jmr.s2k

I posted for the first time about a week ago in the gallery and aside from some saying that I overdid the HDR a bit I got a lot of compliments, here is to looking for feedback on a shoot I did yesterday. Car is mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964482912/http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964482912/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/86976403@N04/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964491448/http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964491448/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/86976403@N04/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964496874/http://www.flickr.com/photos/86976403@N04/7964496874/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/86976403@N04/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7967406818/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7967406818/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/jmr_s2k/, on Flickr

jmr.s2k

Some tips or critiques would be great, was my first time editing in lightroom so I'm looking to see what I can do differently.

VisualEchos

Your first issue is location. In real life this was probably a beautiful place, but in pictures it just looks like a bunch of crap behind the car. You've got some decent compositions going, but you're a little to close to the side of the frame in a few of these, so watch that. Skip anything psudo-HDR, it just looks terrible, tone-mapping is DEAD. Your exposures look a bit on the dark side as well, probably because you're not shooting with the sun on your back, which you should always do, unless you have something very artistic in mind. Also, make sure that there is nothing obscuring the car, or wheels/tires, again, unless it's overly artisic, which none of these seem to be.

Notice the elements of this shot. The location, the composition, the light direction, and location, and the use of aperture to isolate the subject. You don't need to recreate this photo, just think about the elements of it next time you go out to shoot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7287262444/http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7287262444/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/visualechos/, on Flickr

jmr.s2k

Ok,so lighten up the exposure, simplify/declutter the background, and stay away from heavy multiple exposures. One question, could you define what you mean by artistic? Thank you for the feedback!

jmr.s2k

Would these be more what you are talking about?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7965082286/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7965082286/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/jmr_s2k/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7965092250/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmr_s2k/7965092250/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/jmr_s2k/, on Flickr

VisualEchos

Yes, and no. The pictures above fix a couple of the issues, but leave a few. The top shot is still too close to the left of the frame, feeling underexposed, and suffering from bad reflections. The bottom shot has a better exposure, but the car is too centered in the frame, and is partially obscured by the foliage. This seems to be your intent, given the name of the shot, but it simply won't work unless it is presented in more of an artistic way. Let me see if I can find a good example for you.

VisualEchos

Take a look at this shot, and how the car is framed by the foreground elements, but they don't intrude upon it. Also take note of the black wheels, which are perfectly clear, simply because I did a seprate exposure for them, and the comped them into the shot. You must do this with your car as well, if you want the exposure to look correct.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7206748232/http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7206748232/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/visualechos/, on Flickr

VisualEchos

Another example of foreground elements.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7185389206/http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/7185389206/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/visualechos/, on Flickr

VisualEchos

One last example.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/6903551983/http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualechos/6903551983/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/visualechos/, on Flickr