New nighttime shot

[sunrunner_pei]

Just got back from taking this shot...

http://www.gaownersclub.com/gallery/albums/2003%20GAGT/nov_2006/img_5099.jpg

More at http://www.gaownersclub.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=50

[2001GAGT]

Very nice pic Shawn!!!

[99GrandAMSE]

... cool shot :)

[ManktheTank19]

very cool shot

[Pete Ray]

AWESOME!!!!!

[levey]

Damn, Shawn. I wish you were not an Admin right now. This might look like I'm sucking up. But I'm not built that way.

Anyway....That has to be the best night time pic I've seen since joining this forum. It reminds me of the shot you took of Insane skippy's car at the Albany meet.

But this photo kills it.

[sunrunner_pei]

Thanks so much, guys! I took some of Pete's advice about some dark family portraits and applied it to this shot. :)

Complicated due to the mixed lighting... Most light came from behind the car, so I used the camera's wimpy flash to brighten it up some...

Manual mode 10 second exposure at f/3.1 at 21mm zoom (ISO 50) using full-power flash with my Canon S1.

[wiseojelly]

I saw you posted it in the Picture of the day thread. It's awesome! Beautiful car, Shawn

[Pete Ray]

I vote this for Grand Am of the Week!
I am really proud of you man you did an awesome job!

[DontPassTheFence]

ITZ SHAWNZILLA! Pretty good photography, yo :thumbup: The flash makes the rims sparkle, which is probably my favourite part of the picture (that and the orange/red rays in the upper left hand corner there)

[MagusXIII]

Zilla, you dont need a powerful flash such as my Metz 60 for this. You are using your flash as FILL LIGHT, not main light. You want a reduced output. For those wanting to take such types of pix, it is not hard. You just need a tripod. If you have manual mode, use that. Turn your flash on and if you have variable flash output, set to -2 or even -1. If you have a program only camera, see if you have a "Flash On" setting. Flash On, as compared to autoflash, will still set an exposure as if there were NO flash. Yet it fires the flash anyway. This will expose for the background and ambient lighting, yet will still fire the flash to illuminate the main subject. You still need a tripodas the long exposures will still cause blur. And...if you have moving subjects in the background, set your flash to rear curtain sync/second curtain sync, if you have that ability, so that any blurring looks more natural.

If you really want to give this photo some impact, convert it to black and white. I did for fun and I did not even use the channel mixer to do it. I simply used Desaturate. And the results were impressive. Try it and you will have 5 times the visual impact. :)

Zilla, do tell me you NEVER use auto white balance? :)

[sunrunner_pei]

Don, the camera was set far back from the car. I tried many different angles, exposures, and flash output settings. And no, I don't use auto white balance. I experimented with white balance too, but given the many different light sources, all were a tradeoff. This shot turned out best, IMO. The shots with less flash output didn't turn out nearly as well at that distance.

[Pete Ray]

Don at 50 iso the flash would at best cover 3 feet in distance and have very little effect if any and all for the bad, with a more powerful flash such as your Metz yes you could dial it down.

[bballr4567]

Looks great!!!

You know what it needs?? A stubby antenna. lol

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by bballr4567
Looks great!!!

You know what it needs?? A stubby antenna. lol

I'd rather a power antenna. :)

[bballr4567]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
I'd rather a power antenna. :) Ewww. Sorry but powers have never looked good to me. The way it looks when they are up are kinda blah. Might as well shave it. lol :)

[sunrunner_pei]

I hardly if ever use the radio, so 99% of the time it'd be down. ;) And I'm not going as far as sheet metal modifications, I just don't have the money. Metra sells a black power antenna that looks great.

[bballr4567]

Yea I guess that true about shaving it. You could have bic do it!! lol

[Pete Ray]

No real man wants a stubby..........or at least not to admit it............:}

[sunrunner_pei]

:funny:

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by bballr4567
Yea I guess that true about shaving it. You could have bic do it!! lol

It would still have to be repainted. ;)

[bballr4567]

Originally posted by Pete Ray
No real man wants a stubby..........or at least not to admit it............:} Bah! I dont need to compensate for certain things with my car.

If I could afford it and there werent things wrong with my car Id get it shaved.

[TA^Guy]

Great shots Shawn!!!

Black cars are night are always difficult but look AWESOME!


Originally posted by MagusXIII
Zilla, you dont need a powerful flash such as my Metz 60 for this. You are using your flash as FILL LIGHT, not main light. You want a reduced output. For those wanting to take such types of pix, it is not hard. You just need a tripod. If you have manual mode, use that. Turn your flash on and if you have variable flash output, set to -2 or even -1. If you have a program only camera, see if you have a "Flash On" setting. Flash On, as compared to autoflash, will still set an exposure as if there were NO flash. Yet it fires the flash anyway. This will expose for the background and ambient lighting, yet will still fire the flash to illuminate the main subject. You still need a tripodas the long exposures will still cause blur. And...if you have moving subjects in the background, set your flash to rear curtain sync/second curtain sync, if you have that ability, so that any blurring looks more natural.
Don how about object with reflective surfaces?

For example my black motorcycle is very hard to photograph at night because the flash illuminates all my reflective decals which in turn drown out the rest of the bike.

