Car photography is harder than you might first think. If you have ever tried to photograph a car, then you already know this. Although it can be exceedingly easy to get a clear and sleek shot of a vehicle, it turns out to be much more challenging than you might think. How to properly capture the design, details and essence of the car in a photo?
How to take a professional car picture?
Every time I photograph a car, I learn something in the process! I would therefore like to share a few basic Car photography Share tips with you. This will help you get started quickly and better understand this interesting niche in the world of photography.
#1 Photograph cars at the right time of day
This is the most common mistake people make when Photographing cars make: they do it at the wrong time of day. The best time to photograph cars is a few minutes after sunset or a few minutes before sunrise. The time around the blue hour is simply best suited. Use a tripod and take advantage of the harmonious light that falls softly on the paintwork.
photographing a car at sunset.
A tripod makes sense from many points of view. Most importantly in probably that your images will simply be sharper with it. When you hold the camera in your hand, there is always a risk of camera shake. In addition, a fixed position of the camera is a good starting position until all settings and a few test shots are made. A lightweight tripod you can take anywhere and easily stow away.
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#2 Look out for reflections
A clear varnish just screams for reflections. You must always keep these in mind when photographing cars. Look around your surroundings and check exactly what can be seen in the reflections on the surface of the car. A car (especially a shiny new one) is like a mirror. So the environment is extremely important. It will be difficult to avoid reflections completely, but at least you can influence them by choosing the background. To start, try an open area such as a field or parking lot behind you. Buildings or trees in your back are off limits. One of the most important things you need to Car photography you want to show are the Design lines of the car. Reflections can unfortunately spoil these curves quickly. Do you have a digital camera? Then you can curb the reflections a bit with a polarizing filter.
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So be very careful. You don’t want to have any reflection of you on the photo. Put your camera on a tripod if you can’t avoid your own reflection. With the timer or a remote shutter release you then have the time to move far enough away from the shooting field.
#3 Driving snapshots
Especially cool car pictures are created when you photograph the car out of another moving car. Please be super careful when you do this though – watch out for roadside signs! & Take a picture of the car from your window while it is going around 60 km/h. Use a shutter speed of 1/100 second.
With this setup, you’ll be able to get a nice look on your picture later on Motion in road and wheels View. You can even reduce the shutter speed a bit more to enhance this effect. However, the slower the shutter speed, the more likely it is that your image will be too blurry and at best nothing will be discernible. This alpha was photographed before sunset while driving at 70 km/h and with a shutter speed of 1/80 second.
Photograph a moving car in such a way that mine sees the speed.
#4 The color of the car
All types of paint color react differently at different times of day, with which different light is associated. Most color paints hate direct sunlight, but some do just fine with it. Just look at this baby of blue beetle photographed in the middle of the day.
Color and paint change with the time of day
#5 Background
Make sure the background matches the car and the subject. Avoid showing things in the background that distract the eye. Things like trash cans, power lines, and other cars can slay an image. For this Aston Martin a plain background was used. The orange paint harmonizes with the color of the surroundings – the soft sunlight.
When photographing cars, make sure the background is calm and free of distracting factors.
#6 Pan for motion blur
Another cool car photography tip: stand on the side of the road and photograph moving cars to add some motion to your images. Follow the car with your lens in a smooth motion and set the shutter speed to a speed of 1/125 second. This is really easy – you will be amazed! This auro was taken with an exposure time of 1/125 second and a focal length of 200 mm. The car was driving at a speed estimated at 60 km/h. These settings give a cool distortion effect. Learn more about this great effect called Motion Blur.
Driving car – create motion blur.
#7 Angle
Before you start car shopping, take a good look at the car and consider what features you want to highlight. Because from this you can deduce what angle to shoot from. Just as with people photography, perspective plays a crucial role. In this article, we have compiled the top 8 camera prospects for you.
Photograph your car from different angles and perspectives
To start, you can simply begin by photographing at eye level. But to take special snapshots, you should try different perspectives and viewpoints. A particularly popular variation is to take photos from just above the ground. This gives the car an imposing and menacing look. Experiment and find out for yourself what works best for you and your car.
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Depending on the angles you choose, I recommend a tripod for full shots of the car. Either way – don’t just leave your camera attached to the tripod. For all the wonderful angles it takes hand holding!
#8 camera for car photography
If you have a choice, I would go for a DSLR or DSLM from the beginning. This way you can put on different lenses and you won’t be blocked by a fixed lens on a compact or bridge camera. Compact cameras are great if you only take a few snapshots now and then. For that, here’s our compact camera review with the best models. With a camera that has a bigger sensor, you have much more possibilities and of course better image quality. I can recommend you the following mid-range cameras. These are all system cameras, which are suitable for professionals as well as beginners.