FocusCanada Forums

Gave the car a good exterior cleaning last night and took a couple of pics.

This first one is inside my condos parking garage:


The second is outside the condo:


My question is, when taking shots indoors with lighting present already is there any way to eliminate the massive flashbounce from the side of the car if I want to get the whole car in the shot? (Stand farther away, slow down the flash, anything?)

NefCanuck

Looks great Daniel. I am not sure about your photography questions but I do have a pointer. Next time you have the back wheels off give the drums a shot of paint to clean them up a bit. It will clean up the overall look of your car. Other than that looks great and I can't wait till I get back on the road again.

sweet shots....
i know s*** all about photography though....

one vote for painting those brakes (same as me:))

what kind of camera do you have? is it point and shoot? you can always shut the flash off and use a tripod to take pics with low light

if its a point and shoot, you can again shut off the flash and use the manual exposer settings.

I guess i can help a bit better knowing what kind of camera you have first.

car looks clean :)

mo_focus,Mar 14 2007, 09:10 PM Wrote:what kind of camera do you have? is it point and shoot? you can always shut the flash off and use a tripod to take pics with low light

if its a point and shoot, you can again shut off the flash and use the manual exposer settings.

I guess i can help a bit better knowing what kind of camera you have first.

car looks clean :)
[right][snapback]230556[/snapback][/right]

It's a Sony DSC H2, a 6MP P&S camera with 12x optical zoom and anti-shake (It also has manual control of just about everything on it according to the owners manual, I just don't understand that much of it :ph34r: )

NefCanuck

Focus man, Focus.,Mar 14 2007, 08:33 PM Wrote:Looks great Daniel.  I am not sure about your photography questions but I do have a pointer.  Next time you have the back wheels off give the drums a shot of paint to clean them up a bit.  It will clean up the overall look of your car.  Other than that looks great and I can't wait till I get back on the road again.
[right][snapback]230552[/snapback][/right]

I wanna do that but I'd need a few hours somewhere to get the drums off, paint 'em and let the paint cure... that's the trick :(

NefCanuck

There are laminate type products that are inexpensive that can tone down the flash. But you might be able to do that manually with the camera itself. Read up on the owners manual.

You may have seen flashes that can tilt before. The reason for tilting the flash is to get more of a bounce of the light instead of the harshness that you see.

Get a 1500watt or larger heat gun, and bake the paint on. I Used a wire wheel and a 3M wheel to strip the drums of surface rust, then used acetone to wipe the dust off, then painted them while they were still on the car using flat black high heat engine enamel. Using a heat gun at an appropriate distance, I was able to bake 2 coats on in about 15 minutes, and then put the SVT rims on...looked clean and pimp..lol

I also know jack about cameras either, so sorry man...

Car looks nice in the outdoor pic though...

Unless you want to invest in some major hardware, there isn't much you can do to get rid of the flash. You can, as Bryan said, get an acrylic screen to soften the flash, or play with the manual settings. I've been playing in photography since I was a young dude of 18, but that was when you needed film, and flash powder, so I'm not sure how these digital cameras are affected by different types of light, but, I'm the proud owner of a new digital camera, so I'll be playing around with it when I get some time. By the way, I noticed you have a Leafs sticker on your car. It should be on the other side, so people will be able to see it when your passing them in the left lane. Oh, nice looking car.

Cover the falsh partially with yer' fingah!

ANTHONYD,Mar 15 2007, 08:36 AM Wrote:Cover the leaf fully with some s***!
[right][snapback]230593[/snapback][/right]

ANTHONYD,Mar 15 2007, 08:36 AM Wrote:Cover the falsh partially with yer' fingah!
[right][snapback]230593[/snapback][/right]

because flashes, especially on point and shoot cameras are so directional, he'll end up with a big finger shadow in the pic..

you can diffuse the flash a bit with scotch tape (the translucent type), or better yet, get a tripod and take the pic with low-light settings.

Your only other option is to bring lights down with you and light the car manually (preferred)...

I'll second the tripod idea. You can get a decent, stable hobbyist's photo tripod for 40-60 bucks. Then, you go find the same tripod for half off in the right place :D

A low-light shot will be nice, but depending on the camera it'll either be a cooler or warmer shot than if you used a flash.

Here's an example of a warm shot because of the orangish street lighting, no flash:



No tripod, I just had a steady hand is all. I don't recall what the ISO is on that shot for the life of me.

Or, don't take a shot indoors, wait for good weather, find a good spot, have a picnic with your significant other, and take a few shots of the great looking Focus.

oldeguy,Mar 15 2007, 06:23 AM Wrote:Unless you want to invest in some major hardware, there isn't much you can do to get rid of the flash. You can, as Bryan said, get an acrylic screen to soften the flash, or play with the manual settings. I've been playing in photography since I was a young dude of 18, but that was when you needed film, and flash powder, so I'm not sure how these digital cameras are affected by different types of light, but, I'm the proud owner of a new digital camera, so I'll be playing around with it when I get some time. By the way, I noticed you have a Leafs sticker on your car. It should be on the other side, so people will be able to see it when your passing them in the left lane. Oh, nice looking car.
[right][snapback]230584[/snapback][/right]

Hey, I'll take any advice.... I mean the thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is getting a good picture where there is a light source (In the example I posted from the overhead flourescent tube lighting) that isn't enough to get a good picture without the flash on automatic settings. IOW what would I have to tweak on the camera to make the most of the available light (assuming that I'm smarter than the camera... which may in fact be a bad assumption :P)

As to putting the Leafs sticker on teh left side... I'm normally in the right lane so they see it when they pass me :rofl:

Thanks.... I do my best to keep it tidy (Though the inside needs to have about ten pounds of dirt & salt removed right now -shudder-) and the car is small enough that even at my slow pace, it only costs me $8 to use a DIY car wash and do the job right :) (add 20 minutes after to dry it properly, another 1/2 hour to wax it afterwards :ph34r: )

NefCanuck

NOS2Go4Me,Mar 15 2007, 09:40 AM Wrote:I'll second the tripod idea. You can get a decent, stable hobbyist's photo tripod for 40-60 bucks. Then, you go find the same tripod for half off in the right place :D

A low-light shot will be nice, but depending on the camera it'll either be a cooler or warmer shot than if you used a flash.

