Photomode Photographers Q&A #35 - nanabu

  • Thread starter leeislee
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Great interview Miklad, now if we could only get that livery in GT5 or 6. :D
Also you look pretty much as I had pictured you in my head. :sly:
Maybe we should all include a photo of ourselves with our interviews, but then I wouldn't want to scare you all off with my ugly mug! :lol:

Edit: sorry forgot to say many thanks for the special mention Miklad - we both inspire each other in equal measures when it comes to cleaning up standards. 👍
 
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Great interviews Corey, Ilya, Lee, and Miklad, with special mention to the latter two; very insightful, and excellent to see where else your creative talents manifest themselves 👍. Lee, I find myself approaching shoots similarly to how you describe a lot more lately. Probably due to a lack of time, all of my rounds of shooting for the Tournament have produced no more than a dozen shots, as I try to have a clear vision in my head before I even turn the PS3 on.

I'm fine with answering any additional questions, or even providing pictures like Nato suggests, though if you venture outside of the Photomode section, a little bit of sleuthing would uncover those elsewhere on the 'Planet!
 
SlipZtrEm
Great interviews Corey, Ilya, Lee, and Miklad, with special mention to the latter two; very insightful, and excellent to see where else your creative talents manifest themselves 👍. Lee, I find myself approaching shoots similarly to how you describe a lot more lately. Probably due to a lack of time, all of my rounds of shooting for the Tournament have produced no more than a dozen shots, as I try to have a clear vision in my head before I even turn the PS3 on.

I'm fine with answering any additional questions, or even providing pictures like Nato suggests, though if you venture outside of the Photomode section, a little bit of sleuthing would uncover those elsewhere on the 'Planet!
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Thanks for the kind words mate. Feel free to PM me your answers to the new questions 👍👍
 
Every interview is a really great read, pretty nice to read about the "top dogs" 👍
Looking forward to the next one's.
 
Thanks for all the kind words everyone - glad you enjoyed the little window into my world. :)👍

Before I forget - happy Crimbo guys. :D
 
This thread is getting better and better. That last interviews are a real pleasure to read. I've taken my time to don't miss anything in them.

Thank you again Lee for this thread, and for the time you spent for this community 👍👍👍
 
This thread is amazing, Lee! 👍
I find the interviews very fascinating like their humble beginnings and their best!

I'm excited for more!
 
Part 19
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Dolp
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1, How about an introduction?
Hello, I'm Etienne from France. I'm 40 and used to be head accountant in some big companies late years, it's sooo fun!! (well, joking...). I'm married and father of two girls (4 years and 1 year). Currently, I live in Marseille in the sunny south of France and planned to install all my family here after spending my whole life near Paris. I have alot of distractions for years from early years with video games (Miklad generation) and RC Cars racing (Off road 1/10 and on road 1/12), to now with photography, motorcycle, scuba diving, and so many things I haven't time to even think about what I would love to do. For the following words, I'm afraid I can't give same interview quality as of my predecessors. Please accept my apologies for that.

2, How long have you been taking photos in Gran Turismo?
My first try was with GT4 but didn't fully enjoyed it because of the lack of realism. So we can state I'd really give it a go with GT5 as I immediatly was enthusiastic at first look.

3, What was the first picture you took in GT5?

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Yeah, even if I tried photomode early hours of GT5, I was focused on drive and drive before and didn't save any shot. But when I earned the SV, I just wanted to try what was possible to do to emphasize my first dream car (well, I earned the 458 Italia before but it's so common, isn't it?)

4, And your first edit?

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As I was already a photographer enthousiast before a GT series fan, I already had some reflexes with photographs. One of them is to add any shot to my Lightroom catalog and try to enhance it (more or less). Even if it's not considered as a real edit, every single shot I take from GT5 is slighty edited with standard routine in Lightroom for my GT5 shots. But the very first one I edited outside the classical exposure, saturation and sharpness things was this Toyota 88 shot. At this time, I didn't know what was panning modes in photomode... As I enjoyed alot panning style in real life photographs, I was pretty disapointed with slow shutter speed effects. Thank god, there was panning mode I discovered later thanks to GTPlanet forum!

5, How would you describe your photography style?
I don't think I can pretend to have a photography style. I guess people on GTPlanet would qualify I'm a realistic photographer but it's not a style as I understand it. I rather prefer to be qualify as a sport photographer regarding the way I try to compose my photographs.

6, In your opinion what makes a great photo?
3 main things and one or two other details: composition first, then composition, and finally composition. I truly think a good (real life included) composition is the key to get a real great photograph. And it's why I always try to do my best on this particular point. You can take the best photograph of all time, only composition will get you a photograph of legend.

