New Camera, New Pics. Im trying.

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

So as some of you know, I got a new camera finally. Im still learning the settings and stuff. Harder than I thought it would be. The camera isnt a crazy million dollar one either. Its a start into the SLR world for me.
I dont have any kind of Photoshop or anything, just a cheesy edit program. I cant even add frames.
So all these pics are basically unedited, just size.

So far, the pics are getting better. Id rather master night time shots rather than day shots. Its a lot hard IMO.
Some pics are slightly blurry. I didnt shut off the auto focus, it trys to center things and focus on what it thinks "I" want pictured. 70% of the time the cameras right.

New additions are little "Enkei" stickers on the lips by the valve stems and DC5 amber sidemarkers. Ohh, and some stickers on the rear window.

Start it off with a Holiday shot.












<3 my HID's and amber fogs.

[Fitting]

Loving your Fit.
The last pic is my fave.

[hmgFIT]

nice nice, what is the gear you're using? i see swirls on the hood! [=

[hmgFIT]

uhm, Canon?

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

Thanks. I like the last pic best too.

The swirls are ALL OVER! I made them worse when I CB'ed the car. Ill spend a good day doing a deep cleaning, wax, and polish.
Camera is a simple Nikon D40 and tripod of course.

Are the pics good? Honestly. I was expecting more from this camera. Hahaha! Im sure if I had a Photoshop program I could make the pics SICK.

[Snap Fit]

Originally Posted by Mx6GT89

Thanks. I like the last pic best too.

The swirls are ALL OVER! I made them worse when I CB'ed the car. Ill spend a good day doing a deep cleaning, wax, and polish.
Camera is a simple Nikon D40 and tripod of course.

Are the pics good? Honestly. I was expecting more from this camera. Hahaha! Im sure if I had a Photoshop program I could make the pics SICK.

yup last pic is sexy cool
nothing like a good cam to show off swirls...heeehee
Photoshop can help...the D40 has lots of settings to maximize a taylored look too (not as much versatility but you would be surprised) as well as technique...
congrats on the camera! you will undoubtedly enjoy it, and what a great car to practice on!

[George02]

MR fit FTW!!! looks good

[osborne]

UCF campus?

[SD_MR_FIT]

what hids are you rocking? i have the 5000k which looks almost exactly like that. crystal white eh? anyways dude...your car is looking clean once again.

i need to invest into a slr camera. im hoping for one soon.

[GD3los]

Flippin sick ray.

[doctordoom]

i like your pics man. i have a film SLR it's pretty fun to use. maybe i'll get a digital one someday. photoshop edited pics look nice, but i like it better like yours, with minimal editing and manipulation. otherwise, i feel like everything is just fabricated and the art comes from the editing instead of the actual photography. that's just my opinion, but nice pics!

[sam21]

not too bad Ray,keep practicing

[ComposiMo]

It takes more than the camera to take great pics Don't gived up on it just because the first set of pics didn't come out all that great.

And you don't need some multi-million dollar camera to make good pics... this pic was taken with a D50, whichis a bit worse of a camera imho than the D40. The lense you are using also makes a huge difference of course... but the lense i'm using for these pics is actually a pretty cheap ProMaster 17-50mm f/2.8 lens.



That was shot at dusk in very low light free-hand, no tripod. it has very slight work in Photoshop, but that is close to how it popped out of the camera.

granted, thats not a night shot, but personally i think night shots are the easier shots, because you're working with a tripod and an inanimate object... take the tripod away, or shoot something that is moving, and see how people work with night shots :P

Just remember though, if you begin to mess with photoshop a lot, underexposure is better than overexposure... its nearly impossible to gain back detail from 'white-washed' areas, whereas there is usually a good deal of captured and therefore editable data in an underexposed picture.


And of course, the best advise that can be given, is to get PhotoShop asap... lol! However, PhotoShop won't make you good... you still need to know the camera, and the settings to get it close.. PS just lets you fine-tune.



