Thread: Help Me Improve

Hey there L4P, hope you all are having a good weekend so far! I have been working on my automotive photography skills as a hobby and while I feel I have been making some great strides improving, I wanted to see if I could get some advice or help to continue to the next level.


These are a few I shot of my Z the other weekend after washing it and driving up to the top of my campus. I was trying to work with the slanted and slopped parking deck and road and was trying hard to keep a balance between leveling the car and the horizon.

I shoot with a D3000 and the kit 18-55 lens, various filters (mostly polarizer/UV filters) I plan on getting a 50mm prime soon. I aim to produce natural looking photos so any processing is kept at a minimum.



Up on the parking deck:











Gotta keep it real reppin' the370z.com!







Some Malibu money shots:







My personal favorite:






A few shots from a photoshoot I did of some other Zs a couple months ago:









So please L4p, help me PIMP my photos!

your compositions are well done, they make good use of the frame; quality is great

the area that i see as improvement is a few things

1.) background setting/scenery is rather bland, look for more interesting locations, if you have to, be cliche and do the common stuff like traintracks, bridges, waterscapes, etc.

2.) try more ballsy photoshop work, dont go crazy like those guys that just BLAST their photos with HDR/HDRI; start with stronger contrast, throw on some vignette effects, place with the depth of field via blurs, explore other photographers work for ideas

for some inspiration check out the ADV1 photographer (s), my buddy Jeremy Cliff (flickr.com/jeremycliff), and there is a million of amazing photographers out there for ideas

keep up the good work and stay on it

Keep an eye on the random elements, such as the van, that take away from the beauty of the scene and the vehicle

Originally Posted by NDVDUAL

Keep an eye on the random elements, such as the van, that take away from the beauty of the scene and the vehicle

good point, i think i should have said that more then the backgrounds cause now that i rexamine them, theyre not bad but i can tell you from my exp. and others that they will photoshop stuff like that out

what ddiagangi said! +1

when u get ur 50mm prime lense, I would recommend u get adobe lightroom for raw picture editing! I assume u already got ps, but lightroom is awesome too.

Originally Posted by ddigangi

your compositions are well done, they make good use of the frame; quality is great

the area that i see as improvement is a few things

1.) background setting/scenery is rather bland, look for more interesting locations, if you have to, be cliche and do the common stuff like traintracks, bridges, waterscapes, etc.

2.) try more ballsy photoshop work, dont go crazy like those guys that just BLAST their photos with HDR/HDRI; start with stronger contrast, throw on some vignette effects, place with the depth of field via blurs, explore other photographers work for ideas

for some inspiration check out the ADV1 photographer (s), my buddy Jeremy Cliff (flickr.com/jeremycliff), and there is a million of amazing photographers out there for ideas

keep up the good work and stay on it

That's awesome, I made a note of all your observations. I have been researching automotive photographers and am trying to get a feel for how they compose and execute shots, so much variety that it's hard to keep it all straight!

I will also look for a more complex background and give that a go, again thanks for taking the time to respond.

Originally Posted by NDVDUAL

Keep an eye on the random elements, such as the van, that take away from the beauty of the scene and the vehicle

Originally Posted by ddigangi

good point, i think i should have said that more then the backgrounds cause now that i rexamine them, theyre not bad but i can tell you from my exp. and others that they will photoshop stuff like that out

I have photoshopped out elements that I thought were distracting in certain pictures but did not think about it with the van. I tried to diminish it's visual impact but I will chop it out and see how it looks. I couldn't really avoid getting it in the shot due to the positioning of the car and the angle of the sun but I will pay attention to that in the future!

Originally Posted by Mac.Gyver

what ddiagangi said! +1

when u get ur 50mm prime lense, I would recommend u get adobe lightroom for raw picture editing! I assume u already got ps, but lightroom is awesome too.

I'm glad you mentioned Light Room, I am still trying to get the software through my school haha. One of my goals from day one is to get a 50mm prime, just waiting for some expendable cash to generate itself.

Thanks again guys, if there is anything else you can recommend I am all ears.

Originally Posted by NDVDUAL

Keep an eye on the random elements, such as the van, that take away from the beauty of the scene and the vehicle

This is what I was going to say..also, watch for stuff growing out the top of the car (light posts). Always pay attention to what is behind the car and what can distract from it. Many things can be easily photoshopped out fortunately (light posts).

are you working on a mac or pc? i may be able to help with lightroom..

Originally Posted by alexD

This is what I was going to say..also, watch for stuff growing out the top of the car (light posts). Always pay attention to what is behind the car and what can distract from it. Many things can be easily photoshopped out fortunately (light posts).

I generally do that and did so in a few of the pictures, should I try to do that for all pictures?

Originally Posted by ddigangi

are you working on a mac or pc? i may be able to help with lightroom..

I'm a PC guy, used to have CS4 on my last laptop but it crashed and while everything was backed up, the programs got lost and since I got it through my last school and have since transferred, could not get it again.