[right][snapback]230629[/snapback][/right]

I actually do have a monopod that I bought when I picked up the camera (My budget allowed for a good monopod or a s**t tripod)

Hrm, I should try some shots with the night program on the camera and see what happens (in addition to fiddling with all the manual settings)

Good thing the camera takes regular NiMh AA batteries, I have a feeling I'll have to start packing a few spare sets :) Now I just have to find a location to shoot in Mississauga at night that doesn't look like a seedy location ;)

NefCanuck

Okay, I'm relearning how to take pictures again, last time I was really into it, film was in the camera, not a computer chip, or whatever they call it. The only thing I can advise,as seeing how it is digital is, play around until you get the right shot, and delete the bad ones. That's what I've been doing.

My Focus is white, so right now it looks like >>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Sometimes, when I'm tired, I look at that white paint and think that a Leafs logo on the doors would be okay, then I wake up.

oldeguy,Mar 15 2007, 12:15 PM Wrote:My Focus is white, so right now it looks like >>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Sometimes, when I'm tired, I look at that white paint and think that a Leafs logo on the doors would be okay, then I wake up.
[right][snapback]230653[/snapback][/right]

Oh god, yeah, a white Focus would have been an option at the time (They had a red one, white and this fugly green that looked like :puke:) but I wasn't looking forward to trying to keep another white car free of dust (and rust <_<)

Hey, that's what magnetic stickers are for... the ultimate "What was I thinking" defense :lol:

NefCanuck

NefCanuck,Mar 15 2007, 02:08 PM Wrote:

oldeguy,Mar 15 2007, 12:15 PM Wrote:My Focus is white, so right now it looks like >>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Sometimes, when I'm tired, I look at that white paint and think that a Leafs logo on the doors would be okay, then I wake up.
[right][snapback]230653[/snapback][/right]

Oh god, yeah, a white Focus would have been an option at the time (They had a red one, white and this fugly green that looked like :puke:) but I wasn't looking forward to trying to keep another white car free of dust (and rust <_<)

Hey, that's what magnetic stickers are for... the ultimate "What was I thinking" defense :lol:

NefCanuck
[right][snapback]230665[/snapback][/right]

Bought mine used, so no real choice. As a matter of fact, I had to be talked into buying it.
However, I now find it much easier to find my car in the dark. Also, mine doesn't have a spoiler. I'm thinking that I could get one from a wreckers, that hasn't been wrecked, and do a graphics thing around the spoiler, no matter the colour

Some of the tips you guys advised are a little ... Well they don't need to be that complicated lol..

First off.. If you don't want the glare from the flash, turn it off.

Cycle through your settings and swap it to manual mode..

Cycle through moreso and find your exposure settings, you should be at something like EV -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 etc. Might be in higher intervals, or lower, whichever.

With higher exposures, every. single. movement. you make with the camera is going to show on the picture. If you hold the camera with no flash in manual shooting mode with a higher exposure - pressing the button itself will destroy the picture.

Invest in a tripod, you can get one at Walmart for 30 bucks. You don't need a heavy duty tripod for a point and shoot camera, they don't weigh anything..

If you want some tips, message me on MSN and I'll gladly tell you all my secrets :P

But yes, first is get a tripod, then turn the flash off, then play with exposure and white balance settings.. And learn to mingle with Photoshop - it's a great instrument for processing after you unload a card full of pics.

Alot of my shots need processing for colour, as my camera washes everything with whatever light source is present .. makes everything blue or yellow etc. Gotta process afterwards so they look somewhat normal.

Heres a really small portion of my pics, just to show you what I'm talking about..







All the pictures from my first 3 photoshoots are taken ontop of beer cases / boxes / saw horses / other car trunks etc.. I only got a tripod after a few shoots when I figured I needed it.

Get rechargable batteries, and charge 4, 2 for the camera, 2 for your pocket... You shouldn't be able to kill both sets if they're good NiMh.. 1300 or better is good ;)

Get interesting with your angles.. again, I'll give you some pointers if you want over MSN.. And take LOTS of pics of every angle, you'll find what looks good after a few.. But take 2 or 3 pics of the same angle, in case they don't turn out.

You can take 10-20 each angle when you get a bigger card and a quicker to snap camera with settings easily changed on the fly.. So you can get 5 different exposure modes of the same shot, to see what really looks good.

But don't just stick with one exposure mode or one white balance mode.. Mix it up and see what's best..

A higher exposure is going to "bleed" the picture alot.. Like overhead lights are going to cover half the picture if it's high enough, and an off-white balance is going to make those overhead white lights blue.. or yellow.. Just play around mang.

And read your camera's book ! It helped me alot..

...hope that helps a little?