Haven't formally introduced myself yet to this group... I'm Derek Johnson and a Denver-based Commercial Photographer who specializes in product, fitness, and automotive work. Here's a series that I recently shot and am really excited to share with you all
The scenery is very nice, perhaps I would have used one of their red or blue cars to create more separation between the background and vehicle. The black car works well with the closer shots, but the more distant shots seem to have the background competing with the car a bit.1st, 4th, and 6th shots are my preferred.
This was a friend's new car so I didn't have an option on color, though I enjoy the mood it creates. The distant shots were intended for a low-key feel
Black cars can be a challenge. On the perfect day at the perfect location they look awesome, otherwise it'll be a fight to make it work. The big dark cloud didn't help.
The 4th shot might look a wee bit better if you took out that fencepost in the background. Looking at 5 and 6 it shows how shooting from a lower angle makes the hood look longer, in 5 the car looks stumpy. for 6 if you took a step or two to the right the car would have looked longer.
The dark cloud is what I enjoy about the image as I was looking seeking the low-key vibe. I did take out the fence post in the tight front emblem image prior to posting to my site. The 6th image was created at that angle due to the incident angle of the sky - if I had stepped to the right I wouldn't have achieved the nice highlight on the driver's side of the car.
I'd be interested to see your work as you only seem to post constructive comments on others' work..
Yeah it's like shooting a big round mirror. The low key looks good with the dark car. If you move one way get rid of something then something else shows up LoL.
Are you using a polarizer? I try to avoid them but sometimes they help out.
If you want to see some of my work https://www.mikeditz.com/
your portfolio is awesome Mike, how did you do the lighting on that nissan maxima?
It was a combo of natural light, polarizing one way and then the other way, and some retouching. I sometimes do a lot of layers for different bits of the car. Traditionally the lighter part of the sky reflection should be along and above the character line or also called the belt line on the side of the car. in your #5 you got that glow on the doors, not so much on #6 where the glow is under the bend in the shape probably because of the big dark cloud.
This is a solid set of moody shots for this car. Not really sure if there is much I would change to improve this set. Great work.
As a Colorado local myself I LOVE this spot.
Much thanks Bryan! This was my first time shooting at this location and thanks to Google Maps for location scouting online :) Safe to say I'll be returning again in the future
There is a decent google map with a bunch of automotive photo locations. It was shared with me awhile ago, but has some decent spots in there.
Car Photography Locations - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1lDYE4-dy0VSbAJnuWWCwZHDeSME&hl...
Very Cool! Thanks for sharing the link, I'll have to visit a few of those in the coming months