Speedster's Gallery // July-October

[Venari]

My, my, you've been busy.

I'm looking through photography threads as I have taken the hobby up again, this time with some serious kit and I think there is truth in the maxim that one can 'learn from the student'.

Your recent shots are fabulous - studio, action and landscape. You should start taking portrait photos of people, the way you are controlling light (which is, after all, what photography is) is very, very good. Look through magazines and on youtube for studio and outdoor lighting methods for portraits.

As for your landscapes, they're great too. Your final waterfall shot is very nice indeed. I think I might have tried to get a little more at the top of the shot so the line of the 'fall was broken by the foliage, not the frame, but the strong geometric lines across the frame make a good composition.

Your most recent landscape is nice. With reflective shots, the standard 'rule of thirds' doesn't have to apply in the vertical, so your near centre horizon is a good choice. The shot may work if the left was cropped off, to put the sun and cloud on the left, and the trees on the right. Play about with cropping, see what you find.

This shot:

is inspired, and I think as about as close to a signature shot as you can get. Keep working on the technique - when you get invited to a real studio automotive shoot, see how you can modify the process (say, by using a studio light instead of a torch) then you will have an utterly incredible photograph.

I'm going to wait a bit before I start posting photos - after the first raft of shots, I determined my camera had an autofocus problem, so it's gone back for repair. Can't win 'em all!

 

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The sky is indeed pretty cool…. but as you said, there is no focal point so my eyes wonder a little too much on the shot. Over all it’s a nice shot. I have to agree with Venari, you should try and get yourself invited to some studio work as you certainly have a good command of lighting in those model shots.

 

[Speedster502]

My, my, you've been busy.

I'm looking through photography threads as I have taken the hobby up again, this time with some serious kit and I think there is truth in the maxim that one can 'learn from the student'.

Your recent shots are fabulous - studio, action and landscape. You should start taking portrait photos of people, the way you are controlling light (which is, after all, what photography is) is very, very good. Look through magazines and on youtube for studio and outdoor lighting methods for portraits.

Woah! Huge comment, I've broken it up a bit so then I can be more specific. Thanks Venari, I'd love to do some potraits hopefully a few willing friends wouldn't mind doing it, as I'm not too keen on doing family as they tend to put on the silly faces when I even point the camera at them. Controlling light is something I'm actually very interested in, also experimenting to see what lighting effects work is something I frequently do especially in the studio style shots.

As for your landscapes, they're great too. Your final waterfall shot is very nice indeed. I think I might have tried to get a little more at the top of the shot so the line of the 'fall was broken by the foliage, not the frame, but the strong geometric lines across the frame make a good composition.

Your most recent landscape is nice. With reflective shots, the standard 'rule of thirds' doesn't have to apply in the vertical, so your near centre horizon is a good choice. The shot may work if the left was cropped off, to put the sun and cloud on the left, and the trees on the right. Play about with cropping, see what you find.

Thanks, means a lot especially about the landscapes. Landscapes is never something I've been particularly good at and I feel as though you have to find something often very special to make a good landscape shot without replicated something that someone else has done before. I think now looking back at the waterfall shot I would have probably justled around the framing a little bit, bearing in mind that photo was taken within the first few weeks of owning the SLR so I was bit...un-educated at the time.

The most recent shot, I think does have some minor issues. As you said, no real kind of focal point is the primary one. I had to do some work with landscapes due to my Art coursework as I previously mentioned, because of this I decided to edit it in Photoshop using a photo of what I actually went to see and the reflection shot and mixed them together to make a kind of surreal picture, which in my opinion seems to work better than the actual photograph...

This shot:
is inspired, and I think as about as close to a signature shot as you can get. Keep working on the technique - when you get invited to a real studio automotive shoot, see how you can modify the process (say, by using a studio light instead of a torch) then you will have an utterly incredible photograph.

I'm going to wait a bit before I start posting photos - after the first raft of shots, I determined my camera had an autofocus problem, so it's gone back for repair. Can't win 'em all!

Thanks, I have to say out of all my Studio photos thats probably my all time favourite. I certainly will keep experimenting to refine the technique. As for getting invited to a real studio to do some automotive stuff, well I'd love to do it whether it will ever happen though is a different story. Hey, you work for Aston Martin do you think you could hook me up? Anyway, I look forward to seeing some of your stuff from what you've said in this comment, you seem to know a lot about it so I eagerly await your Gallery to appear!

The sky is indeed pretty cool…. but as you said, there is no focal point so my eyes wonder a little too much on the shot. Over all it’s a nice shot. I have to agree with Venari, you should try and get yourself invited to some studio work as you certainly have a good command of lighting in those model shots.

