Car Photography Tutorial: Get Ready for your first Car Shoot
Shooting cars is a great way to sharpen your skills as a photographer, diversify your subject matter, and possibly make some money in the process. For the gear heads out there, it is also a way to combine two passions into one. However, while you might think that taking pictures of inanimate objects is super simple, the truth of the matter is that there is more to it than point and shoot.
To understand the particulars of photographing automobiles, one would have to study, in depth, the subject matter for years, not to mention the amount of practice that would be necessary. However, there are some things that you can do that will help you get good quality images of nice cars to broaden your horizons as well as make the entire process a bit less cumbersome.
Polarizing Filters
Most people have no clue about what polarizing filters are and what they do. The easiest way to understand this is to think about sunglasses and how they protect your eyes, yet they don’t eliminate glare, they just reduce the intensity. If you purchase a set of polarized sunglasses, then you will not only reduce the intensity of the light, but you will also reduce the glare. That is exactly what a polarizing filter on your lens will do, it will reduce or eliminate glare. This is extremely important when shooting cars. There are a lot of shiny materials on cars, including glass. It is nice to have a properly exposed shot with the chrome shinning like chrome, yet without hotspots on the windows. If you get the angle of the sun right and the windows are not tinted too darkly, then you might even be able to see the interior of the car through the windows. Polarizing filters are necessary have if you want to get good shots.
Angle of the Shot
Shooting cars is a lot like shooting anything else. People are used to seeing things from eye level. If you want your images to stand out and strike a nerve or a tone with people, then you need to be able to provide them with a vantage point that is out of the ordinary to them. Low and high angle shots are one way to do this. Make sure you take a small lightweight step stool with you to the car show so you can get above the normal angle, and don’t be afraid to get on the ground either.
When talking about angles, I am not only talking about up and down, but also how the car is angled in the shot itself; how it is framed. There are some basic starting points that you should consider trying to get on each and every car you photograph. Here is the basic list that you should start with, and then you can adjust it as your experience grows and your personal tastes take over.
- Front ¾
- Rear ¾
- Full side
- Full rear
- Engine
- Dashboard
- Interior
Of course, if you think of anything else while you’re at it, then by all means go ahead and shoot it.
External Flash
I know, most people will look at you like you’re crazy, but even in full sun, you should be using a fill flash. Remember, you want to control the light entering your camera, so you need to control a bit of the light in the shot. This also works well for cars that are in partial shade from awnings or even dappled light from clouds in the sky. We cannot always determine what the weather is going to do or if it going to offer us the perfect lighting, so we have to take our lighting with us when we head out to the car show.
Shutter Speeds and Apertures
Bright light can mean fast shutter speeds and large aperture numbers. While this might equate to nice sharp images, it can leave things a bit flat. Being able to produce a nice depth of field requires a lower aperture setting to remove the clutter from the background. It might be wise to have a couple of different Neutral Density filters on hand to help with the problem. Putting an ND filter on your lens can also help you slow the shutter down a bit as well as opening up the iris, but be aware that you might need to have a tripod to avoid shake if you are going to shoot with lower shutter speeds.
While this does not cover every aspect of shooting cars, is should give you a starting point from which to begin and launch yourself into the art of automobile photography. Keep at it, and before you know it, you may end up with a shot you took on the cover of Car & Driver.
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There are 6 comments on this post.
Trackback URL | Comments RSS FeedExcellent tips, thank you.
my question is, when professionals take automotive shots, how do they keep themselves and their equipment out of the reflections in the paint and chrome?
Alex » Hello,
When photographing reflective surface like car body you should always use polarizing filter. It works by eliminating the light coming from a certain angle, most of the polarizes are circular type and you can rotate them to achieve more or less reflection in the subject.
With this filter you can almost completely eliminate reflections in car body, but polarizes are also useful when photographing water / mirror / and any other surfaces… I find it great in nature photography too! – Greens look much better with the filter on…
let me know if you still have questions
Sandro,
I guess ND filters are really indispensable here.
BTW, can you share your experience? What’s an approximate threshold for the shutter speed (provided that we shoot in shutter priority mode) to make a moving car sharp and the background blurred. I mean, when you point and move your focus together with a car.
It must be fast enough to eliminate the hand shake/speed difference and slow enough to make background blurred and “speedy”.
I assume it to be around 1/30-1/60, but still have to experiment much.
Thank you
Great post. Very useful because I have a car shoot in June.
Hello,
Shutter speed also depends on the focal length of a lens.
If you are shooting with wide angle, lets say 17-40 @ 20mm shutter speed of 1/30 – 1/60 is perfect.
But in case of a telephoto (which is more useful for panning), lets say 70-200 @ 80mm, you shouldn’t go below 1/80.
[It must be fast enough to eliminate the hand shake/speed difference and slow enough to make background blurred and “speedy”.] — EXACTLY!
I personally use canon 17-40 for panning shots (because I like to be closer to action…) And the shutter speed range you proposed (1/30-1/60) is what I use regularly.
Here is one of my favorite vehicle shots. I create digital art from them and have been to quite a few car shows. I even shoot when I’m driving on the highway……
http://harophotography.smugmug.com/Photography/Transportation/944401771-Original/1057686148_PABZ6-M.jpg