Critique My golf at night

bungle29

bungle29

Messages
241
Name
colin
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all,
so after seeing some really nice night time car photos i thought id have ago myself and see what i could get, this is what got after a hour or so out in the freezing cold while some people drove past giving me some funny looks :D i thought i had picked a quiet road but apparently not.
let me know what you think good or bad :)
DSC_5084a by TSP images, on Flickr
 
From all the amazing light painted cars ive seen on here that doesn't look impressive. What technique did you use to take it, flashes, shutter speed etc?
 
WelshNoob said:
From all the amazing light painted cars ive seen on here that doesn't look impressive. What technique did you use to take it, flashes, shutter speed etc?
Click to expand...
fair enough :)
i didn't use a flash, i use a hand torch to light the car, a shutter speed of 6 seconds, ISO of 640 and f/5.6
 
It's getting there though, don't be put off by my amateurish comments. I've not even tried this myself. I'm sure someone with experience will give you tips to improve. Is this a RAW image that you've played with?
 
yes its a RAW image that i've played with then saved it as jpeg.
 
Just looked at it again, I think it's the lights in the background being so bright that's making the car so dark, coupled with the foreground being bright from the long exposure and high ISO. Maybe try a lower ISO then the car would pop out of the dark more.
 
WelshNoob said:
Just looked at it again, I think it's the lights in the background being so bright that's making the car so dark, coupled with the foreground being bright from the long exposure and high ISO. Maybe try a lower ISO then the car would pop out of the dark more.
Click to expand...
thanks i'll have to wrap up and go out and try again :)

Byker28i said:
It's a dark car, so light the angles
Click to expand...
Okay i'll try that too, is there a certain type of torch or lighting equipment i should use?
 
WelshNoob said:
Just looked at it again, I think it's the lights in the background being so bright that's making the car so dark, coupled with the foreground being bright from the long exposure and high ISO. Maybe try a lower ISO then the car would pop out of the dark more.
Click to expand...

A lower ISO would darken the whole image unfortunately, it wouldn't be selective but I can see your thinking that the subject is lost in the exposure.

More light on the subject and maybe a bit more space around it too, you might want to consider placing the car in the left hand side of the frame when its pointing right (point the car into the frame rather than out of it as a rule of thumb).
 
Which is what I was trying to get at, darken the unlit foreground and tone down the lights in the background and then light the car heavier to make it pop.
 
A dark car is going to make it difficult as it doesn't reflect the light well. Longer exposures and a bigger light source might help as will lots of trial and error. This is one I did with a handheld flash in a strip softbox. Took a fair few attempts to get something I was happy with and it's still not great.

DSC_5565 by mike.bremner, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I find a black car is such a hard colour to lightpainting. However I use a white led torch and the camera on bulb and then composite on photoshoot, (stacking layers) to achieve the right look. Here's one I have but I didn't use a soft box hence the white line reflections, camera settings iso 100, f11 and bulb for around 40 seconds give or take
 
Thanks everyone for the advice, looks like i need to invest in some lighting equipment and then go out and try again, this time i'll take my woolly hat with me :)
 
All I use is a maglite torch with led conversion, any bright torch, (led) is fine. Be caution of your white balance with different leds but with practice it will get better. And lighting angles give different results. Vary your f numbers and length of shutter speeds. Here's one with the led torch with a piece of plastic bag in front of it just to soften the light
 
A recent thread here had a recommendation for one of those LED video lights. Another option is a cheap manual flash (Yongnuo etc.) and a strip softbox. Or a decent LED torch would work but wouldn't be as soft a light source
 
Apologies been really busy
These two were done in a studio but you can see what I mean by lighting lines
123911846.jpg

123926378.jpg



Or - why light it all? Two flash guns on stand
105295796.jpg



Which I copied on a hillside, long exposure for the sky, short flash to light the car
146577799.jpg
 
Last edited:
You can also get creative - two flash guns in the footwells and doors open
120050899.jpg


Or 4 cheap flash guns (yungyuo £35 ones) on a light stand and multiple exposure
137783120.jpg


I marked the positions for the lightstand on the floor with tape so it got the gap right.
 
Last edited:
Cheers i see what you mean by lighting the angles, might be a stupid question but do you shoot in shutter priority or Manuel? because i've been shooting in shutter priority just so i can adjust the shutter speed but i know you can adjust all in Manuel mode, also how much would you expect to pay for a basic light kit? seen some stuff on ebay but not sure of the quality of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top