New VW Polo

Messages
405
Name
Rogan
Edit My Images
Yes
A friend has just bought a new Polo so I took a couple of quick shots last night. Since I still need some radio triggers I used a long exposure and lit the car with a few pops of flash. Crit very much welcomed!

#1 this was a non-shot that i rescued with some photoshoppery!... can anyone tell what i did?
4704433296_ecbe37be15_o.jpg


#2
4704432982_e74befce96_o.jpg


#3 Unfortunately with this one i stood still roo long and can be seen very faintly! No idea how to successfully remove that in photoshop
4703792177_d97d692fbf_b.jpg


#4
4703791931_a4e5024946_b.jpg


#5
4703792435_f85f2f4cb9_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
hi,

good set there.. i really like them and the car :p

on #4 you can tell you have took a few pops of flash at the car.
 
I wondered when someone I knew would pop up..

nice set, the sky is perfectly exposed and has nice details in it for the back drop.

1 is nice as is 2, not sure about the distant light trails though, 3 superbly lit, though as you say standing still a touch too long may caues issues. I would stay behind the camera and workout the field of vision before you start...

4 is also rather excellent, but again a distant light trail is slightly distracting. light trail painting with a torch is different and can be interesting...

5 I would probably do a longer exposure by maybe 10 secs before turning on headlights and using flash to give a bit more of the interior light...

Overall rather ecellent pics....
 
I wondered when someone I knew would pop up..

Hi Simon... Didn't realise you were on here... Surprisingly small this modern world of social media and forums! Thanks for the detailed comments too. Agree with everything you say I think, but with regards to standing behind the camera, found I couldn't focus the light on the car doing that and it lit too much of the surrounding grass.
 
Last edited:
Good to see another long-exposure car shooter - has worked well and delivered a result with the ambient light.

1 looks like a symmetry flip. Pretty well done, you've retained the wipers in their right place and the car has the right number of steering wheels so it's already better than some I've seen. Shame there's not more light on the bottom of/ beneath the car but if this is a recovery job I'll let you off.

the rest - a mixture of comments to make really. In no particular order:

I like the light trail but want to see it come out the other side too.

Colour temp is too cold - alloys and grass in particular are carrying too much blue (why is the car on grass btw?).

Headlights - shoot a frame that records the headlights the way you want them then switch them off - avoids too much interference with the rest of the exposure. You can even do this in-camera on the D80 using the Image Overlay function - a seriously underrated function.

Crops - a little tight throughout really IMO, were you doing this to let you get your light closer to the car?

Focusing - good job, not easy in low light but no obvious signs of difficulty.

Lighting - generally you're getting enough light on the car although not always in the right places. As said above you need to watch your positioning but if you avoid standing between the subject and the camera you'll never record your own lighting silhouette

Oh, the other thing about the D80 is the wireless flash built in (assuming Nikon SB flashes). Use commander mode and capture X exposures where X = ambient light, headlights, strobe to side/ front/ bonnet/ roofline/ interior - TP user GFWilliams put together a screengrab video of how he processes his images when he's shot them this way.

Using a continuous light over long exposure can deliver great results and it's worth having someone with you the first times so you can stay by the camera and see where the light needs to be to deliver the result you want.
 
Hi Rogan, yeah I have not been on here that long.. You could make or buy a snoot or use a honeycomb grid to reduce the spread.. Use the zoom feature too..

Personally I'd avoid this as you want the light to spread as evenly as poss rather than cause hot spots. I do sometimes use flags just to prevent my light spilling away from the car.
 
Back
Top