Originally Posted by zac50

where do i buy/download a photoshop program like you guys are using?? im new to all these and would like to try it out on my car!

Originally Posted by josh99ta

So you want to gain a better understanding of photography and how to take better pictures of your car?

BEFORE READING THE REST OF THIS POST PLEASE READ THESE TWO POSTS AS THEY WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CAR PICTURES IN A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE (Post 1, Photography - Post 2, Post-Processing and Information)

Now that you've read that the rest of this might make more sense as it's about giving credit where credit is due because cameras dont take pictures themselves and "photoshopping" a picture doesn't turn a dull, boring picture into a jaw-dropping image.

I'm far from an expert on photography, and I'm certainly not trying to act like I am, but I do believe in giving credit where credit is due. There are quite a few guys on here that post up some quality pictures and for those guys I am thankful as I really enjoy looking at nice pictures and I know alot of us here do. It offers us a way to see things in ways that we might not otherwise see them. I'm going to use some of my pictures as reference points in this article and may even type up a post with tips on how to get better pictures but for right now I just want to put this together.

What some people dont realize is that there is alot more to putting out quality images than just plunking down a ton of money on an expensive camera and pushing a shutter button. An inexpensive point-and-shoot in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing can produce a much better picture than that of someone who doesn't know what they're doing with thousands upon thousands upon thousands of photography equipment at their disposal.

Turning out good pictures is like building a house to me. You have to have the know-how (your technique), solid tools (your equipment, doesn't have to be the best but you have to know how to use it to get the results you want), you have to build a good foundation and framework (the picture), and then you have to present your vision through the house itself (post-processing).

Here are a few examples...

A picture I took over three years ago with a 4MP point-and-shoot:



A picture I took back in the fall with a 5MP point-and-shoot:



While I had a basic grasp of composing a portrait-style shot of a car even in the first picture (its not just a "walk out the front door and snap a picture in the driveway" shot) the second picture is obviously a much better and much more quality image. The difference you're seeing isn't all in the camera quality. Both cameras have the capability to produce a good image in this file size. But in the second shot I had better composition, I understood lighting better and how important it was and used that to my advantage, and I used the camera's settings as well as post-processing to achieve the results I wanted.

Even with a $2,000 camera walking outside and taking a picture next to a building or in a cool location isn't going to look good if you dont use the light (avoiding harsh light and shooting towards sunrise or sunset as general rules) and camera settings (things like shooting mode, aperture/f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, etc) and other equipment (things like tripods, lens hoods, filters, etc).

But even then capturing a good image is only half the battle. There aren't many if any successful magazines or other publications that put images straight from a camera onto their pages. Cameras are devices that have come a long way over the years but are still no match for the human eye. Sometimes what we see and what the camera sees are two very different things and there is a need to correct that. Lighting isn't perfect and even the best base image still will need at least some minor touching up in almost every case. But that doesn't mean that you can take a horrible picture and make it amazing. "You can't polish a turd" and it's definitely a true saying. You have to have that solid foundation to begin working with to end up with the results that make you right click and set a picture as your desktop.

So you have your foundation and you're ready to put those final touches on it to really make it pop. But what program do you use? What exactly do you adjust? Those are all things you have to read up on, practice, and learn. For one of my full photoshoots for a car I spend 2-3 hours photographing the car in locations I've already scouted out for hours, days, or weeks in advance then I come back and spend another 2-6 hours in cropping, scaling, and post-processing just to get 10 or so final edits of the original vision I had in mind when I snapped the pictures.

Before post-processing:



After post-processing:



Before post-processing:



After post-processing:



So in conclusion, its not as easy as "getting a good camera" and "Photoshopping the picture" to get some of the results you see. So when you see some of these guys on here that turn out those pictures that we all drool over I encourage you to ask what camera they're using, what lens they shot with, what some of their settings were or what else they used, or anything else you're curious about, but please dont discredit and shortchange their work by just saying "that camera takes awesome pictures."

Now go out there, snap some shots, start experimenting, and see what you can come up with. You might be surprised.