[Rogue86]

Hey everyone,

Been lurking on here for a while now but figured I'd join the community to try and learn a few things! I've spent the past few years as a military photographer but I've just started a job photographing cars. I wouldn't say I'm entirely out of my comfort zone as I have a lot more control with my images than I've been used to, but looking through the work on here is certainly a sobering realisation that I have a lot to learn particularly with editing! Hopefully I'll pick up a few things while I'm here.

If any of you are interested in some of my military stuff, there's a link here (Click me). I'll try to keep this thread up to date with some of the car images I'm now working on.

This is the most recent shoot which I'm happier with. I had more control with this one relatively speaking.

Working on a re-edit with this one (some dodging/burning on the wheels and removal of the yellow posts)

Thanks for looking. Hoping to shoot some new stuff tomorrow so happy to take any advice/tips onboard!

 

[markpetersonii]

Holy crap.

See, this is why I tried to lat-move into COMCAM. Bastards.

I'm officially jealous of the stuff you can do. Everything looks great and I am still stuck in the land of old cameras and decent lenses. One day I'll be able to do stuff like this. As for now... Afghanistan.

Are you American or British?

 

[Rogue86]

Hah, yeah the old job definitely had some perks! Got to admit I miss some of the things we used to get up to. What are you doing out in Afghan? I'm British.

 

[-dc-]

Your military photos are really cool!

I like your car work. If I had a criticism it would be for your first lambo shot there is a shadow going down the hood of the car and it's distracting.

I really like the locations you've chosen and feel like your outdoor work is much stronger. Feel like I've also seen that second lambo shot a bunch from others...not to say it's bad, but just to say, I've seen it before. Whereas the location photos I feel like I am looking at something new/fresh with a unique concept.

 

[Rogue86]

Thanks for the honest feedback

To be honest, the shadow on the Lambo is intentional as I felt it showed the shape/lines of the car better and the frame without that shadow makes the shape look quite flat. Appreciate the feedback on the locations though, it's something I'm hoping to do more of! The Lambo was a bit half-done in that I couldn't take the car anywhere as it's a sold unit, so I was stuck with it in the garage.

 

[crookedm]

Fantastic. Love this thread already.

 

[WhiteLion]

Wow! Great work!

The picture of the in air spitfire is amazing along with those typhoons.

 

[MasterWhite]

looks good, what do you shoot with?

 

[Rogue86]

Thanks folks

The military stuff is shot largely with a mixture of Nikon D700 and D3. I really like the Nikon bodies so started out in this job with a D5200 (#2 is taken with this) but found it handled low-light very poorly. I've since upgraded to a Nikon D800 and absolutely love it.

 

[Yanky]

I have to say I like your outdoor stuff a lot! The second image is a bit overdone to me but I like the other two very much. The lambo shots aren't bad either! Great work.

 

[markpetersonii]

Hah, yeah the old job definitely had some perks! Got to admit I miss some of the things we used to get up to. What are you doing out in Afghan? I'm British.

Deployed out here. Cool, I worked with a few Brits out here. Awesome guys!

 

[Rogue86]

Well stay safe out there dude!

 

[-dc-]

Now THAT is a badass shot right there....woah! :clap:

 

[Rogue86]

Thanks DC. To be honest, just having a play in Photoshop at work, trying to learn a few things. Done another angle which was a bit more involved; it's intentionally overdone as I'm trying to practice, but it's a good learning tool.

 

[-dc-]

yeah, you're on the right path here...

One thing you have to be careful of is the highlights/reflections and exposures matching between all your elements. ie: you changed the sky dramatically and stopped down 2 exposures to try to get it like a full moon, but I'm not buying your exposure on the sky through the windows on the top floor (where you marked it as moonlight streaks).

Also the reflections on the car are too hot compared to the reflections on the window of the building. It starts to look a bit painterly...

Those headlights should be way hotter, and you could even stand to add some Z-depth to your fog overall.

Keep an eye on your black levels too, looking like you get crunchy too fast...are you working in 16-bit?

The first image of that car was way better for me because the light source felt right and the elements you chose to add felt more balanced.

 

[Rogue86]

Thanks for the constructive crit; I actually wanted the car to look like it had been lit (along the lines of light-painting) but I never went through with sorting the shape of the highlights. I guess the whole thing was a bit half-baked! Working on this one at the moment:

 

[MasterWhite]

Thanks DC. To be honest, just having a play in Photoshop at work, trying to learn a few things. Done another angle which was a bit more involved; it's intentionally overdone as I'm trying to practice, but it's a good learning tool.

love seeing before and after shots

 

[optomistic]

Thanks folks
I really like the Nikon bodies so started out in this job with a D5200 (#2 is taken with this) but found it handled low-light very poorly.

I have a D5200 as well! Three pieces of glass to accompany it as well. Need to order a new charger since it grew legs and walked off. My wife accidentally purchased it through Amazon! At the time the price wouldn't show until it was in the cart, few days later she purchased some random item and forgot to remove it!

for me since i'm the photographer in this household.

 

[optomistic]

love seeing before and after shots

x2, Rogue86 are you following any particular tutorials on your journey through Photoshop?

 

[Rogue86]

None at all as it happens, just looking at stuff I like online and trying to figure out how they achieved certain things. I worked briefly as a graphic designer some years ago and have to say that most of the commercial-style stuff I'm looking at now has more in common with that than the strictly darkroom-techniques I've been used to. Good fun learning though, certainly way below the talents of many current artists! Here's another from the same set: