
REVIEWS
A ThinkTap company
A ThinkTap company
It’s car show season here in the Midwest and I’m off to my first one of the season this weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve wandered around and taken images at a car show, so I went back to look over this article and expand on it a bit.
This is the number one thing to do to get more information about the car you are shooting. Get the back story, help tell that story with your images and include photos of the owner. They are proud of their cars and will talk your ear off about them. They love when you are interested and will offer to open up the hood, lower the hood and do what you may want or need to get a better image.
During this time take a photo of the sign if there is one. Most car shows issue a sign with the year, make and model written on it. Shoot this first, shoot the car and shoot the sign again, it will make it so much easier to identify the car once you get back to editing. It’s also good to offer them your information, let them know where you might be posting the images later so they can see what you’ve done.
Car shows come with a lot of people wandering around. Be patient when you’re shooting, wait for someone to finish looking and walk by so they’re not in your shot. Move around to get the background that works best for the area of the car you are shooting. Watch the reflections. All that chrome means tons of reflections, watch what you’re seeing in the hubcaps and bumpers and move, wait or use the reflections as part of the art.
An easy way to eliminate the people and other distractions in your car show images is to get close. Shoot the details. Awesome cars have equally awesome details. Think of the gear shifters, analog radio buttons, hood ornaments, car lock buttons, emblems and logos. Take images of the lines of the fenders, hood and along the side of the car. Get creative, make abstract car art from your shots.
One thing to keep in mind as you’re getting close though is to make sure your gear, bag, camera straps and tripods are not bumping up against the car. Do not ever set your camera on a car and always be aware of your proximity to the car. The last thing you want to do is make the car owner mad.
Don’t forget to put the camera down and wander, relax and enjoy yourself. How you’re feeling is reflected in your images. If it’s crazy hot and I’m not enjoying wandering around in the heat, I take crap images because I just don’t want to be there. As with any photography you’re doing, take care of yourself first, hydrate, eat, and get a sense of the overall atmosphere.
Take some wide shots of the rows of cars, the food vendors and the other people who are attending the show. Think about what images you can create that will convey how you felt at that moment. Most of all, have fun. Always have fun.
Lauri Novak is an international award-winning fine art photographer, mentor and traveler. You can find her galleries, mentorship programs and phototours at laurinovak.com.
Drobo – Drobo is the smartest storage solution in the world. Drobo is storage that protects data — photos, videos and everything else — from hard drive failure. Drobo is peace of mind for the working pro or serious amateur who have a lot of external drives cluttering up the desktop. Save 10% with the coupon code PHOTOFOCUS.
Lume Cube – Proudly known as the World’s Most Versatile Light™, Lume Cube represents the future of LED Lighting. Check out the new Lume Cube STROBE, offering anti-collison lighting for drones!
DxO – Makers of PhotoLab 3 and the powerful Nik suite, DxO presents photographers with the perfect toolkit to help enhance their photographs!
B&H – B&H is a world renowned supplier of all the gear photographers, videographers, and cinematographers need and want to create their very best work.
Skylum – Your photos, more beautiful in minutes. Makers of Luminar, Aurora and Photolemur, Skylum adapts to your style and skill level. Check out Luminar 4’s unique sky replacement and portrait editing tools, now available. Save $10 with the code PHOTOFOCUS.
Xpozer – Show off your photos and fill your walls with the Xpozer frame system. Xpozer makes it easy to switch out your photos in a matter of minutes! Be sure to check out the Xpozer Holiday Gift Pack, free when you spend $99 or more.
Capture One – Capture One is a powerful and intuitive software made for every photographer, so your photo editing experience is smoother and more precise than ever. Check out the new Capture One Pro 20 today!
X-Rite – Make sure your color is perfect with X-Rite’s easy-to-use color calibration tools for cameras, printers, monitors and more!
Perfectly Clear Complete – Built for precision. Made for beauty. Perfectly Clear has mastered the science of intelligent image correction – creating superior quality photos in record time, so you can get back to doing what you really love…in no time. Special Photofocus deal here.
Illuminati – Get perfect exposure every time, with the new Illuminati IM-150 light and color meter.
Viewbug – Learn and improve your photography with over 500 videos. Trusted by millions around the world, join over 2 million photographers who already use Viewbug.