7, What is your favourite car to shoot?
Very hard to say for a particular car but I really enjoy shooting race cars. As I said, I would love to be recognize as a sport photographer regarding GT5 photomode and that's why I love LM cars. Besides these are the most challenging cars to drive to the limit in the game (in my opinion). And I'm a GT fan for the driving experience before photograph one.

8, What is your favourite location to shoot?
As many others, I enjoy the Nurb. Fantastic lights and atmosphere, many great spots, and so good to drive.

9, What is your favourite picture you have in your gallery and why?
Can't choose one as a real favourite. But I'm particularly proud of this one...

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because of the spot and compositions you can get there.

10, Do you edit your photomode pictures and if so what techniques do you prefer?
As I said before, I don't really make real edits with my photographs from GT5. I use Lightroom only and, even if pics are manipulated, it's more related to normal stuff on photographs (exposure, sharpness, and saturation) but I also use alot presets which are much more editing in a way. But I never edit my photograph to add or erase something: what you can see is what was in the original shot. Only color, light, and sometimes composition could be changed. As a example, I never remove the GT logo and the only way it could miss is because of some cropping stuff.

11, If you could change, add or remove any feature in GT photomode, what would they be?
There's alot to say about what could be made to enhance GT photomode experience. Some are already discussed here or there but there's one thing I really would love to have: strobist capabilities. It could be usefull in the photomode places but I would mainly use it to get some artistics action shots. It's quite complicated to setup in real life photography and I personally don't have the right stuff and competence to do it, but believe it could be a great experience in GT photomode.

12, Do you have any advice to share with the rest of the photomode users?
Pay attention to composition! Seriously, it's quite hard to understand at first but do the test: from the same spot, before any editing, with any sort of camera, the expert / pro photographer would quite easely get great photographs every single shot he takes, as the newby will get basic stuff and shots without interest from the same place and same material. You will notice that the main difference is composition...

13, Which GTPlanet photomode member or members inspire you?
Moglet is the first name that comes to mind. But there's so many great photographers here that anybody could inspired me yesterday, today or tomorrow. It's what I love with photography, it's a perpetual cycle where anybody can get some success and inspire people from state of the art amateur to complete virgin people with the technical stuff.

14, Outside of GTPlanet, Do you have a special photo, piece of art or anything else you've created that you would like to share to showcase your other interests and talents?
On my Flickr account, there's more than 1,400 shots from GT5. But there's more than 3,100 shots from my real life cameras and I'm really proud of some shots and series.

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Check this set for more.

15, Finally, Who would you like to nominate for the next Q&A session?
Moglet!

Thanks Dolp 👍
 
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yay!! (sorry, fan moment) Looking forward for Moglet's interview :D. Quite a fan of his photos even before I became a member here.....along with 5 others (Revolution., RetroGiant, CCShaft, Ceiling Fan, and Slipztrem)
 
Yay! Mog's gonna be interviewed! :D As to what binbin had spoken, I've been following him before my membership in GTPlanet.
Let's find out his dirty little secrets! :mischievous:
 
Great little interview again, was a nice read. 👍 After each interview I get motivated to go shoot a set on GT5 :lol:
 
Very interesting perspective Dolp and your RL photography is really nice. Good stuff. 👍

Really looking forward to Mog, always loved his work. :)
 
1, How about an introduction?
My real name is Lloyd, I'm 27 and I currently work as a laser engraver (we use a laser printer to 'erase' a layer of plastic, revealing another colour beneath)at an electrical components distribution company. I also do some marketing work for the same company. I live in Nuneaton, Warwickshire with my fiancee and our 3 kittens, Merlin, Arthur and Pellinore. I drive a yellow/gold 2002 Toyota Yaris which is fairly....boring? I want something more exciting! :P I've been active in the GT photography world since the GT4 days and although I've recently stopped updating my gallery I hope to get back to shooting photos for it once again very soon.

2, How long have you been taking photos in Gran Turismo?
Since 2006, so 6 years now! It all started back with GT4 and has continued since. The time has gone very quickly though, it only seems like yesterday I was sat in my bedroom at my parent's house taking basic shots and wishing I could be like the 'big guys' in the Photomode forums!

3, What was the first picture you took in GT5?


Click it to see it properly!

The first car I shot was the Fiat 500 as I owned a real one at the time and was known for it! It's gone now but I still like the photograph.



4, And your first edit?



This was my first proper edit as the others had only had minor tweaks done to them. Believe it or not this is the same car as you saw in my first GT5 photo! It was this set of photos that finally made me feel happy with my style once again. I felt that after being 'out of the game' for so long after GT4 I had lost my own style and this re-ignited my passion for ingame photography.

5, How would you describe your photography style?
Pretty basic! I don't tend to go too wild with a lot of my work as I like to stick to quite traditional compositions and angles. I tend to focus more on making the image stand out through lighting and colour balancing. I've become known for this and it's something I enjoy focusing on. I do, however, like to go a bit mad from time to time and that's usually when I break out the muscle cars for some wide angle goodness. ;)

6, In your opinion what makes a great photo?

