Making photos realistic RAGE!

[GfxJG]

I, cannot for the life of me, make my photos look realistic. So I'm asking for help on what settings to use in Adobe Lightroom for this. Basic settings of course, it will vary from picture to picture. So far, these are the pointers I've found that make a picture look somewhat real:

1.) Take the picture from a (somewhat) realistic angle.
2.) Increase the blackness of the blacks a little.
3.) Decrease the saturation slightly (?)(People are split opinions on this.)

Anymore pointers? If possible, someone give me some guideline settings for Lightroom, or what to do in Photoshop, I'm just lazy and prefer copy-paste settings

BTW, I have all in-game settings down and stuff, it's simply the after-editing I don't quite have yet.

 

[20832]

I guess if you can get the Reflections right, you're about halfway done?
I sometimes sharpen up my pictures.

Also I would rise up the Dynamic of the picture (not by much, otherwise it would be too much saturation)

 

[hj9592]

To make photo's realistic you don't have to do anything on Photoshop. Lighting is key to and the weather. Not many days are perfect blue skys etc like GT5 has. Also play with the exposure(on GT5) and let some more light in. Find some images of say rally cars and where the most common images are shot from. See Focus image.

See also the other two photos below that I have done that are pretty realistic. Well someone else also said so too. They haven't been anywhere near Photoshop, just used what ever features are on GT5. Also motion blur is key too. When a photo of a car is taken it's quite often can have blur around it so experiment with the shutter speed.

Plus see Le Mans image that the background is 'blury' so play with the F. If all this is a load of tosh someone say so and I'll clear off.


Chamonix - Main_4 by Simply_Ginniff, on Flickr


Nürburgring Nordschleife_7 by Simply_Ginniff, on Flickr


Nürburgring Nordschleife_6 by Simply_Ginniff, on Flickr

 

[GfxJG]

The Focus WRC pic is kinda what I want. And that's staright out of Photomode?

Also 20832, what do you mean by raise the Dynamic?

 

[hj9592]

Yes , no need. It's all about your subject mostly and the way it is shot and from what angle. You won't be seeing many high up rally shots, as it's all mostly done from the ground by cameramen, so shooting it up high wouldn't be very realistic. The next image is trying to also to recapture at what angle is normally used. I've also just managed to find a similar photo (ewrc.cz is great for very good wrc and rally images) of a similar angle. Although it could be improved if GT5 actually bothered to make real rally stages and actually dirtied the cars.


Toscana by Simply_Ginniff, on Flickr

Plus you also see many atmospheric shots where they focus in on the window on galleries or when they are filming , so you can recreate similar like below. Plus i managed to find someones image to show you. I may have gone on abit here. Plus these are my views and others may differ.



Toscana_7 by Simply_Ginniff, on Flickr

C4 de Sebastien Loeb by EstudioBLAU, on Flickr

 

[20832]

The Focus WRC pic is kinda what I want. And that's staright out of Photomode?

Also 20832, what do you mean by raise the Dynamic?

Dynamic of the picture.
It add's a little more "life" to it. It is basically Saturation.

And (as I noticed that the other guy here) you should definetly look up some real automotive photography!
You get an idea of what's real and what's not

 

[el_posto]

I always bump the contrast, makes it better IMO

 

[GfxJG]

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[hj9592]

Also painting your cars in silly colours and the same with wheels ruins the realism. Plus the same with some of the spoilers and carbon bonnet etc. you have to ask yourself: "When was the last time I saw a car like that?" Obviously for some cars it works. But some it just doesn't in realism stakes.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Don't rely too much on Panning Modes 2 and 3: they're appealing because the car will be in focus, but using them outside of their intended uses makes an image unrealistic. Mode 2 works best for profile panning shots, and Mode 3 works for rig-style images, but when the camera is too far away from the subject, or at an odd angle, it really ruins the realism.

Panning Mode 1 can bring more off-the-cuff feel to a shot, where it doesn't feel perfectly staged. Experiment with shutter speeds since this mode is far more sensitive to changes here. Move away from the subject and use your zoom instead - most movement shots of cars on tracks typically aren't from nearby .