Thanks Syntax, as I said I'd love to do some real automotive studio work its just figuring out how to even get invited to one which is the hard part. Anyway, thanks for your comment.

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Now for a change I actually went and took some photographs of real cars in real environments and were actually outside! It's a shame it was only a dealership and I had no control over anything seeming the dealer was shut....Yes, I visited once again, Porsche and BMW of Norwich. The weather was rather nice so I decided to instead of my usual approach of macro photography to have a go at including a whole car. So this was my main aim. I think that my studio photograph has given me a much better idea of what can and can't be done with a car so I did have a preconcieved idea of what I wanted before I got there. Also, unlike last time my parents and brother decided not to join me, which meant they sat in the car whilst I went around. This was a huge relief of my shoulders! Last time I felt rushed around the garage rather than taking my time. However, yet again I had the trouble of straightening them up in photoshop. It was hard to pick a definitive horizon line. And if you think any of them are a bit...not straight then please point it out! I'll try and fix it then! Also, sorry for the largeness of the update, normal sized ones will return after this!







Enjoy.

 

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Thanks Syntax, as I said I'd love to do some real automotive studio work its just figuring out how to even get invited to one which is the hard part. Anyway, thanks for your comment.

I guess there is no hard and fast rule about getting invited to studio work but one avenue that I have employed is going to car events and doing shoots for people out doors. I get people always coming up to me and talking in the street when I’m doing a shoot or at motor sport events and I’ve met a lot of photographers this way. If you get to know them well enough they might give you a call if they know you’d be interested in helping, as I know if I’m doing a shoot, I try to employ as much free help as possible before I hire an assistant for the day. So I usually hit up friends and family first. Some of those friends are passionate photographers themselves so everyone gets something out of it. I’ve yet to do a studio shoot of a car, but I’m not all that fussed as my personal preference is outdoor photography but with your obvious knack for lighting, you’d do well in the studio.

EDIT: lol I forgot to mention, I like what you did with the dealership shots even though you don’t have much control over the surrounding. 👍

 

[Speedster502]

I guess there is no hard and fast rule about getting invited to studio work but one avenue that I have employed is going to car events and doing shoots for people out doors. I get people always coming up to me and talking in the street when I’m doing a shoot or at motor sport events and I’ve met a lot of photographers this way. If you get to know them well enough they might give you a call if they know you’d be interested in helping, as I know if I’m doing a shoot, I try to employ as much free help as possible before I hire an assistant for the day. So I usually hit up friends and family first. Some of those friends are passionate photographers themselves so everyone gets something out of it. I’ve yet to do a studio shoot of a car, but I’m not all that fussed as my personal preference is outdoor photography but with your obvious knack for lighting, you’d do well in the studio.

Sounds good, actually today I was looking at the Canon Digital Photography Forums looking at some outdoor car show shots and then ended up looking for a local one near me. I couldn't find any sadly. It's one of the major disadvantages of living where I do, the only motoring relating thing near me is Cadwell Park and even still theres never much car events on. I'm tempted to go and give it a go a shooting bikes I might get more luck there, but as I'm not what I'd call a true bike fan it might be difficult. Although it might be the way to go.

EDIT: lol I forgot to mention, I like what you did with the dealership shots even though you don’t have much control over the surrounding. 👍

Thanks, I'm planning on contacting the Porsche dealer and then going to do a shoot whilst the dealership is open so then I might be able to get a bit more control. Anyway, hopefully I'll get a few more comments on this before I end up shooting some more stuff.

 

[Speedster502]

Anyway, hopefully I'll get a few more comments on this before I end up shooting some more stuff.

That was the kiss of death, wasn't it?


Moooving on, seeming that update got such minimal interest I'll revert back to model cars again. I recently went outside, shock of shocks, and took some pictures of my R8. I found some pretty interesting lighting around the garden, this was one of them. It's a shame I've picked so many flaws in it, such as the ISO being far, far too high, the fact I've left a protective sticker over the R8 badge, which apparently you can take off, which I've now done also I think it's a little bit dark. Also, I'm not entirely sure if I like the effect that the polariser has given on the back window either, although would the effect it's done on the rear window work on a real car? Or is it only on certain things? Polariser's are something I don't really understand when and how to use them effectively so anyone who has any tips on that would be much appreciated.



Enjoy, C&C Welcome.

 

[boiltheocean]

I like it, the angle is good and the lighting is great. One of the best model car shots I've seen from you. My only issue, and a small one at that, is that the number plate looks false. I'm not sure why but it looks photoshopped in.

