Member Photography Picture of the Day Thread

[Ibanezsam4]

Originally Posted by josh pelican

Until then, a wooden piano I found in an abandoned midget house:


Aside from screws, everything is made of wood. I tried pressing the keys and nothing happened.

this makes me want to revisit my condemned house project i did for school

[tank]

[manozi]

[Wretched]

Where was that taken? We don't get anything like that here in Aus.

[manozi]

It was taken in Savonlinna, Finland during Christmas 2009.
It's my wife's hometown

-M

Originally Posted by Wretched

Where was that taken? We don't get anything like that here in Aus.

[Wretched]

Here are a couple of detail shots from some recent shoots I've done for Australian and US performance car magazines. I'm dying to post some exterior shots showing the entire car, but I really shouldn't until they are published...

In most cases they're lit by two Canon 430EXII Speedlites through white umbrellas at full power and triggered by Cactus V4s.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by manozi

It was taken in Savonlinna, Finland during Christmas 2009.
It's my wife's hometown

-M

The lighting on the building looks surreal. Is it just from moonlight and/or street lighting?

[Bigfan]

Northern Lights (are pretty cool)

[manozi]

Originally Posted by Wretched

The lighting on the building looks surreal. Is it just from moonlight and/or street lighting?

It's mostly street lighting. The pillars of light shooting up in the sky are actually reflections of the lights of cars passing by on the road behind the house - that's the main (very ordinary ) cause for such a dramatic background.

Your photos look great Wretched - what camera are you using?


-Manol

[manozi]

Here's one more for y'all:




-Manol

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by manozi

Your photos look great Wretched - what camera are you using?


-Manol

It's a 7D. I was using a 24-70mm f2.8L in all those shots... and the ones below, too.

All images use two 430EXII Speedlites and a 580EXII. All mounted on their little ground-level stands, bare and on full power, triggered with Cactus V4s. Two light the side of the car and the 580EXII lights the nose or tail (whichever is in shot). Not a lot of post processing beyond saturation etc.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by manozi

Here's one more for y'all:




-Manol

Nice editing.

[manozi]

Thanks

Originally Posted by Azyiu

Nice editing.

[manozi]

Right on. Yeah, I've been looking at the 7D as a possible purchase.
I'm ultimately aiming for the 5D MKII, but the price is killer.
Not entirely sure if I need the full-frame sensor, as well...


-M

Originally Posted by Wretched

It's a 7D. I was using a 24-70mm f2.8L in all those shots... and the ones below, too.

All images use two 430EXII Speedlites and a 580EXII. All mounted on their little ground-level stands, bare and on full power, triggered with Cactus V4s. Two light the side of the car and the 580EXII lights the nose or tail (whichever is in shot). Not a lot of post processing beyond saturation etc.

[Wretched]

My work is regularly published in magazines and even blown up as far as A1 prints with no trouble. I shoot live concert stuff and the results aren't noisy... I haven't seen a need for a full frame sensor.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by manozi

Right on. Yeah, I've been looking at the 7D as a possible purchase.
I'm ultimately aiming for the 5D MKII, but the price is killer.
Not entirely sure if I need the full-frame sensor, as well...


-M

I am a proud owner of a 5D MkII, and I must say it is worth every penny I paid for it. Of course, I am NOT a professional photographer like Wretched here, nor I do this for a living; so if you are on the same boat like me, you DO NOT NEED it for sure. Having said that, I started off on a film based SLR years ago, and would love the freedom of a full frame body. If that is what important to you, then go for it.

Originally Posted by Wretched

My work is regularly published in magazines and even blown up as far as A1 prints with no trouble. I shoot live concert stuff and the results aren't noisy... I haven't seen a need for a full frame sensor.

I'd love to learn how to use / play with lights from you sir one day.

[Wretched]

I practically taught myself - and am still learning - the use of remote flashes. There's so much you can do and a lot of variables, but that makes it all the more fun.
There's some good tutorials online and I also had the benefit of being in contact with a lot of already-established automotive photographers who gave me advice and direction.

For cars, I find a minimum of three flashes is what you need for low-light situations, however if you're shooting in the dark, you can set up a 30sec+ shutter speed and run around the car hitting it with a single flash with no triggers. Otherwise I typically set up two firing along the side of the body and one on the nose or tail (whichever is prominent in the shot). For a side shot, just two flashes, one at either end. Whether you have them up high on stands or low on the standard flash bases is often a matter of preference. Say for instance, this orange ute had them all low on the stands, however I also often have them up on light stands and it'll sometimes depend on what kind of light that is going to throw onto the ground (having them low can leave your shot with beams of light across the ground which can be distracting).

I usually always use them all on full power for exterior shots of the body, unless the car is white, when sometimes you need to dial it down to half power or less so you don't burn out the paintwork.

From there you can experiment, especially when the ambient light is low or non-existent. Firing flashes under the car from behind for a glow that emanates from under, lighting up the cabin with one or two flash hits, writing in the air with a torch or running around the car with the torch for a cool streaky outline... sometimes with a white car at night I will walk around the car with a flash firing through a white umbrella, hitting the body six or seven times with a soft light like you might get in a studio through large soft boxes. I'll post a photo later to show you the results of some of the techniques I mention.

Basically though, it's a matter of just getting out there and giving it a go. I use the flashes and triggers for product shots, portraits, real estate pics, car stuff... you'll find plenty of reasons to buy!

[PeteyG]

Here's a few from my night last Thursday.

[Wretched]

Wow, you should resize those things!

[PeteyG]

Haha, whoops! They're significantly smaller now.

[Furtive Glance]

I live in a postcard.

[yacker]

First time I've seen this thread, so I figure I'll get in on this:

[Wretched]

Here's a couple shots from a shoot that's coming out in Street Fords magazine, issue 82. Due out any day now. It's a 1965 XP Ford Falcon, lit with Speedlite flashes. See the Flickr gallery HERE for specific info on the lighting setups.

[anthonyferguson]

Originally Posted by josh pelican

I want that car. My dad is buying a '69 Camaro soon. I'll have to load up on pictures.

Until then, a wooden piano I found in an abandoned midget house:


Aside from screws, everything is made of wood. I tried pressing the keys and nothing happened.

That's actually a harmonium I work for a company that repairs organs and harmonia, and one of the recent ones was for John Sentimu, the archbishop of York. He made me a hot cross bun and some coffee. :golf: yeah.

[Daemoniac]

Bit of a photobomb here... Moved interstate a few weeks ago and moved into my grandfathers place. Only just got the camera out of storage, and as it's an infinitely more beautiful state than where we were before, I've been itching to take some pics of the property

Most of them are edited (though nothing has been removed from the photos, just colour/saturation and contrast), except the pic of the front yard as a whole and the little statue things face close up - those are as taken.