I would like to start a thead about creating great and creative photos of your beloved mini. I recently posted this info to the Please Post your pictures of your R56 here... thread; however, lots of people have been asking about this topic, so i thought i would make it into its own thread.

------- Take great photos of your Mini ---------

I use a Canon Digital Rebel 8 mega pixel camera with a 28-135mm lens, but any good digital camera will do. The trick is in how you take your photos, the lighting, and the background.

Here are the instructions on how to get some fantastic photos of your cooper:
1.Wash the car so it looks its best. This is important if as you will be getting quite close to the car and bug splats and dirt will detract from the photo. You want your car to really pop.

2.Wait until you have very good indirect light – cloudy overcast days, early morning, or evenings are good times. Indirect light is especially important as cameras do not have the dynamic range (ability to see extremes of light and dark) that our eyes do. If you take photos in the sun, you either have parts of the photo that are “burned out” and overexposed while the rest of the image is exposed correctly, or if you try to avoid over overexposure in the highlights, then the shadow areas will be too dark. In softer indirect light, you can capture detail in both the highlights and shadows at the same time, and this will yield the best photos.

3.If you have a camera that can use a polarizer, you will want to employ it. It will help you to control and manipulate reflections so more of the color of the paint comes through as well as it will allow you to see through the glass to the interior more easily. If you don’t have a polarizer, don’t worry, you will still be able to take some great shots.

4.If your camera can take images in RAW format, do so as it will let you post process your image to help correct exposure problems. If you camera does not support RAW, use the highest quality JPG setting it has.

5.Do not use flash, the reflections will ruin the photos.

6.Find a good background that will accentuate and complement the color and texture and mood of your cooper. You don’t want backgrounds that compete with your car, you want backgrounds that provide a setting that lets you focus your attention on your subject.

7.Place your car in the setting, and walk around the car to find points where the background will both focus attention on the car and yet not distract. Move the car around a few times until you find a good setting.

8.To get shots like this:



Set camera to cloudy (for indirect light) to the slowest ISO Getting (50 or 100 will give you the best image quality), and zoom out to its widest angle setting. Get down low just a little above the level of the bumper and off the front corner, get quite close and fill the image completely with the car. Look to the edges of the image and try to make sure you are not accidentally cutting off part of the car, and look at the background to make sure it does not have any unintentional distractions that will detract from the image. Take a bunch of photos, trying slightly different angles and playing with the polarizer (if the camera has one).





9.To get shots like this, get far away from the car and very low to the ground (in this case, I actually crouched down in a ditch). Use your camera’s zoom to fill the image with the car. The road is not interesting, so getting as low as possible will make it disappear and give you a great perspective on the car. Again, check your edges, look for distractions, take lots of images, use different angles, and play with the polarizer.





10.To get shots like this, set the camera to wide angle zoom, and again get just above the level of the bumper. Use a vertical shot, and the background to “lead” the eye and focus on the car.



11.To get shots like this, set the camera to wide angle, macro, and get real close to the components. Watch the reflections because you may be in them (which can be intentional )

12.When you are done with your shoot, download the images and go through them and keep only the best ones (keep only about 10-20% of your shots, keep only the best). If you have them in RAW, adjust any shot settings to find the optimal exposure settings for the images you want to keep.

13.Upload your photos to NAM!!!

 

I'd find it a lot easier if I could just hire you.

 

Ya that makes life so much easier. I always wanted a personal professional photographer (seriously)

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...splay.php?f=71

I think you should come hangout over in thephoto forum with us

And of course, guides are good, but somtimes its breaking the rules that makes the differeance!

FYI Here is a thread I started a while back for self improvement ofphotos there is always room to grow no matterwho you are
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=77597

 

Uh-oh wrong thread

 

Motor On,

Thanks for the heads-up. As a new member of NAM, i had not seen the thread you mentioned above. I will hang there too!

 

Be warned you will get addicted to shooting MINIs particularly around sunsets (read around to more fully understan, its a very welcoming group)

 

gos1 can you send me a video or more photos of cheerio, i want to formulate the exact same mini colour configuration and i want to see how it looks. thanks.

 

I will add another tip. Don't use too much zoom or too much wide angle.

Too much zoom will make the car appear to be two dimemsional (flat)


Too much wide angle and it will look like a stretch limo


Try to keep the zoom in the middle...those with real SLR lenses, use someting in the 35-80mm range. 50mm is pretty much spot on as our eyes see but experiment on your own. Sometimes the effects are planned ...sometimes not .

 

Nothing like stealing someone's thunder. Nice thing about sunset/sunrise is you can break your rule #1 (to a point).

I'm **** about clutter in the background, always look for simple settings. Also **** about driveway shots, looks like the car is never driven.

Look forward to your photos gos1!

 

Check out my gallery for a start, there are many more photos there. A video is a good idea, and i will think about what would work and be cool...

 

Thanks for all the tips. I have a new MINI and a new Nikon D40X that I am experimenting with and learning to use. I love your photos and your car is beautiful.