 

[Speedster502]

I like it, the angle is good and the lighting is great. One of the best model car shots I've seen from you. My only issue, and a small one at that, is that the number plate looks false. I'm not sure why but it looks photoshopped in.

Thank you very much! I think I can see what you mean with the number plate issue, it's probably a issue of lighting on it which has made it look a bit unreal. Anyway, when the weather is nice again I intend to shoot the R8 again, maybe some others too. I think I'll probably give this shot another try though, just to iron out some mistakes in it.

 

[Speedster502]

Well, that was popular.


Moving on, again, I recently went to a fairly newly opened zoo in Norfolk. This was my first chance since buying the D-SLR of shooting animals. It was certainly a interesting experience for me, I was certainly surprised how my 55-250mm coped with the fences. It must have been something to do with the low DOF which made the fence seem almost invisible in some shots. I was quite pleased with the results especially the Crocodile one seeming it was shoot through glass, which previously with the compact camera would have come out dreadfully! Anyway, hopefully I can get some comments on these shots rather than the previous updates which have had about two comments and that being it.









Anyway, I hope I can actually get some comments this time.

 

[Aldo]

I love the croc/alligator and the lizard 👍
good work
Ill get some of my photos up soon of some rallying, animals and maybe speedway

 

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Nice set Speedster. The lizard one feels a little cold but is very sharp. Well done. The croc one is my favorite by far.

You can sort of make out the fence a little in the last shot, by the discoloration on the cat, but very well done, as it doesn’t feel like a photo of it being in captivity.

 

[Speedster502]

I love the croc/alligator and the lizard 👍
good work
Ill get some of my photos up soon of some rallying, animals and maybe speedway

Thanks! I look forward to seeing your photographs!

Nice set Speedster. The lizard one feels a little cold but is very sharp. Well done. The croc one is my favorite by far.

You can sort of make out the fence a little in the last shot, by the discoloration on the cat, but very well done, as it doesn’t feel like a photo of it being in captivity.

Thanks Syntax, I think I agree on the Crocodile one, it's probably my favourite too. I know what you mean about the fence in the last one, it was difficult to pull off and wasn't sure whether standing closer to the fence or further away would help. Anyway thanks for your comment!

 

[Aldo]

I look forward to seeing your photographs!

Cheers, heres some

None of the following have been touched with photoshop
I'm a relative noob at photography (and with some of my photos I would say, to use Top Gear's catchphrase, "Ambitious but rubbish" )

^A berry after rain using the nifty wee "Macro mode" on my camera

^A rock wallaby at Healesville Animal Sanctuary in Melbourne near where all of the fires were

^Sunset on Phillips Island, Australia at the "Penguin parade" where you are not allowed to take photos at all (this was taken rather slyly from inside my jacket )

^ A lizard on a rock up on Mount Dandenong near Melbourne (there were hundreeds of these lizards running about in the cracks of the rocks in the wall 👍)

^ I know its not animals but... Some Speedway action in Scotland (I have better photos from the speedway which I might put up later)

 

[Speedster502]

They look pretty nice! I won't go into too much detail on how to improve until you've made your own thread where people can aim their comments more at your work. 👍

Anyway, any other comments on this update?

 

[Aldo]

cheers 👍
yeah, I might make a thread soon. I just can't be bothered trawling through thousands of photos to find some semi-acceptable ones
the first three photos of mine here were pretty much just point and click using default settings with my Fuji Finepix S5700

 

[Nicksfix]

Speedster502,

I usually don't poke around in this section too often.I have seen some of the other peoples works in this section and it is impressive.I happened to peek into your gallery tonight,you to,do some awesome work. Keep it up,very nice.👍

 

[Speedster502]

cheers 👍
yeah, I might make a thread soon. I just can't be bothered trawling through thousands of photos to find some semi-acceptable ones
the first three photos of mine here were pretty much just point and click using default settings with my Fuji Finepix S5700

Yeah, it is a pain. Anyway, you probably want to get out of the habit of using default/auto settings!

Speedster502,

I usually don't poke around in this section too often.I have seen some of the other peoples works in this section and it is impressive.I happened to peek into your gallery tonight,you to,do some awesome work. Keep it up,very nice.👍

Thank you very much!

 

[boiltheocean]

I like the animal update.

The cold feel on the lizard works really well, brings out the orange colour round its eye. The croc turned out great considering it was through glass, probs my favourite too. The cat looks really good, nice tones shame about the fence discolouration. Swing by my gallery sometime, I'd love to see what you have to say.

