# Acura RSX.



## President (May 11, 2012)

Thanks for looking. What kind of improvements do I need?

Pictures on Page 1 and 2. Thanks for looking.


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## grapnell (May 11, 2012)

Is that hood cover made of elephant skin?


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## President (May 11, 2012)

no lololol


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## vipgraphx (May 12, 2012)

Not liking this at all. You have so much CA in that shot that its just crazy. The angle just is not working, maybe if you would have got the whole car in there but the way you cropped it is wacky...


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## grapnell (May 12, 2012)

I really like how the processing worked on the driveway and the fence.  Try to get a better shot, a better angle, and a lot of the fence in the background.  Use things that work to your advantage.  The processing, however, did not work well on the car itself.  Unless that is a matte finish on that car, you really didn't bring out the best of it.  The car should be shiny, and it looks dull.  I would really like to see a redo on this, as there is a lot of potential in this shot.


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## Jaemie (May 12, 2012)

Is that a camera strap at the bottom?


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## 2WheelPhoto (May 12, 2012)

Jaemie said:


> Is that a camera strap at the bottom?


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## Bynx (May 12, 2012)

Jaime, there are a few problems with the HDR processing and all you can see is a bit of camera strap. You have a sharp eye. A dull brain but a sharp eye.


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## President (May 12, 2012)

Did a little edit what do you guys think?


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## President (May 12, 2012)

yeah it does look dull. I don't know how to make the hood look white.


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## o hey tyler (May 12, 2012)

This needs to be approached at a far lower angle. Looking down on the car with a super wide angle lens just doesn't work. Plus, the camera strap... I mean, come on. At least crop that out.


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## President (May 12, 2012)

o hey tyler said:


> This needs to be approached at a far lower angle. Looking down on the car with a super wide angle lens just doesn't work. Plus, the camera strap... I mean, come on. At least crop that out.



yeah and thanks. i will retake it again.


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## Jaemie (May 12, 2012)

Bynx said:


> Jaime, there are a few problems with the HDR processing and all you can see is a bit of camera strap. You have a sharp eye. A dull brain but a sharp eye.



Hah!! omg...  You made me laugh so hard! Well, I figured everyone else had contributed to the compositional and technical aspects, so I'd just point out the strap. hehe..  I'm still laughing.


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## vipgraphx (May 12, 2012)

Your second attempt is better. However I still think the shot you are using will not justify the car. But, I also like the way the fisheye looks just put it work in a different perspective.

You asked how to make your car look white, funny I thought it was silver. Do you have enough exposures? What software are you using?

Once we know this we can lend you a hand, but, before you post again use another perspective.


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## President (May 12, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> Your second attempt is better. However I still think the shot you are using will not justify the car. But, I also like the way the fisheye looks just put it work in a different perspective.
> 
> You asked how to make your car look white, funny I thought it was silver. Do you have enough exposures? What software are you using?
> 
> Once we know this we can lend you a hand, but, before you post again use another perspective.


Thanks for the reply. I only have one exposure for this picture. I loaded into photomatix pro " batch single photo" and have it do the rest of the work. After that, I polish it using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. I'm using Sony NEX 5 camera. 
By the way, how do you shoot manual exposure? I'm using autoHDR on my camera. And by different perspective, what exactly do you mean? thanks again. I really need to crop that camera strap out of that picture too LOL I didn't even notice it until I upload that pic.


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## peanut170 (May 13, 2012)

Curious what lens you're using?


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## President (May 13, 2012)

peanut170 said:


> Curious what lens you're using?



it's a fish eye.


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## vipgraphx (May 13, 2012)

President said:


> vipgraphx said:
> 
> 
> > Your second attempt is better. However I still think the shot you are using will not justify the car. But, I also like the way the fisheye looks just put it work in a different perspective.
> ...



Only one exposure would not be HDR but just tonemapping. To add to that if you are doing in camera HDR and then trying to tonemapp that image might not work as well, could be wrong though.

If your camera can shoot raw you could use photoshop or light room to create under over exposures. Ideally you would want to use a tripod and take the in camera HDR off and if you can not auto bracket then you need to do an under exposed , exposed , and over exposed and then use those to do your HDR. I am not familiar with the sony but you should have a manual mode or aperture mode that you can control your exposures settings.

Different perspective is like a different angle. Great car shots are low to the ground exposing the front and the side, so you can see the car. If you wish to do a birds eye view then move your camera angle so you can get the whole car in and its not cut off. Some people may like that angle you used in your post however I do not like it and think with the better angle you could put the fisheye to better use.

Cheers!


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## o hey tyler (May 13, 2012)

Jaemie said:


> Bynx said:
> 
> 
> > Jaime, there are a few problems with the HDR processing and all you can see is a bit of camera strap. You have a sharp eye. A dull brain but a sharp eye.
> ...



It's okay. Bynx's comment was quite ignorant considering that the most egregious issue with the photo was the camera strap. You don't have a dull brain at all. It's the largest issue this photograph has, and you pointed it out. Nothing wrong with that.


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## President (May 13, 2012)

so I retake these photos under different light.
Before and After.


