Is this photography or just a snap?

James Rothwell

James Rothwell

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James Rothwell
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Hi there,

I sell cars and one of the things I do for the garage I take the photos of the cars for autotrader and the like. Anyway I was out doing the photos for one of the cars I quite like so I went a bit mad and had a good play with my camera and came up with the photo below.

I really like it apart from the odd car in the background and the tax disc holder in the screen.

But I'd like to know your thoughts please?

2800_96559952888_581837888_2476312_2103569_n.jpg
 
Is this photography?

Larry Clark did a big set of images called 'Tulsa' where he took pictures of his friends boozing, drugging and sexing - kind of in a snapshot style. Here's one such image,
Caution: Not safe for work - contains drug use and nudity
http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/00/larryclark01.jpg

Larry Clark is highly regarded photographer.

The point I'm trying to get at is:
Yes, it's photography. You've taken a consideration into composition, framing and various other formal elements and you've created an image whose purpose is more than to inform, but it's aesthetically pleasing.

There are a few things that, after having done photography for quite some time I would have done differently:
-Moved to the left slightly so the tree isn't sprouting from the car's right hand side
-Move so that the cars in the distance are blocked by scenery
-Process the imge since it looks a little warm on my monitor :)
 
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Yeah, i'd agree.
I like the shot actually. The crop is a little tight and would have been better if you'd have panned to the right slightly to cut out the parked car on the far left.

I'd also agree that the colour does look a little too warm for this type of shot. maybe a White Balance issue???
I did a shoot last week on a white Porsche, and had set the WB set to custom from a previous shoot at dusk. The first couple of shots came out yellow/cream so I had to reset the WB and it looked great after that.
Did you shoot in RAW?
 
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It's an interesting shot and one that would benefit from some additional work along the lines of the advice you've already been given.

My neck hurts from twisting to see it though.

I trust you wouldn't use this one to put in the ad!

Foodpoison - as an aside, that photo made me really cringe. To see someone shooting (presumably) heroin into someone else is awful. Eeuughh.
 
jammy_c said:
Yeah, i'd agree.
I like the shot actually. The crop is a little tight and would have been better if you'd have panned to the right slightly to cut out the parked car on the far left.

I'd also agree that the colour does look a little too warm for this type of shot. maybe a White Balance issue???
I did a shoot last week on a white Porsche, and had set the WB set to custom from a previous shoot at dusk. The first couple of shots came out yellow/cream so I had to reset the WB and it looked great after that.
Did you shoot in RAW?
Click to expand...

Please excuse if the OP has knowledge of cameras, I beg your pardon.

But, I would try and explain some of the jargon you've used :p i.e. white balance and raw :p
 
Boynielaad said:
It's an interesting shot and one that would benefit from some additional work along the lines of the advice you've already been given.

My neck hurts from twisting to see it though.

I trust you wouldn't use this one to put in the ad!

Foodpoison - as an aside, that photo made me really cringe. To see someone shooting (presumably) heroin into someone else is awful. Eeuughh.
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, wasn't my intentions. I have added a bigger caution to it :(
 
Please excuse if the OP has knowledge of cameras, I beg your pardon.

But, I would try and explain some of the jargon you've used :p i.e. white balance and raw
Click to expand...

:bonk: My apologies, you're quite right.
I'm happy to try and explain if James would like...
 
I added a filter in photoshop to the image, which gave it the warm colouring to it.
I quite like how it came out as the plain ones just felt like had something missing.

I didn't shoot in raw as I was doing it just for work, wish I did now though!

I don't really understand white balance, people have tried to explain it to me before but failed! Does adjusting it change how the camera replicates white light?
 
I’m sure the more experienced togs will correct me on this; but the way I consider WB is that it allows the camera to compensate for different lighting conditions in order to produce a more “normal” or “real” representation of colours (as in the way that your eye would view it in real life). There are a number of presets on DSLRs to cater for different situations (e.g. sunny, cloudy, indoor/incandescent lighting, etc) try playing around with them, taking the same shot on different settings and you’ll see what I mean.

The only real way to get as close to “perfect” as you can for the composition you want to capture is to set a “custom” WB. I know there are different methods in use, but most people tend to take a picture of something as “white” as possible (a sheet of paper is ideal and handy – setting the focus to manual as there are no features for the auto-focus to lock to) The camera then treats this as a datum for WB to work from and you are basically telling it “This image is white and that’s that! Deal with it!” :LOL: it then allows the shots to be normalised for colour tone, of course everything else is still up to you and the settings you pick.

There’s bound to be tons of stuff on the net about it that will explain better, and on this forum.

Please correct me if I’m way off the mark, guys. That’s just how I view it in my own little head.:wacky:
I only picked up a DSLR for the first time in November :shrug:
 
That is a photograph IMO. you thought about it a lot and considered the background lighting etc. you didnt just take a boring shot of a car parked on a road.
 
:agree:
I agree with Matt, anytime you have considered the backdrop, location, lighting, shot angle or anything specific to the composition of the shot you have committed an act of "Photography":police::LOL::LOL::LOL:
you've certainly thought about this shot before you took it. (y)
 
Matt Sayle said:
That is a photograph IMO. you thought about it a lot and considered the background lighting etc. you didnt just take a boring shot of a car parked on a road.
Click to expand...

Or with its doors open :LOL:

I quite like it, needs a little WB altering as it looks a little warm to me, but with a little time it could easily be a great shot.

Mark
 
It is a photograph. Question is whether or not it's a good photograph! Depends what it's for - it might not sell the car - but it's interesting - cars are VERY hard to photograph properly. This has an exagerated perspective and trees where there shouldn't be any - but it does have a certain charm too.
 
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