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Vehicle Photography
- Thread starter hodad66
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When you shoot at a car show all you have is rows of cars and a parking lot. I like to create an
alternative background when I can. This was run through a paint program also. Funky old truck!
Allyance,
One of the MGs that I wish I had purchased! Great photo!! I started with an MG Midget which got wrecked.
I replaced that with a Bugeye Sprite & later got an MGB. Finally I purchased an MGBGT which I loved!
My last two sports cars were a Fiat Spider and much later a Miata MX5.
One of the MGs that I wish I had purchased! Great photo!! I started with an MG Midget which got wrecked.
I replaced that with a Bugeye Sprite & later got an MGB. Finally I purchased an MGBGT which I loved!
My last two sports cars were a Fiat Spider and much later a Miata MX5.
My MGB always provides a ready and willing subject.
As a side note, you'll find some debate, or at least I've encountered it, about an idea focal length with which to photograph cars.
Even though I'm a wide angle junkie, that's one of the situations where I find a moderate tele(something in the 85-135mm range, full frame) to be useful. That means standing a ways back from the car, so depends on you having enough space. The benefits, though, are just like any other long focal length where you tend to "flatten" the car and isolate it from the background better. Of course if you want to show where it is, that may be counter-productive.
I find that using a wide angle, a small car like the MG just kind of disappears when I'm trying to include the background.
Also, this is a preference, but I tend to photograph low so that I'm at eye level with the grille and not looking down at it.
The banks of a river are, for some weird reason, an oddly appealing backdrop for me. Now that I've moved states, I have my pick of a couple of big rivers and not JUST the Ohio, but I find the Illinois or Missouri much more attractive and tranquil than the big and dirty Mississippi.
This one from a few weeks ago in front of a small marina off Illinois, not far from the mouth. This is a weirdly tranquil spot, and my wife and I got married in the lodge of the state park across the road from here, overlooking this very area.
As a side note, you'll find some debate, or at least I've encountered it, about an idea focal length with which to photograph cars.
Even though I'm a wide angle junkie, that's one of the situations where I find a moderate tele(something in the 85-135mm range, full frame) to be useful. That means standing a ways back from the car, so depends on you having enough space. The benefits, though, are just like any other long focal length where you tend to "flatten" the car and isolate it from the background better. Of course if you want to show where it is, that may be counter-productive.
I find that using a wide angle, a small car like the MG just kind of disappears when I'm trying to include the background.
Also, this is a preference, but I tend to photograph low so that I'm at eye level with the grille and not looking down at it.
The banks of a river are, for some weird reason, an oddly appealing backdrop for me. Now that I've moved states, I have my pick of a couple of big rivers and not JUST the Ohio, but I find the Illinois or Missouri much more attractive and tranquil than the big and dirty Mississippi.
This one from a few weeks ago in front of a small marina off Illinois, not far from the mouth. This is a weirdly tranquil spot, and my wife and I got married in the lodge of the state park across the road from here, overlooking this very area.
My father's car that I drove as a Senior in high school. Where I got my love of true sports cars.
time to get it back on the road for the summer ...
My current rides, guess they count as a vehicles.
2014 VFR800
My original VF750 Bought it new in 1983 - Still have it!
2014 VFR800
My original VF750 Bought it new in 1983 - Still have it!
New kid on the block. Who will blink first?
When I was 13 I sat in an MGA while my parents were buying a Corvair. That really put the hook in me!!
I will one day own an MGA.
Fortunately I have sort of received spousal approval. I drug my wife into the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville(really a great place for any car lover, especially if you like weird and oddball European/English stuff) and I think her favorite car there was an MGA Twin-Cam. Of course it didn't help that I was salivating over it too.
I doubt I'll ever have a Twin Cam(never say never) but she also liked the Old English White on that particular one, which is probably my favorite MGA color.
I'd started working with a local shop at one point to build one, as they had a stripped but basically solid one in their "inventory." It was a 56 1500 with a trashed engine...the crank and rods were out of it. If I'd gone ahead with it, I probably could have found those to put that back to life or found a rebuildable 1500, but instead actually went so far as to buy a 3-main 1800(18GA) out of an early MGB. They look just like a 1500 engine from the outside aside from the big 1800 cast into them, will drop into the MGA as long as you fit front and rear plates and a flywheel(all of which were there with this car) and of course you can put H4 carbs/a dynamo/all the other MGA accessories on it just like you could a 1500 or 1600. The 3 main 1800s even have a mechanical tach drive. I still have that in storage, including an NOS crank for it, but my relationship with that shop soured after a really bad experience with an extended repair on my MGB and I decided I'd best look for an MGA more ready to go and eye an engine swap down the line.
I owned a Triumph Spitfire and had a love/hate relationship with it. Cussed it out as I was working on it then crank it up...oooh this is sweet. Sold it as the military transferred me to Great Britain and tempted by some very affordable Jags, and did own a Lancia Gamma for a few months, but then went Mazda and Nissan. I wanted to spend my three years traveling...not stuck under the hood/bonnet.
I will say, these Morgans look sweet as does the Jag and the MG
I love vehicle photography - nice pics everyone!
@hodad66 Those Miatas are crazy fun! I remember driving a girlfriends back in 2005. I vividly remember how extremely lightweight the car felt.
@Allyance Very cool that you still have your 83 - you must really love it ?
@tizeye Those are cool! Which one do you prefer to drive more?
@Lee_Bo Hopefully you still have that El Camino but the Pilot is a great compromise
I'm kind of a car nut and can't seem to stop buying them. I've got 4 in the stable currently -
2021 Civic Type R
2020 Civic Si
2019 Corvette Z06
2017 Ford Fiesta ST
Pics I took of other peoples cars -
@hodad66 Those Miatas are crazy fun! I remember driving a girlfriends back in 2005. I vividly remember how extremely lightweight the car felt.
@Allyance Very cool that you still have your 83 - you must really love it ?
@tizeye Those are cool! Which one do you prefer to drive more?
@Lee_Bo Hopefully you still have that El Camino but the Pilot is a great compromise
I'm kind of a car nut and can't seem to stop buying them. I've got 4 in the stable currently -
2021 Civic Type R
2020 Civic Si
2019 Corvette Z06
2017 Ford Fiesta ST
Pics I took of other peoples cars -
@Lee_Bo Hopefully you still have that El Camino but the Pilot is a great compromise
Nope, it’s gone. Went to a cruise-in one night and got an offer I couldn’t refuse.
I know this is a sad sight, like most older bikes, life gets in the way and soon put aside. It sat in my garage in NY for 20 years. This is the same bike as in post #13. This is the original 1983 color scheme. Post #13 is the 1984 color scheme. When I started to work on it, the tank was completely rusted on the inside and blistering on the out side. Trying to find a good tank was next to impossible, but kid had bought an 1984 and when he got it home it had a broken rod in the engine. His body work and tank were in good shape, so I offered him the $600 he paid for the bike for all the body parts. His tank was pristine, that is how my 83 has an 84 color scheme!
$2000 later and all new rubber parts is post #13.
$2000 later and all new rubber parts is post #13.
Thank-you for all the pictures of beautiful cars, especially the red MG-TF. I wish I had the money and wisdom to hang onto mine.
Some lovely cars and photos here. A few from me here (not my cars!). I am trying to make automotive photography my sole business but Covid put a stop to that for the last year leaving me stuck doing less interesting website/product work. I'm hoping to find the confidence and drive to have another crack at it this year.
