When You're Taking Pictures, Don't Do This...

[need louvers ?]

Originally Posted by Bodge Deep

I don't mind the 'Titanic half sunk' angles, I don't mind the worms eye view, but I do get pissed off with people who explain that they went to 'the best car show on the planet' 'best cars ever' etc etc then proceed to list 500 photos of tiny, tiny... friggin' tiny details of each car... reflection of the photographer in the chrome of the hubcap, the hood mascot from 2 inches away, the idiosyncratic wierd oddity hanging from the rear view mirror. Yes I know chrome is shiny... just show me the whole sodding car too! If i wanted to look at tiny random bits of old cars I'd kick through the dust in my local junk yard thanks!

Four pages of bitching and then it's nailed!!! I don't so much mind the angled shots, although a three quarter view at a flat angle would be my preference. What does drive me bananas is the artsy fartsy tiny detail shots that seem to be so "hip" right now! Nothing makes me crazier than to see a shot of a wheel and tire framed perfectly in a fenderwell, and no F**KING picture of the whole car!!! I have been looking at tires and wheels (and all other things hot rod) for the better part of 40 years... Iknow what they look like! I have them in my shop. Without being part of a finished whole that is done well, they're just disembodied parts. The car guys do this quite a bit, but if you want to make your self nuts, look at some of the chopper small mags out there. Hot rods and bikes are NOT art, they are an avocation, or a vocation...

[roseville carl]

Damn we're weld critics who can't weld, body critics who can't do body work, fabricators who can't fabricate, and now photo critics who don't take photo's. I'm just glad someone takes the time to post photo's of event's I can't make it to even if I don't agree with all of them.............

[117harv]

Originally Posted by 1950ChevySuburban

Well, looks like I got my angles decent in my avatar. Just don't call the lighting police on the dappling.

Yes you did, just enough sky and foreground, great pic and the ride

[dirtydixon]

Everyone is a critic.

[Mr48chev]

I can handle a few of the angle shots and maybe there was a reason for them such as that being the only way they could show the car without the ot car or the junk the people in the car beside it had sitting around.
What drives me nuts is one "photographer" in particular who takes photos at events in the PNW every week and then distorts the photos into something that makes ones eyes ache.
I've taken probably five thousand photos at car shows over the past 40 years and a lot of the early ones were pretty bad and left a lot to be desired. At least now with the digital and a few photo album aids I can crop a photo to cut out stuff I don't want to show and resize the photo so it fits the page.

[dirtydixon]

http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=622005

this thread is for you monsterflake.
I only wish I had taken the pics.

[monsterflake]

i purposely did not use any pics from the hamb. this series had left/right/straight shots all mixed in.

spike, mazooma, the deadend guys, and big al should be included in my (way too short) list of people that can take 'artsy' shots right.

if you're trying to get another britney spears beaver flash, go right ahead!

[Deuces]

Please!!! No pics of that skan... Naaaa I won't say it..

[Tman]

Originally Posted by Centurion9

Tman....Great Link and a little deeper look at that page will bring up links to challenge the rule of thirds....all great stuff. The point seems to be that things like angled shots, HDR, and whatever else you just discovered, needs to be applied sparingly or the shooter quickly becomes a "one trick pony".....What was intended to be creative, gets really boring very quickly....Multi-Featured cameras and photoshop do not the artist make.....there's always room to learn..............Thanks........

Yes, I saw that link as well. Knew it would come up That was the first site I had in my search and it was a good one!

Fact is, there are some awesome photogs here. Fact also is that real talent can bend the rules a bit. The rest of us just need to try and get the whole car in the frame and no people walking in front of the camera!

The irony is that my wife and I also studied photjournalism in college and I seldom take a picture anymore!

[hotroddon]

Originally Posted by Tman

Rule of thirds ring a bell Roger?

But this is an example of Dutch angle, not really Rule of Thirds - at least that's the way I remember it from Photography School.

[Deuces]

Originally Posted by Von Rigg Fink

do this dont do that, cant you read the sign

I still have that 45.. One of my favorites..

[BCR]

Well, I was gonna take my camera to GG this weekend but on second thought.

[Surfrider]

I'm not crazy about some pics but you know what I do... I skip over them... Why waste time looking at stuff that makes you unhappy?

[DRUGASM]

What about when theres only 3/4 of a car? Or someone standing right in front of it? Agreed. Take a step back.

[Merlin]

Good grief I guess now we have the angle picture police? I'll agree some pics have too much angle but the way I see it if you don't like it don't look at them.

[Centurion9]

Originally Posted by Surfrider

I'm not crazy about some pics but you know what I do... I skip over them... Why waste time looking at stuff that makes you unhappy?

Surfrider has a primary, valid point. My objection in the past (I really don't care anymore) is that I've seen countless photos of great cars that I've never seen shot straight on in any other coverage. The only pics I've seen of some of those cars, were the ones cranked over sideways and hard, if not impossible to view. Because of that, I missed those cars. It's not a big thing...there's been some good tips offered here, some will take advantage, some don't like critcism of any kind, and some just like to whine about either side. I'm not the standard, but I know what I like, like the rest of you. To each their own, but curiously, I've never read one complaint here about clear, complete, straight up, 3/4 front, Rear or Side shots that show the whole car. I think that says something.....

[Brahm]

Originally Posted by need louvers ?

Four pages of bitching and then it's nailed!!! I don't so much mind the angled shots, although a three quarter view at a flat angle would be my preference. What does drive me bananas is the artsy fartsy tiny detail shots that seem to be so "hip" right now! Nothing makes me crazier than to see a shot of a wheel and tire framed perfectly in a fenderwell, and no F**KING picture of the whole car!!! I have been looking at tires and wheels (and all other things hot rod) for the better part of 40 years... Iknow what they look like! I have them in my shop. Without being part of a finished whole that is done well, they're just disembodied parts. The car guys do this quite a bit, but if you want to make your self nuts, look at some of the chopper small mags out there. Hot rods and bikes are NOT art, they are an avocation, or a vocation...

zZzZz. Hot Rods are art, down to the smallest detail. Functional art, but art none the less. As somebody who gets paid from time to time take photos. I will say there is nothing I enjoy shooting more then the tiniest details of a persons project that give a car it's character, or shooting from a perspective you might not see unless you are willing to get down on the ground or take the time to really examine what you are shooting.

If you shoot them all from the same angle/view they all blend in after a while, car show after car show..It all becomes a blur. It's the details that are interesting and keep me coming back for more.

[R Frederick]

I like!!!

[mrconcdid]

Originally Posted by Wicked50Coupe

I like!!!

From an "Commercial artist" point of view, the bottem right corner would be a great place for advertisement, or mabe a H.A.M.B. plaque. or event information for a show poster. Very nice pic by the way, the subject matter is awesome.

[EnglishBob]

Originally Posted by roseville carl

Damn we're weld critics who can't weld, body critics who can't do body work, fabricators who can't fabricate, and now photo critics who don't take photo's. I'm just glad someone takes the time to post photo's of event's I can't make it to even if I don't agree with all of them.............

5 pages and only one right answer.