 

[Speedster502]

I like the animal update.

The cold feel on the lizard works really well, brings out the orange colour round its eye. The croc turned out great considering it was through glass, probs my favourite too. The cat looks really good, nice tones shame about the fence discolouration. Swing by my gallery sometime, I'd love to see what you have to say.

Thanks SweetshopUnion! It's much appreciated, I agree about the cat shot, suppose theres nothing I can do about it though, and I don't know many zoo's where there aren't any fences. I will certainly take a look at your gallery at some point, although I have seen your shots on FlickR already, but I'll definately drop a comment!

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BritCar and Dutch Supercar Challenge

This was kind of a unexpected visit, I didn't have much preparation for it and wasn't sure what kind of shots I was expecting to get. Seeming last time at Rockingham I was restricted to the main grandstand (which as nice as it was, wasn't brilliant for photos), this time I had a bit more access to other areas such as the top of the pit lane, the paddock area and there was some fence at a corner which my lens could poke through so I got a bit more variety this time.

The day was a really nice day in general, the weather was good (although perhaps if the track had been wetter than we may have seen a couple of crashes, but I'm not complaining). There was a nice variety of GT cars and the races were decent lengths. Sure I would have liked to wonder around the track more, but due to Rockingham being a bit restrictive it meant I was stuck to the areas mentioned earlier. I had another go at panning, I think they worked quite well although general composition needs improving now that the shots appear to be sharp.















Thats about it, as you can see on the "Corner" shots the White Balance seemed to muck up a bit. Anyway, I would appreciate it, if you have time, to check out the full set. There might be some better shots in there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foofighter502/sets/72157617735659924/

Enjoy.

 

[Wardy 944]

Great set of pic's (again ), I must learn how to do the colour with black and white effect, the Magane really jumps out at you, it's the best of the bunch for me.

Just set it as my desktop background 👍

 

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Thats about it, as you can see on the "Corner" shots the White Balance seemed to muck up a bit. Anyway, I would appreciate it, if you have time, to check out the full set. There might be some better shots in there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foofighter502/sets/72157617735659924/

Enjoy.

Are you shooting in RAW? Even if you are taking photos in jpg, you should be able to fix some of the white balance issues in lightroom. Also in some of the corner shots the car seems probably just a tad out of focus, I'd attribute that probably to the lenses autofocus speed however and as it's only a tad out of focus, it can probably be fixed by sharpening the images a little.

Overall I think it was a great set, I had a look at all of them on flikr. I really enjoyed the shots of the cars in the tents/garages and the set works together.

 

[Speedster502]

Great set of pic's (again ), I must learn how to do the colour with black and white effect, the Magane really jumps out at you, it's the best of the bunch for me.

Just set it as my desktop background 👍

Thanks! The selective colouring kind of thing that I do is pretty easy if your a regular Photoshop user and I maybe on the verge of over using the effect as I've used previously in photographs I've taken, it might be time for me to step back from the effect. If you want a higer resolution copy for your desktop I'll see if I can host it somewhere for you.

Are you shooting in RAW? Even if you are taking photos in jpg, you should be able to fix some of the white balance issues in lightroom. Also in some of the corner shots the car seems probably just a tad out of focus, I'd attribute that probably to the lenses autofocus speed however and as it's only a tad out of focus, it can probably be fixed by sharpening the images a little.

Overall I think it was a great set, I had a look at all of them on flikr. I really enjoyed the shots of the cars in the tents/garages and the set works together.

Hmm. I'm not shooting RAW and never have really used it as I don't have Lightroom to use RAW's with and I don't really know how much an advantage shooting RAW would be over my current JPEG set up. I kind of had a fiddle with them in Photoshop with colour balance to see if I could sort them a bit but I they seemed to look progressively worse as I fiddled around. I'll also have a look at sharpening some of them a bit more.

Thanks for looking at the whole set, I think it probably gives a better perspective of the whole day. I must say I definately enjoyed and even though, I was limited to the top of the pits and the corner, I felt I managed to get some interesting shots. Made a change to the last motorsport event I went to, which I stupidly decided changing lens was too much of a pain. This time I must have changed it several times. It's a shame that it hasn't got many more comments really, I mean I've posted this update here, on the Canon Photography Forums and on Talk Photography and it's only got about 2 comments on each one. Kind of dissappointing really. Anyway thanks for your kind words. 👍

 

[Syntax error]

Definitely give RAW a go. A lot of sports (motor and otherwise) will shoot only in JPG but that is because they transmit the photos track side to the editor. But since you don't have time constraints, RAW is definitely the way to go. It gives you the flexibility to do a lot of editing later on, almost like developing film (but with more flexibility). Also unlike jpg which looses quality with each edit, RAW keeps all your data intact leaving you free to edit it to your hearts content.

