crazy_luck
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Patience and practice. Letting AutoFocus do it's thing, then fine tuning it to be even better.
How to take the best picture of your truck
- Thread starter MarkV
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Patience and practice. Letting AutoFocus do it's thing, then fine tuning it to be even better.
OP
OP
MarkV
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What you use for a camera??
gofishn
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Your phone camera is fine. Seriously.
Imagine someone asking Mark Twain what pen he used?
The biggest advantage, of having the very best tools, is knowing the tools are not the limitation.
If the Composition is strong & the light is right, no one will notice what camera was used.
AS with anything, there are certain Rules.
Rule of Thirds, mentioned earlier in this thread.
Look at the art, in your house, a magazine, even the ads on this web page.
Draw a Tic-Tac-Toe line on them. See how the key elements align, along those lines?
For even stronger composition, put the subject on the intersection of a vertical and horizontal line.
try placing the horizon of the image, at the bottom third horizontal line, or teh top third horizontal line.
Leaving everything centered is a sure fire way to lose someones interest.
Example,: Use the bottom lines (runningboard area) of the truck itself, as a horizon. Frame your shot so that trucks rocker panel is teh bottom third horizontal line.
LEADING LINES !!
Use leading lines to give an image impact. think of Columns, along a building front.
The supports columns, underneath a freeway, along a straight stretch over Freeway.
A pretty girl , laying on her side. From toes to tip of her head, those are some leading ines!! and why you see it in SI all the time.
S-CRUVES
Frame S curving lines or half S's, to your subject. S curve is nothing more than Rule of Thirds, broken up with geometry. GO watch any old (Director) John Ford Western. He was THe Master at leading lines and S curves.
LIghting
No camera 'sees' colour & all cameras 'seek' Middle Gray.
Imagine that from total black to total white out is a stair case.
Lets say there are 255 steps on that staircase.
The human eye can see about 11 of those steps.
The camera can capture about 5-7 of those steps.
With that, in mind, try to limit the range, of light, within your image.
Put your truck, inside your garage, then stand outside the garage
and frame a shot that includes the entire garage opening, along with some drivveway and even some sky above . . .your truck will get lost in teh darkness.
Simply by framing on the garage door opening itself, leaving just the very edge, of the front of the opening, will remove a ton of those Light steps and your truck will be much more visible.
If your truck is black, and you frame your shot so the black truck is 75% of teh shot, your black truck will look gray. Same is true for White trucks.
Add some more contrast, within the frame.
Remember, the camera will ALWAYS seek Middle Gray.
FOcal Length
Focal length determines Distance, within your photograph.
Generally, for human subjects, the 85mm focal length is most pleasing to the eye.
Think of it as Distance Compression.
24mm focal length is W I D E .
Things near, or far, form teh subject seem to be REALLY near, or far, from the subject.
100mm focal length tends to brings those things ,closer, to the subject, it minimizes the distances. Compresses them.
there are a lot of other things, that go into it
If you have a desire to take better pics, then google photography 101
depth of field
focal length
aperature
In the image, below, notice how the RR tracks act as leading lines.
Coming from Infinity, towards the back of the image, and out of the bottom right corner?
TEh bold tracks almost overpower the far more subtle,leading line of the foliage, on the images upper right corner. Yet, it the foliage leading line which leads directly to the locomotives.
The horizon, where Land meets Sky, is aligned along eh top of the horizontal tic tac toe line. The locomotive is at teh junction of the top horizontal line and far left vertical line.
Each of us, are our own worst critics.
Have someone else review your images, and pick one out to show.
Been taking pictures, for decades, but it was not until a co-worker Buddy FORCED me, to enter this picture into a contest, that I actually started to think a couple of my pictures MAY be "alright".
SO, have someone you trust or opinion you regard, choose your pics or critique your work. Best way to learn is to do.
Try, then try again.
If you got questions I will try to answer.
BTW, that picture above, took 2nd in an International Photo Contest, by National Geographic.
Sure wish I had won the Grand Prize though.
Anyway, that picture was taken by a point n shoot type camera i had bought for my Dad.
A Nikon Coolpix 950 or 990. Really think it was the 1.9MB camera, not the 3.1mb model.
$12K worth of gear, at home, and I snapped that image with a "toy" camera.
I knew the train was coming, had plenty of time to frame my shot and the light "Steps" were right in the sweet spot, for that little camera.
The cell phone, in your pocket right now, probably has more resolution and a better lens than that old Nikon.
Imagine someone asking Mark Twain what pen he used?
The biggest advantage, of having the very best tools, is knowing the tools are not the limitation.
If the Composition is strong & the light is right, no one will notice what camera was used.