For Photoshop - make friends with the Selective Colour adjusment option. It's a bit time-consuming, but go through each colour choice, and each slider for it (so in all, about 40 sliders), nudging and prodding until you find a balance you feel looks good. A quasi-vintage look, with a magenta tinge to the shadows and a bit of cyan/yellow to the highlights can force a more realistic feel, but there's no "right" answer, so when you find something that works for an image, save the settings so you can use it another time. I've got 10 different Selective Colour profiles, and I load each one up for a set to determine which works best for that given situation.

Also, I like to go the opposite way in regards to the blacks in an image - lighten them, just a smidge (again, in Selective Colour), and even toss in one of the negative-value colours (Red, Green, Blue) by maybe -5 or -10. It lowers the contrast that wee believable bit

 

[GfxJG]

Don't rely too much on Panning Modes 2 and 3: they're appealing because the car will be in focus, but using them outside of their intended uses makes an image unrealistic. Mode 2 works best for profile panning shots, and Mode 3 works for rig-style images, but when the camera is too far away from the subject, or at an odd angle, it really ruins the realism.

Panning Mode 1 can bring more off-the-cuff feel to a shot, where it doesn't feel perfectly staged. Experiment with shutter speeds since this mode is far more sensitive to changes here. Move away from the subject and use your zoom instead - most movement shots of cars on tracks typically aren't from nearby .

For Photoshop - make friends with the Selective Colour adjusment option. It's a bit time-consuming, but go through each colour choice, and each slider for it (so in all, about 40 sliders), nudging and prodding until you find a balance you feel looks good. A quasi-vintage look, with a magenta tinge to the shadows and a bit of cyan/yellow to the highlights can force a more realistic feel, but there's no "right" answer, so when you find something that works for an image, save the settings so you can use it another time. I've got 10 different Selective Colour profiles, and I load each one up for a set to determine which works best for that given situation.

Also, I like to go the opposite way in regards to the blacks in an image - lighten them, just a smidge (again, in Selective Colour), and even toss in one of the negative-value colours (Red, Green, Blue) by maybe -5 or -10. It lowers the contrast that wee believable bit

Thanks mate ;D I think I'll be shooting my 370Z around the ring today, let's see what I can get ;D

 

[hj9592]

When your driving around the track be on the look out for a good bit of driving or something interesting like a nice sky. And then you can go back to it later. And spend your whole day watching it as GT5 didn't bother to put a fast forward button in.

 

[GfxJG]

Why has GTP suddenly been inundated by bots >.<

 

[hj9592]

Not quite sure who you mean by the bots, but sorry if my comments came over a bit implying you of not knowing anything, especially the last one. I was sort of posting them for other people if they were reading this or searching it in the future.

 

[GfxJG]

Not quite sure who you mean by the bots, but sorry if my comments came over a bit implying you of not knowing anything, especially the last one. I was sort of posting them for other people if they were reading this or searching it in the future.

Not you. The post is gone now, but after you posted a bot (non-human poster) posted an advertising link to something. A mod deleted the post, it wasn't you I was saying it to, don't worry ;D

 

[[Nor]MclarenF1]

It also helps if you take pictures at dusk/dawn, it often enhances alot of the nice details that the premium models have. Daylight images in GT5 tend to get a little flat and washed out sometimes.

A trick to getting the lighting conditions that you want is to set up a private online lobby, select a track that allows for time adjustment and there you go, complete control.

 

[hj9592]

A trick to getting the lighting conditions that you want is to set up a private online lobby, select a track that allows for time adjustment and there you go, complete control.

Does this allow replay function though? I do this sometimes just when I want to drive the 'Ring at sunrise with all the HUD off an experience GT5 graphics at their best. But yes anyone who hasn't done this yet, do it.

 

[GfxJG]

Yes, My Lounge does allow replay

 

[hj9592]

Great, thanks I got it stuck in my head that it didn't.

 

[nanabu]

"Skill comes with practice." what i do is ... i try to find a pic on the realistic forum , usually from a professional guy like Dolp or Spark and i try to edit my Picture to become like his picture but not the same car & track .

please note : i do not copy the picture on my desktop or somewhere else i do not copy the style of some one else , it is only for practice - training for photoshop .

 

[GfxJG]

If someone cares, the set I did first withthese tips is now in my Art Gallery. Link is in sig.