cars.

I need to know what settings i should use, for day and night?

I need to know what angles i should use?

I need to know what lens i should use?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Here is my gear that i will be using -

Canon Rebel XS
18-55mm lens
75-300mm lens
tripod

[freybear3]

I forgot to add that the cars will not be in motion.

they will be posed photos.

[sybren]

Shoot what you want to shoot. You're the photographer! Go and play, you have two lenses, use them both and see what kind of effect they can create. Going out and experimenting is half the fun, why should we spoil that by telling you exactly what you should do?

[oldwolf]

go look at car magazines to see what others are using as far as angles and composition.

that's why we have fashion magazines and interior design magazines laying around.

[bradzo66]

Hey , I do a lot of these types of photos for car enthusiasts ,like myself ,and the above comments hold lots of merit , all I will add is get down low with every car at least once front and once back normally from a 45 degree angle it gives the car some attitude and you can see its lines down the side and the front of the grill and headlights and tail lights from the back , you get a great overall idea of what the car looks like as a whole . Personally I'm not keen on the cars as macros type of shot where you see a tiny portion- doesnt give a real representation of what the car looks like and they usually lose their attitude . But as said above go have fun see what works and oldwolfs' suggestion is a good one look at car mags they know what their doing . Just as a side note I never need more than my 17-85mm if the cars are not moving . All the best .

[kustomrydes]

I've been told before that the type of car is also a decision on the shot. Muscle car and lifted trucks shoot from a low line to give them a bigger stance. Mini trucks and imports shoot from above to give them a lower look. But overall it just depends on what you like. When I am at a car show I am usually not there for a long time. So I usually don't do much on the creativity thing. Plus people never get out of your way.

[freybear3]

thnx

I am going to try and experiment before i actually do the photo shoot. I will definitely pick up a car magazine before i do the photo shoot as well. Thanx again

[yolanda_b]

I did a car show recently. Instead of using my camera to record the many cars that showed up as in "here is a mustang" and "here is a ferrari" which I knew plenty of people would do, I went about grabbing slick images of car bits. A fender here, a rim there, and the shine in a lovely paint job. Maybe a row of tail fins filling the frame. What surprised me was the positive reaction. I expected people to complain about not being able to actually see the cars but, in fact, the opposite was true. It turns out a lot of enthusiasts actually see the cars that way, in component parts, and get a kick out of recognizing it from something as brief as a wheel well!
you can see the whole set here at flickr But I'll attach an example too.
Another thing I learned was that the flash on your camera is your enemy. Don't use it. If you're going to use flash, use off-camera flashes with a diffuser like an umbrella (nuisance) or grab a tripod or monopod and shoot long shutter speeds to get the light you need. Use a wide fast lens if you can. I played with a few lenses, found the zoom awful and the 28mm prime delightful. The lensbaby was also excellent as it fuzzed out the car show backgrounds and introduced some fun bokeh effects. Because you don't have a lot of room to move around and people get between you and the cars at these shows, you do need a wider lens to get better choices of pictures.
I also found that the car owners were so flattered with the close-up attention I was giving their babies that they readily invited me past the ropes for a better picture. They knew I wouldn't leave fingerprints and that's what the rope is about.

In this picture I messed the license plate in post production. I didn't generally do that but it was very clear in this picture and people seem to think it's private. Whether to do that is up to you.

[freybear3]

yolonda - thnx for all the tips.

[makealeftturn]

Try going to www.autotraderclassics.com - there are some great shots there.