[MagusXIII]

Originally posted by Pete Ray
Don at 50 iso the flash would at best cover 3 feet in distance and have very little effect if any and all for the bad, with a more powerful flash such as your Metz yes you could dial it down.
I researched the specs on the S1 and at ISO 100, he has an effective range of 3.3-14ft. So lets say around 10ft max for ISO 50. If Canon listed the guide number for the flash, I could tell the max range. He shot at f/3.1 which is wide open at his zoom range. So he should get close to 3 metres for his flash range. If his camera did have a PC terminal, he could use my Metz. :)

I always suggest slightly reducing the flash output because one never knows the subject distance. If one takes a close range portrait, then full flash output may be too much and indeed, -1 to -2 would be best.

Zilla, sometime if you get a chance, borrow a friend's digital if it has RAW mode. Shoot the same scene under the same lighting if that is possible. Then with your raw converter you can fine tune your white balance. Adobe's RAW converter that is bundled with CS/CS2 allows white balance from as low as 2000k to as high as 50,000k. Don't think you need that range? Anybody think Don here is talking out his backside??? :roflmfao: Consider your average sodium vapor streetlamp is close to a 2100K temp. And if you are shooting snow under sodium vapor lights, it will still be too red if you set your camera to even Tungsten (2800K). So having a wide range of white balance settings via a RAW converter can really make a big difference in your final image.

[MagusXIII]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Don how about object with reflective surfaces?

For example my black motorcycle is very hard to photograph at night because the flash illuminates all my reflective decals which in turn drown out the rest of the bike.
John, try shooting at various angles so that the reflections do not go back into the camera lens. Also, does your digital have exposure compensation? If so, set it to +1 or even +2. That way, you will force the camera to give additional exposure to bring out detail in the black. Of course, the reflections will be very bright. But it seems to me that the main focus would be the black motorcycle rather than the decals.

[Pete Ray]

50 iso will give you 1.8 ft to 7 ft at best, dailing the flash down in this case will provide bad results.
When you take the distance from the car and the length of the car its just not going to happen.

[03GT-SC/T]

Nice, I love nighttime shots!

[MagusXIII]

Originally posted by Pete Ray
When you take the distance from the car and the length of the car its just not going to happen.
That's just the thing, isn't it? It is hard to really tell the distance from the car. His perspective looks to have been shot with a 35mm equivalent focal lenght of around 135, yet he fills the frame. So I would have guessed 3metres just by that.

Of course, there are other workarounds too. But I am not going to go into them.

[XoticGA]

NIce! :D

[2001GAGT]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
I'd rather a power antenna. :)

ME too... :D

[GrandAmChick]

Great shot, Shawn.

..sidenote. I never use a flash. Like, ever.

[-grandamfan99-]

:jaw: so that is what camera nerdiness looks like? I like it... btw awesome picture shawn.

P.S. Theres a lil red line under my words, does this mean i can't spell ?!

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by GrandAmChick
Great shot, Shawn.

..sidenote. I never use a flash. Like, ever.

I try to avoid a flash when I can, but sometimes it's unavoidable. These shots looks bad w/o it. When shooting indoors, I try to use bounce flash whenever possible.

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by -grandamfan99-
:jaw: so that is what camera nerdiness looks like? I like it... btw awesome picture shawn.

P.S. Theres a lil red line under my words, does this mean i can't spell ?!

Using Firefox 2.0 by any chance? If so, it now has a built-in spell checker for forms. ;)

[coupe]

I wish some of you guys where around me. I would pay you to teach me how to use a camera.

Ive been trying to get good night photo's but i keep failing. After 3 hours of dinkin with different settings i give up.

This is the best night pic i could ever pull off.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/night.jpg

Wasnt easy, light was always changing becuase cars where driving around the pits plus people where walking everythwere and getting in the way. This pic was purely luck and it still sucks goat balls.

[wiseojelly]

Coupe... that's one of my favorite pictures. You did an awesome job, I showed a lot of people that pic! When it comes to taking pic of cars you, Pete, Shawn and a few others are in well over the best picture takers. I even saved them just so I could go back and look. I never took a good night picture, I guess everything just has to be perfect.

[Pete Ray]

Coupe it is a good shot just needs to be closer.
Its a great looking car!

[Bouchie11982]

nice shawn! it's glistening :)

[RedFireUFO]

wow that is a sweet shot Shawn... car looks really sharp!

[samiaml]

Wooooooooo beautiful GA....... I so need to take a night pic of my GA..... Sorry im so stealin your idea...lol... ~Samantha~

[antirice]

:rofl: that decal on your windsheild still kills me



OHHHH NOOOOO!!!!!! ITS SHAWNZIRRA!!!!

[04alyGT]

YOWZA!
I was hoping you would put some pics up of your ride

[PsychoTeddy]

Goregeous! Just awesome!

[PsychoTeddy]

I vote GAOTW, btw

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by PsychoTeddy
I vote GAOTW, btw

Thanks, but I've already had that honour. And besides, it isn't fair when the owner of the site hogs that spot. :lol:

But thanks for the kind words!

[The Artist]

[borat voice] Bery Nicccccceeee! [/borat voice]

that does look sweet the way the lighting worked out