Oh, and if you're shooting anything important, shoot it in RAW mode... or RAW +jpg, so that way you have the RAW files on hand if you really need them. Because if you HAPPEN to shoot something spectacular or worthy of publication or something, you'll WANT the high res RAW file.


Good luck with your photography! If there's anything i can help u with, let me know...

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

UCF campus?

Yes. Make a left at that light and the new football stadium is right there.

what hids are you rocking? i have the 5000k which looks almost exactly like that. crystal white eh? anyways dude...your car is looking clean once again.

4300k. Only the brightest.

i like your pics man. i have a film SLR it's pretty fun to use. maybe i'll get a digital one someday. photoshop edited pics look nice, but i like it better like yours, with minimal editing and manipulation. otherwise, i feel like everything is just fabricated and the art comes from the editing instead of the actual photography. that's just my opinion, but nice pics!

I know what you mean. Im on Jtuned a lot and I see posts of people completely editing the entire pic. Others think its awesome, I dont. *shrugs*
I just want them crisp, clean, and almost like youre there.

John, I know what you mean about day shots vs night shots. I got the camera last night, charged the battery and Ive already taken over 100pics. Might not be a lot but it takes a lot of time adjusting this, that, blah. Im sure you know.

But day vs night, I actually do find day harder to get the true color of certain cars; like mine. So far, during the day I havent been able to get the real MR. Night is easier depending on where youre at. So far the camera is doing the adjustments at night. Im sticking to parking garages with white ample light, then doing little tweaks here and there.

Lenses are next. My dad was going to get me a noise filter. My friend got a noise filter for his camera. Made a big difference.
Right now Im just using the lense that came with the body. 18-55mm

Oh, and if you're shooting anything important, shoot it in RAW mode... or RAW +jpg, so that way you have the RAW files on hand if you really need them. Because if you HAPPEN to shoot something spectacular or worthy of publication or something, you'll WANT the high res RAW file.

Thanks for that info! I was looking at those options in the book and I didnt know what they actually ment.

Thanks for the complements. I'll probably be making a picture trail of my car instead of many different threads.

[ComposiMo]

To pull the vibrance out of your color in the daylight, try shooting through a Circular Polarizing filter... it can help a lot... especially to also cut down on glare and reflections.

Also, you should have in-camera adjustments for hue and saturation... up the saturation a point or two. you can also increase the contrast a slight bit, and then underexpose the shot ever-so-slightly.




Oh, and only 100 pics?... heck, i shot over 600 this afternoon at todays christmas festivities at the fams house.. haha!

btw, don't be afraid to fire the flash off softly (camera can tone down the flash in the menu) during a long exposure... it'll give it some interesting fill light that may bring out the red color of the car a bit more.



Oh, and for the RAW files, you'll need Nikons software to view/edit them. You can do a lot of editing in the software, but you'll still have to take it to photoshop eventually to do more fine detail work that can't be done in the Nikon software.

[TOOL]

Your Fit looks killer man, i love this latest photoshoot. Your car is awesome, belive it or not the rims are finally starting to grow on me lol. Nice job.

Tyler

[BKK@FIT]

Beauty Bad Ass Fit!!!!
Ur photoshoot is still cool..........

[Suzi_q]

Dude!!! C'mon, fess up! You have done this before?
The pics are rad!! I love the last one! More pics pleaze!!

[Raaaaaaaaaay.]

Ill be getting some lenses sometime. That means cuttin back on Fit stuff I wanted. Haha!
I'll probably go take some shots today. Weather is cool and the sun is out. Cant complain!

Tyler, took me some time to get use to them. About an hour, not as long as you. Most of my rims take time to get use to.

Thanks again for the compliments. I have done this before but Ive never used a camera with all these settings/adjustments. All the "good" pics of my car were taken by a friend.

[solbrothers]

nice pix. keep working at it and your pix will get better and better!