Have you got the software that came with your camera? You should have Digital Photo Professional (comes with all Canons) which can edit RAW images. Although not as good or as flexible as Lightroom it's a good start.

And I feel your pain regarding the lack of comments both here and on the Canon photography Forum (I can be found there under the same tag).

 

[Speedster502]

Definitely give RAW a go. A lot of sports (motor and otherwise) will shoot only in JPG but that is because they transmit the photos track side to the editor. But since you don't have time constraints, RAW is definitely the way to go. It gives you the flexibility to do a lot of editing later on, almost like developing film (but with more flexibility). Also unlike jpg which looses quality with each edit, RAW keeps all your data intact leaving you free to edit it to your hearts content.

Have you got the software that came with your camera? You should have Digital Photo Professional (comes with all Canons) which can edit RAW images. Although not as good or as flexible as Lightroom it's a good start.

And I feel your pain regarding the lack of comments both here and on the Canon photography Forum (I can be found there under the same tag).

I decided to give RAW a go a couple of days back, after you said this comment, and I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it is to work with. The only down side is that I can only take about 400 shots using RAW rather than 999+ of the Fine Large JPG, but I'm sure a new memory card could help out there. I have got that software but Photoshop has some RAW thing built in, which although isn't brilliant is enough for what I need it for. Regarding comments, everywhere seems to be lacking comments now. Admitidly I might not be getting as many comments as I used to due to not commenting on other people's galleries but I have been busy and plan to rectify this.
________________________________________________

Decided to go up to Cadwell Park yesterday, to basically familiarise myself a bit with the track seeming I've never been (despite only being about 20 minutes car journey away!) and to take some photos of some bikes, seeming the weather was nice.

This was my first time shooting both bikes and at Cadwell, I've realised what a lovely track Cadwell is and will be visiting it more often hopefully. I struggled a bit with Cadwell as I'm not familar with the track and wasn't sure what angles would work etc. So, I hope these are alright they were all taken in RAW so I've had a fiddle around with a bit, this was also my first time shooting in RAW at a event. The last two shots I'm not too sure about, I think the white rider one is a bit of a "marmite" shot, and the last one seems maybe a tad too bright.

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Thanks, C&C welcome.

 

[Pebb]

I like the first shot Adam.

 

[boiltheocean]

1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th are my favourites, nice action and great editing. 👍

 

[Wardy 944]

If you want a higer resolution copy for your desktop I'll see if I can host it somewhere for you.

I've only just seen this , thank's for the offer, but I've changed it again since (it's now the #100 Audi) 👍

I love Cadwell park it's very photogenic and has everything slow hairpins, fast sweepers the section up the mountain though the tree's to farm is my favorite section, every car photo in my GTP album (except the Exige) was taken there. 👍

My favorites are number 2, I like the way they're leaning in opposite directions, it gives a nice balance to the shot, and number 3 unclutered background, perfect panning, nice blurring and he's riding into the shot rather than riding out, perfect.

 

[GT-R]

at the 6th image.. This is gold, man..

 

[Syntax error]

Great stuff! I really like this set. I see you're not suffering from white balance issues anymore

 

[Speedster502]

I like the first shot Adam.

Thanks TVR&FF

1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th are my favourites, nice action and great editing. 👍

Thanks, it's funny you should mention the editing, I'm actually getting negative comments on other forums about it. But thanks for your comment. 👍

I've only just seen this , thank's for the offer, but I've changed it again since (it's now the #100 Audi) 👍

I love Cadwell park it's very photogenic and has everything slow hairpins, fast sweepers the section up the mountain though the tree's to farm is my favorite section, every car photo in my GTP album (except the Exige) was taken there. 👍

My favorites are number 2, I like the way they're leaning in opposite directions, it gives a nice balance to the shot, and number 3 unclutered background, perfect panning, nice blurring and he's riding into the shot rather than riding out, perfect.

No probelm, don't blame you either! I loved Cadwell when I went, such a photographer friendly track, low fences and the ability to track around the whole track. Thanks for the comments on the photographs. 👍

at the 6th image.. This is gold, man..

Thanks very much!

Great stuff! I really like this set. I see you're not suffering from white balance issues anymore

Nope, whether that was to do with the excellent light conditions or RAW being a help now I'm not sure. I think I will end up buying another 4GB memory card that should bring up the amount of shots I'll be able to take. Any way thanks for the comment. 👍