Good composition and thinking about what your photo is trying to say. Composition is the most basic skill you need with photography and I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen photos that have been heavily edited but lack basic layout considerations. If a car is moving, you must consider where it’s going to or where it’s coming from. If it’s parked up in a lush landscape, consider the surroundings and what sort of story you’re trying to tell with the image. I like to include a lot of scenery in some of my photos because they can add atmosphere and feeling to what would be an otherwise basic image of a car driving along a boring old road.

But most important of all; cutting the corner off of a car as it leaves the frame is never a good idea. If the car is near the edge of the frame, move it in a little so we can see where it is and what it’s doing!


7, What is your favourite car to shoot?
Probably the Lexus LF-A. Not only is it a stunning car but it’s very well modelled and the reflections on the bodywork and lights always seem to come out much better on this car than any other premium models.

8, What is your favourite location to shoot?
Anything from the track editor. You can get some stunning skies and lighting from tracks on the track editor and a lot of people disregard it completely as a photography tool as it can be difficult and time consuming to get the right look. But the rewards are well worth the effort!

9, What is your favourite picture you have in your gallery and why?



This photo was very well received by the community which was really nice as I was initially unsure of the composition. The car is quite far away from the camera and being on tarmac I wasn’t too sure if it would give off the correct rally feel. As it turns out, it did, and over time I’ve grown to love it. It’s one of the few times that I’ve been able to capture the mood of a track while still making the car look good. GT5 really came up with the goods on this one too, the track looks fantastic in the rain.



10, Do you edit your photomode pictures and if so what techniques do you prefer?

I edit most of my photos using Photoshop CS (Yes, it’s that old!) as it’s what I’m used to now. I mostly do Colour Balance edits as they can change the look of a photo really drastically in a matter of seconds. Sometimes the colours as they come from GT5 can leave a lot to be desired and I always feel that you can portray the look you’re after a little more easily with a few colour tweaks. Night shots always look better with a blue/purple hue to them, something which GT5 (rightly) doesn’t replicate as it’s not true to life.

Sometimes I’ll do something a little more ‘out there’ and add things from outside the game or stretch a Samba Bus to make a limo! But they are few and far between.


11, If you could change, add or remove any feature in GT photomode, what would they be?
I would definitely give you the option of lighting the car with studio lights in Phototravel mode, and I would love it if they would just fix the odd things that still bug me. Tunnels, for example, are never lit correctly and tend to produce underexposed images even if you ramp up the levels. If you get close to some cars the focusing goes way off and it’s more or less impossible to get it right. Things like that should have been fixed months and months ago but they’re still there. It’s very frustrating at times.

I think it would also be cool to let you use a fisheye lens properly without restricting how close you can get to the car.

12, Do you have any advice to share with the rest of the photomode users?
Take your time. Don’t rush your photos. Before you take the photo, look at everything in the frame. Does the car stand out? Is there something distracting in the background? Are there any lampposts or fences sticking out from the roof that look plain weird? Basic things like this can break even the most amazingly lit and edited image.

13, Which GTPlanet photomode member or members inspire you?
It’s difficult to say as I’m no longer active within the community but back in the GT4 days I was inspired a lot by Bram Turismo, and Charger 440. More recently Slipz, Gtuned, ceiling fan and leeislee are coming to mind. I’ve made a fairly big list in my gallery before and that more accurately represents my inspirations as I’ve forgotten a lot of names!

14, Outside of GTPlanet, Do you have a special photo, piece of art or anything else you've created that you would like to share to showcase your other interests and talents?
There’s always my actual photography gallery right here on GTPlanet:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=109520

This page in particular represents my most recently uploaded work, and they’re all fairly old now!

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=109520&page=9




15, Finally, Who would you like to nominate for the next Q&A session?
BkS would be an interesting one, his style is really unique and reminds me of some of my own photos! Unless he's already done one? I can't remember!

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Thanks, GT-R, it's good to hear that someone else remembered it! ;)

If anyone wants to ask any more questions I'll happily answer them. 👍
 
Great read Lloyd. I love that Lancia shot. Amazing.

12, Do you have any advice to share with the rest of the photomode users?
Take your time. Don’t rush your photos. Before you take the photo, look at everything in the frame. Does the car stand out? Is there something distracting in the background? Are there any lampposts or fences sticking out from the roof that look plain weird? Basic things like this can break even the most amazingly lit and edited image.
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amen to that! 👍
 
Yes, it was a great read, thanks Lloyd. You've been a long time great and your work has always inspired me. 👍

Hope you re-ignite your gallery here. ;)
 
I didn't even know you had a gallery for your real-life photography. Some amazing shots there!

Will get my answers to Lee, asap. Kinda still not sunken in that you in particular nominated me. >.<
 

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