How to take the best picture of your truck

I have noticed that some of you guys are very good at framing and composing your pictures of your trucks...

I was wondering if you guys could share some of your how to take good pictures talent on here to help the rest of us out.....?

use an actual, real camera.not a phone.

A real camera is definitely a good start. From there it all depends on how into it you want to get. To start I find that being further away from the truck with a zoom lens gets you a better perspective of it. You'll find that a lot of professional vehicle photographers take this same approach. From there it's just playing around to get the right angle. Obviously you need to have a bit of an eye for location as IMO that's just as important composition wise. Then just start taking pictures from every angle you want. When I do a photoshoot I generally take 50+ pictures and I'll just discard the ones I don't like. Eventually you start to learn what angles and locations work best and you just get better and better.

i feel like i can never take a good picture of my truck, but then again im either using my phone a my gopro. I don't have a photographers eye either lol

I just cant bring myself to spend a bunch of money on an actually camera

I always like to keep nothing but the truck and nature in the frame. Unfortunately at my own home this can be challenging due to living in a neighborhood. If you can find a park or another spot that doesn't have any man made things that will enter the frame, that's a great start. It is also important to remember to shoot from different angles and heights. I will lay down on the ground and shoot at an upward angle and also pull back the zoom and shoot straight on. Like the others said...use a real camera and different lenses. Another thing to remember when taking pics is to follow the "golden hour" rule, which means 1 hour before sunset. Shooting at that time gives great backlighting naturally and doesn't leave you with super bright shots. If you have a decent DSL camera, try different settings on the camera, such as portrait, landscape, etc. and see which one gives the best image. I have from time to time used a portrait setting to capture stuff that it isn't meant to shoot and had great results. The good thing about digital cameras is that you can take hundreds of pics in multiple settings and from tons of different angles and heights and choose what you want.

anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably priced camera? I know DSLRs are good but they all seem to be 350+

kg93 said:

anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably priced camera? I know DSLRs are good but they all seem to be 350+

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It'll be pretty hard to get one for under $500 really, maybe go to a pawn shop and look for something gently used?

RAMblin1217 said:

It'll be pretty hard to get one for under $500 really, maybe go to a pawn shop and look for something gently used?

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good lord well thats not worth it to me!

kg93 said:

good lord well thats not worth it to me!

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Good pictures are always with it [emoji23]

kg93 said:

good lord well thats not worth it to me!

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You could get one cheap at a pawn shop...I meant new, you can't under $500. It is a good investment though, once you have it you'll love it. I got into photography and minus the initial amount I spent on the camera, lenses, and tripod...I only spend money on gas to go places to shoot. I often go out places by myself and spend hours taking pictures of stuff, it makes for a super cheap fun hobby. The thing I'm into the most to shoot is graffiti on train cars, it can get pretty interesting and sketchy too. The last shoot I was out on I was taking pics and from under a stack of cardboard came a homeless guy screaming at me to, "get off my land!" I was under an interstate overpass so it was pretty funny but kinda creeped me out since he was definitely crazy.

RAMblin1217 said:

You could get one cheap at a pawn shop...I meant new, you can't under $500. It is a good investment though, once you have it you'll love it. I got into photography and minus the initial amount I spent on the camera, lenses, and tripod...I only spend money on gas to go places to shoot. I often go out places by myself and spend hours taking pictures of stuff, it makes for a super cheap fun hobby. The thing I'm into the most to shoot is graffiti on train cars, it can get pretty interesting and sketchy too. The last shoot I was out on I was taking pics and from under a stack of cardboard came a homeless guy screaming at me to, "get off my land!" I was under an interstate overpass so it was pretty funny but kinda creeped me out since he was definitely crazy.

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Lmao sounds pretty interesting

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kg93 said:

Lmao sounds pretty interesting

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Oh yeah, definitely made for an interesting Friday night and a story to tell. This is the last picture I got before he started screaming at me...

With photography as one of my biggest hobbies - the camera does NOT matter. You just need to know how to compose the shot to bring out the "story" behind what you are capturing.

Low angles make the subject look bigger and more menacing, high angles make the subject appear smaller.

The rule of 3rd's - don't center the subject, keep it 1/3 of the way from one side or the other allowing an interesting background to be visible behind it. Also beware of what is directly behind the subject - you don't want to make things look like they are growing out of the top of the subject (think power line post directly behind a person making it look like they are wearing a power line post hat).

Pay attention to the lighting - shooting into the sun will give your subject dark looking features or almost a silhouette look and shooting with the sun at your back will likely give too much light causing bright spots that look blown out.


Some of my shots from over the years:

kg93 said:

anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably priced camera? I know DSLRs are good but they all seem to be 350+

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This will get you a long ways.... D3000 is a good starter camera that can get really good results.

Nikon D3000 10 2MP DSLR W 18 70mm Lens LOW Shutter Count IS Only 5644 0018208254620 | eBay

I have a D7000. All the camera i need. And i got it used.

crazy_luck gives great advice. The only thing I'd add is to take a LOT of photos from different angles, in different lighting. In this day and age, digital storage vs film, we now have the luxury of taking (and deleting) many more photos without the expense that was once a factor. I like to think of photography as one of my hobbies; I probably take 200 photos for every ONE that makes me go "WOW!!!!"

and to echo crazy_luck again.... the camera doesn't matter.

sbarron said:

and to echo crazy_luck again.... the camera doesn't matter.

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The one from the driver's seat of my Charger, driving through the fog, was taken with a cheap Samsung point-n-shoot. It took second place at a local photography contest...

sbarron said:

and to echo crazy_luck again.... the camera doesn't matter.

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A dslr vs a point and shoot: with a dslr you get you a lot more control over your camera.... but the composition is what really counts!!

crazy_luck said:

The one from the driver's seat of my Charger, driving through the fog, was taken with a cheap Samsung point-n-shoot. It took second place at a local photography contest...

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You have amazing pictures!!! Wow!! How you get them so sharp??

I wasn't saying he needed the best camera in the world, but a starter DSLR with two lenses is a great start and will be forgiving with it's auto settings. It is true that it is the eye of the photographer that makes the shot, not the camera. Fortunately for all of us that take photography...art is subjective, so regardless of the shot, someone somewhere will love it.