# engine bay



## ls6firebird (Jan 14, 2011)

like White, my ankle is busted up so random pictures are my best form of entertainment haha. been practicing with my new camera a lot (d3100) and wanted to experiment in lower light. any input welcomed

sorry, i know these are far from interesting photos for most people lol

f/6.3
1/60 sec
iso-3200 (dont remember setting it that high, guess ive just been kinda shootin from the hip)




engine bay2

removed some wires in photoshop (will be hiding them soon), removed the trailer park style bird decal and added a cleaner one.

f/3.5
1/60
iso-3200



engine bay


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## Trever1t (Jan 14, 2011)

Engine bay pics are more difficult to take than most think. Lighting is too low in these and too much contrast applied? Nothing pops. Trust me, I've attempted this 100 times and have only been successful a few.


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## ls6firebird (Jan 14, 2011)

Trever1t said:


> Engine bay pics are more difficult to take than most think. Lighting is too low in these and too much contrast applied? Nothing pops. Trust me, I've attempted this 100 times and have only been successful a few.


 
yea lighting sucks. and doesnt help that they are so cluttered up. im goin to be removing most of the things that the motor doesnt need to run, and hide everything i dont remove. that should open up and lot of space and allow better focus on the motor (i hope). that was the idea tho for these pics, so i can have before and after shots


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## Biggs88 (Jan 15, 2011)

Way too high of a ISO.

Also, they look out of focus, but you tried to over sharpen them??

Too, these nothing really worth looking at in these pics. 

Try finding one thing in the engine bay that looks REALLY neat.  Get good lighting on it, and do some composed close ups.

That may help. . .


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## ZOMGVTEK (Jan 16, 2011)

I can take OK shots in lower light with my D3100 and 35mm f1.8 AF-S... Even at ISO 3200, they're useable. 

The kit lens can be workable, with a tripod and things that don't move in front of the glass. Handheld? Don't bother.


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## MrMikeyZ2189 (Jan 16, 2011)

Noise is way up there and I agree with biggs, they were over sharpened. Play with your shutter and aperture until you feel you have the correct exposure for your engine bay shot and then set your camera up on a tripod and set the timer on it (if it has one). Set the timer and let the camera do the rest and the picture should come out 100x better. With more advanced DSLR's out on the market, your finger tapping the shutter release can distort an image at a low enough shutter. With the timer on and your settings already preset, you can step away from the camera and let it take a crystal clear shot in low light. Or invest in a speedlight/hot shoe flash where you can play with bouncing light off the hood or something near the car.


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## rCOSIO (Jan 16, 2011)

try using off camera flash, and place one underneath the car shooting up towards the engine bay ... light shines through nice, and separate's the parts under the hood to view better ... 

... just a though, something ive done before


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## ls6firebird (Jan 16, 2011)

thanks for the advice. lots of great options



rCOSIO said:


> try using off camera flash, and place one underneath the car shooting up towards the engine bay ... light shines through nice, and separate's the parts under the hood to view better ...
> 
> ... just a though, something ive done before


 
thanks man! i definately plan on trying this out. especially after i get done with the motor.


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## rCOSIO (Jan 16, 2011)

... Let me know how it turns out :thumbup:


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## Fujito (Jan 17, 2011)

For engine bay pictures use a flash pointed up at the hood. You may want to diffuse the light so that it's not so harsh. Harsh light will have large reflections off of any metal.

I will admit that they are more difficult in general, especially because of the DOF. Ideally I'd use multiple flashes shooting off camera in a completely dark setting, but I only have one flash and no triggers.


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