[Andrew]

Full post: http://thebuildjournal.com/photos/au...fore-after-m3/

When I first started doing automotive photography, I did a ton of research on equipment. Things like camera body, lens, polarizer filter, flash diffuser, lens hood, blah blah. I figured if I use the same equipment as the pros, I’d get the same shot.

Wrong.

Although you have the equipment to process the raw information necessary to create a great image, you need some sort of image editing program to really get to control all the information in post. When I say information, I mean settings like exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, tone curve, histogram, etc. I won’t go over in detail about what each of those settings do, but I will go over some before and after pictures to show you how important post editing can be. Here are some images I took from a recent shoot and I’ll touch briefly on what adjustments I made.

[dcstep]

Your links are broken in your post.

BTW, these techniques apply to ALL photography. Learning proper digital exposure (it's not the same as Kodachrome) and post processing will take anyone's images to the next level.

Dave

[jmg]

I seem to keep struggling with even the basics of composition and lighting. I don't have a lighting kit, and my compositions are one-note and not interesting, at least IMHO. Post processing definitely helps, but without a good composition, you will never have that WOW picture.

[235Dude]

Sub'd

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by jmg

I seem to keep struggling with even the basics of composition and lighting. I don't have a lighting kit, and my compositions are one-note and not interesting, at least IMHO. Post processing definitely helps, but without a good composition, you will never have that WOW picture.

Maybe if you show us one or two that you were hoping would pop more and then we might make suggestions.

Dave

[jmg]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Maybe if you show us one or two that you were hoping would pop more and then we might make suggestions.

Dave

Sure! My last two:

Dance With The Devil? by JMG, on Flickr

20161005 - M3 Myers St 04 - IMG_5597_E_100 by JMG, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by jmg

Sure! My last two:

Your composition is excellent with both images, IMO. You've got the subject off-center and the rule of thirds was applied. I do think that the first one is too dark overall, particularly the sky. In the first one, I'm not sure if I'd clone out the yellow line at the bottom, or not, but I'm guessing that I'll like it better without. In the second image, I like the graffiti.

As I look closely at the 2d one, the driver's side seems in focus, but I'm not so sure about the nose of the car. You've got it as "Private" over on Flickr, so I can't see it full-screen, or see your EXIF. I'm not sure what's going on there, since the side is so sharp. I like the darker gradient on the nose, but it should still be sharp. The OOF BG is just right.

Despite those nits, I think they're very good shots overall. The level of "pop" seems appropriate to me, with just a few little details that need attention. Keep in mine, I'm a realist, mostly shooting nature, so I'm always trying to find a subject that knocks me off my feet, without enhancement. I've seen automotive and even nature photography where the image itself, with an ordinary subject, knocks your eyes out. If that's what you're looking for (nothing wrong with that, if that's the way you're pulled) then I can't really help.

Dave

[cmplaya]

mess around with curves and luminosity masks and that should be able to make some more "pop"

Originally Posted by jmg

Sure! My last two:

Dance With The Devil? by JMG, on Flickr

20161005 - M3 Myers St 04 - IMG_5597_E_100 by JMG, on Flickr