AS with anything, there are certain Rules.
Rule of Thirds, mentioned earlier in this thread.
Look at the art, in your house, a magazine, even the ads on this web page.
Draw a Tic-Tac-Toe line on them. See how the key elements align, along those lines?
For even stronger composition, put the subject on the intersection of a vertical and horizontal line.
try placing the horizon of the image, at the bottom third horizontal line, or teh top third horizontal line.
Leaving everything centered is a sure fire way to lose someones interest.
Example,: Use the bottom lines (runningboard area) of the truck itself, as a horizon. Frame your shot so that trucks rocker panel is teh bottom third horizontal line.
LEADING LINES !!
Use leading lines to give an image impact. think of Columns, along a building front.
The supports columns, underneath a freeway, along a straight stretch over Freeway.
A pretty girl , laying on her side. From toes to tip of her head, those are some leading ines!! and why you see it in SI all the time.
S-CRUVES
Frame S curving lines or half S's, to your subject. S curve is nothing more than Rule of Thirds, broken up with geometry. GO watch any old (Director) John Ford Western. He was THe Master at leading lines and S curves.
LIghting
No camera 'sees' colour & all cameras 'seek' Middle Gray.
Imagine that from total black to total white out is a stair case.
Lets say there are 255 steps on that staircase.
The human eye can see about 11 of those steps.
The camera can capture about 5-7 of those steps.
With that, in mind, try to limit the range, of light, within your image.
Put your truck, inside your garage, then stand outside the garage
and frame a shot that includes the entire garage opening, along with some drivveway and even some sky above . . .your truck will get lost in teh darkness.
Simply by framing on the garage door opening itself, leaving just the very edge, of the front of the opening, will remove a ton of those Light steps and your truck will be much more visible.
If your truck is black, and you frame your shot so the black truck is 75% of teh shot, your black truck will look gray. Same is true for White trucks.
Add some more contrast, within the frame.
Remember, the camera will ALWAYS seek Middle Gray.
FOcal Length
Focal length determines Distance, within your photograph.
Generally, for human subjects, the 85mm focal length is most pleasing to the eye.
Think of it as Distance Compression.
24mm focal length is W I D E .
Things near, or far, form teh subject seem to be REALLY near, or far, from the subject.
100mm focal length tends to brings those things ,closer, to the subject, it minimizes the distances. Compresses them.
there are a lot of other things, that go into it
If you have a desire to take better pics, then google photography 101
depth of field
focal length
aperature
In the image, below, notice how the RR tracks act as leading lines.
Coming from Infinity, towards the back of the image, and out of the bottom right corner?
TEh bold tracks almost overpower the far more subtle,leading line of the foliage, on the images upper right corner. Yet, it the foliage leading line which leads directly to the locomotives.
The horizon, where Land meets Sky, is aligned along eh top of the horizontal tic tac toe line. The locomotive is at teh junction of the top horizontal line and far left vertical line.
Each of us, are our own worst critics.
Have someone else review your images, and pick one out to show.
Been taking pictures, for decades, but it was not until a co-worker Buddy FORCED me, to enter this picture into a contest, that I actually started to think a couple of my pictures MAY be "alright".
SO, have someone you trust or opinion you regard, choose your pics or critique your work. Best way to learn is to do.
Try, then try again.
If you got questions I will try to answer.
BTW, that picture above, took 2nd in an International Photo Contest, by National Geographic.
Sure wish I had won the Grand Prize though.
Anyway, that picture was taken by a point n shoot type camera i had bought for my Dad.
A Nikon Coolpix 950 or 990. Really think it was the 1.9MB camera, not the 3.1mb model.
$12K worth of gear, at home, and I snapped that image with a "toy" camera.
I knew the train was coming, had plenty of time to frame my shot and the light "Steps" were right in the sweet spot, for that little camera.
The cell phone, in your pocket right now, probably has more resolution and a better lens than that old Nikon.
Last edited:
gofishn
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Do you have any of your Imagery, online?
If so, I would greatly enjoy viewing it.
My old stuff is here:.
Midwest Shutterbug Photography
I got too many hobbies.
I still take photo's but haven't posted, for years.
Unless I'm going to frame it for the house, pics get colour balanced/developed in Lightroom and that's it.
If I spent less time admiring the work of others, I could probably find time to post my own stuff again.
bcbouy
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you can do what i did,buy your significant other a really nice camera for a birthday/christmas present and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.my wife has had her canon for 10 years now.not bad for a 500 dollar investment.
gofishn
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Better yet, Get yoru wife a nice little DSLR.