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## Bynx (May 14, 2012)

Is a fisheye the only lens you have? In my opinion you should be more concerned with your processing than introducing more elements. If you can produce from the software an image that you can make people go WOW then you have control of your software. You arent there yet. You should be able to come up with an image that is just like you see it. After you can do that then go for the grungy or whatever look you want. Right now though, you are just moving some sliders, posting the image and hoping for come nice comments. Sorry, not from me, not yet. In your last image your car is starting to look white. I always thought it was silver gray. But you have now added some white stuff to the gray pavement. Where did that come from? (Your processing!)


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## President (May 14, 2012)

Bynx said:


> Is a fisheye the only lens you have? In my opinion you should be more concerned with your processing than introducing more elements. If you can produce from the software an image that you can make people go WOW then you have control of your software. You arent there yet. You should be able to come up with an image that is just like you see it. After you can do that then go for the grungy or whatever look you want. Right now though, you are just moving some sliders, posting the image and hoping for come nice comments. Sorry, not from me, not yet. In your last image your car is starting to look white. I always thought it was silver gray. But you have now added some white stuff to the gray pavement. Where did that come from? (Your processing!)



Thanks for replying. What do you mean by processing? Actually I have other lenses but I really want to work with the fisheye lens. I really don't know what am I doing wrong. You want me to go more natural look?


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## Jaemie (May 14, 2012)

President said:


> Bynx said:
> 
> 
> > Is a fisheye the only lens you have? In my opinion you should be more concerned with your processing than introducing more elements. If you can produce from the software an image that you can make people go WOW then you have control of your software. You arent there yet. You should be able to come up with an image that is just like you see it. After you can do that then go for the grungy or whatever look you want. Right now though, you are just moving some sliders, posting the image and hoping for come nice comments. Sorry, not from me, not yet. In your last image your car is starting to look white. I always thought it was silver gray. But you have now added some white stuff to the gray pavement. Where did that come from? (Your processing!)
> ...



I can't answer for Bynx, but in a previous post you wrote:



President said:


> I only have one exposure for this picture. I loaded into photomatix pro " batch single photo" and have it do the rest of the work. After that, I polish it using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. I'm using Sony NEX 5 camera.
> By the way, how do you shoot manual exposure? I'm using autoHDR on my camera. And by different perspective, what exactly do you mean? thanks again. I really need to crop that camera strap out of that picture too LOL I didn't even notice it until I upload that pic.



Photomatix, Lightroom 4, and your camera's HDR programming, are all examples of processing software. In the case of your car photos, I think we in this thread generally feel you are processing them too much and making use of too many features to make them look cool and interesting. It's fun to play around and adjust this and that, but it can go too far, also, and I think that's what has happened here.

Also, I agree with Bynx when he suggests you focus on taking a photo that is more natural, "just as you see it," and is fundamentally a good image in terms of composition, exposure, story, communication, and feeling, _*before*_ playing around with processing software. I think you should start over with a better car photo. This photo has a number of problems, in my opinion: it's over-exposed in places, has distractions (car in back, fence, white powdery stuff, house vent, step, etc.), is centered (sometimes that's fine and works, here it does not), and parked in a driveway it doesn't tell me anything interesting other than "here's my cool car." 

Keep trying. I love cool cars and I want to see what you come up with next.


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## o hey tyler (May 14, 2012)

President said:


> so I retake these photos under different light.
> Before and After.



Much better angle! I like #2 better overall.


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## President (May 14, 2012)

Jaemie said:


> President said:
> 
> 
> > Bynx said:
> ...



Thanks. I will take another shot in a different place. I will post it on here.


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## President (May 14, 2012)

o hey tyler said:


> President said:
> 
> 
> > so I retake these photos under different light.
> ...



thanks bro.


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## Bynx (May 14, 2012)

I think in the HDR forum its more important to concentrate on your HDR processing. Personally, while Id like to see a great image, in the beginning just getting the processing down is the main focus for me. Distorted lenses, or some way out look is not good until you have everything else down. Put your camera on a tripod and center your car in the pic from whatever angle you want to shoot. Then take your shots from underexposed to overexposed. Take about 5 or 7 if shooting outside in the daylight. Run those images through Photomatix and just use the first Default in the presets. Dont touch the sliders and then post the image. Lets see where you are from a beginning point of view. From there you can venture out.


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## President (May 14, 2012)

Bynx said:


> I think in the HDR forum its more important to concentrate on your HDR processing. Personally, while Id like to see a great image, in the beginning just getting the processing down is the main focus for me. Distorted lenses, or some way out look is not good until you have everything else down. Put your camera on a tripod and center your car in the pic from whatever angle you want to shoot. Then take your shots from underexposed to overexposed. Take about 5 or 7 if shooting outside in the daylight. Run those images through Photomatix and just use the first Default in the presets. Dont touch the sliders and then post the image. Lets see where you are from a beginning point of view. From there you can venture out.


Cool will do that. Give me a week or two.


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## grapnell (May 14, 2012)

President,

I want to see an angle with just the fence in the background.  The house is not working.  I like the processing on the fence/driveway in the very first image you posted.  But the car looked over processed.  Try to tweak it where everything works together.  There is too much white in your second photos.  A lot of burn out.  And I would also try to bracket at least 3 different exposures, as that is probably the best way to get better results.


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## President (May 25, 2012)

So I went out and took some pictures. See below:


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