Then, after she gets used to taking it everywhere. Pick her up a nice little Olympus Water proof camera for her purse. Tell her it;s her Can;t kill it camera.
She will use it, exclusively, and the DSLR will sit. just waiting for you adn your truck.
OP
OP
MarkV
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preachp
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Hi Op, and All
A good 2/3 camera is not always a DSLR. There are cameras by Olympus, SAmsung, Sony, and many others that have many features and excellent picture quality. These are direct view, meaning there is no prism mirror in them. They show what you will get directly off the ccd. Look around you will find some really good deals. I got an Olympus E-PM2 with 150 mm zoom and 14-42 macro-zoom lens for $375 new. That was two years ago.
Next always frame the primary object of your picture a little off center. It adds depth and improves the composition of your pics.
Color is also very important. Make sure there is good contrast in the color of the subject and the background.
Finally if you get your subject at an angle that helps also.
FINALLY and most importantly have fun! Even rpo phoitographers take hundreds of pics to get those few eye popping images we all see. So don't be afraid to take a bunch of pics and then whittle them down to the ones you really like.
And again FINALLY HAVE FUN! Because when you come right down to it isn't that what this is all about.
Have a great day,
preachp
A good 2/3 camera is not always a DSLR. There are cameras by Olympus, SAmsung, Sony, and many others that have many features and excellent picture quality. These are direct view, meaning there is no prism mirror in them. They show what you will get directly off the ccd. Look around you will find some really good deals. I got an Olympus E-PM2 with 150 mm zoom and 14-42 macro-zoom lens for $375 new. That was two years ago.
Next always frame the primary object of your picture a little off center. It adds depth and improves the composition of your pics.
Color is also very important. Make sure there is good contrast in the color of the subject and the background.
Finally if you get your subject at an angle that helps also.
FINALLY and most importantly have fun! Even rpo phoitographers take hundreds of pics to get those few eye popping images we all see. So don't be afraid to take a bunch of pics and then whittle them down to the ones you really like.
And again FINALLY HAVE FUN! Because when you come right down to it isn't that what this is all about.
Have a great day,
preachp
OP
OP
MarkV
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Mirror-less cameras are amazing!! But just do some research. A older dslr might be better bang for the buck then a new one.
Also about number of picture to take: you can not take enough!!! If you expect to take ten pictures and have 7 good ones your gonna get frustrated. It take hundreds of pics to get the really good one. So like preachp said HAVE FUN while doing it. Dont get frustrated about not taking the perfect "one".
Also about cellphone pics. I have my cell on me all day every day. So i can take pictures of what ever i am doing. I took about 5,000 pics in 2015 with that phone. Most of them are like ok what ever, but there are some that are like wow!! This pic was last night.
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crazy_luck
Senior Member
The camera on my Galaxy S4, my Nikon D40x and 3 or 4 different PNS Nikons...
crazy_luck
Senior Member
I have a few places, but this is the one I put some of my best:
(crazyluck)
And then my Flickr account has everything else...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/52004066@N02
Some shots I've taken are posted on both sites though.
OP
OP
MarkV
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You are a very good photographer!!! WOW!!!!!
crazy_luck
Senior Member
100% self taught. Goes right back to the practice and patience comment I made. I've been into photography for about 10 years or so. I have more "bad" shots than I do good shots. Many more bad shots....
usaf2006
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100% self taught. Goes right back to the practice and patience comment I made. I've been into photography for about 10 years or so. I have more "bad" shots than I do good shots. Many more bad shots....
Amazing stuff man...
Now I wish my truck had a decent paint job worthy of such nice pictures... lol
bcbouy
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that is a nice gun
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I am a wee bit Olympus crazy ie I have the E500, E510, E3 and their newest body. As far as lenses go (very important part of the equation. ) my favourite has to be the 11mm-22mm micro. On a walk I noticed a bumble bee gathering pollen so I stopped to snap a few pics. They are some of my favourite as not only do you see the individual hairs but you also see pollen on top of its hair. Another lens I enjoy is my Olympus 50mm-200mm for the longer shots. My wife was not to happy with my acquisition of the big cannon in my collection which was an Olympus 50mm-500mm and around these parts it ran me 8900.00 tax in.
To any newbies, as mentioned take many many pics and play with the settings. I personally think the camera and lenses make a difference but everyone has their own opinion so I am fine with that. Each to their own i always say.
Now for the absolutely biggest tip I can give anyone getting into photography HAVE FUN!
To any newbies, as mentioned take many many pics and play with the settings. I personally think the camera and lenses make a difference but everyone has their own opinion so I am fine with that. Each to their own i always say.
Now for the absolutely biggest tip I can give anyone getting into photography HAVE FUN!
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