Did this one last night.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/410/1...185de475_b.jpg

:drool:

:icon18: truth

Had some fun with my friend and his car this weekend.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/296/1...6ce084ed_b.jpg

I hate you for how talented you are.

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Quick question for all you pros: are there any tricks to better focusing during dark night shots? Its difficult for me to manually focus and get it dead on, and if there's no nearby lights for the camera to focus on then its useless. I've been carrying a flashlight and shining it on the subject so the camera can see it, then putting it in manual focus to keep it there. Any other suggestions?

Also, (I should probably Google this first, sorry) anything special I have to do to hook up a tablet to the camera so I can preview the shots instead of trying to look at a tiny 3" screen?

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Smaller aperture, tripod and longer exposure :p

Or just buy a faster lens!

Last night I was using a 35mm 1.8G at 4.5 with a tripod and a 30 second exposure. I've got that down, I'm wondering about making the camera focus better and easier on the subject.

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Get a speed light!

And your method of focusing with a flashlight is a good idea. It is just a pain to focus no matter what in the dark. :shakes head:

I am by no means a pro but this is what has been working for me.

The flashlight thing for focusing is exactly what I use to do. I invested in profoto B1's now so I just use those to light my headlight or whatever which makes it even easier to see, but same concept.

As far as seeing your shots. I use a tool called "CamRanger". Its essentially a gopro app for your dslr. Lets you connect to your camera from tablet or phone or whatever and control every aspect. Its great if you are light painting or hitting car with strobes and dont want to go back to camera every time to see your results.

Hope that helps.

I have a 6D and you can pair it with a android and see a preview of your shot on the phone screen, and also adjust aperture, iso, shutter speed and other things along with remote shooting.

One day I'll pick up the DSLR again. Maybe once kiddo is here I'll practice some portraits.

Alright, thanks for the info guys! I'm trying to upload a pic from my phone that I took last night, but the app keeps freezing up for some reason. I was happy with how it came out...

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Here we go, I'm at my computer now and can upload it. Let me know what you guys think, what I should have done differently, etc...

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h9...psimqqk6k5.png

:yum: nice shoot dude!

Huck - So before i write anything I just want you to know this is only my opinion and the shot does look good.
However; if I was to reshoot it and wanted to improve it I would do the following. (again just my opinion)

1. Make sure the wheels are fully visible on both cars, front and back.
2. Turn on headlights and take a underexposed shot of them to brush in. (I notice car on left has angel eyes, I would love to see those.
3. More light on the car. The cars are the hero, right nwo the sky is more dominating than the cars are.
4. Move further back and light the whole grass area towards the cars and then in photoshop blend that in with a shot of no light to have a smooth gradient transition.
5. Because our cars don't really have a beltline I would paint one. I would go straight across the body to make sure I get a nice thin streak across the side. This will give it a nice expensive look.
6. This goes back to #5 a little, make sure your light painting lines have a flow and a meaning, not just lines squiggled around the car.
7. Maybe take a shot of the interior with some light inside and brush that in gently, just to give it a little life in the windows
8. Going back to making cars pop, maybe underexpose the environment just a little to make sure focus is on the cars the whole time.

No worries man, I'm always looking to improve so you're not gonna hurt my feelings. Keep in mind I have no idea what I'm doing, I basically just bought a camera a lens and a tripod and watched a couple YouTube videos and the rest I figured out on my own. So I always welcome other opinions and instructions from guys who obviously have a much more experienced eye than I do. I appreciate the suggestions, and I'll probably try to do some of what you said. Some of your suggestions I like but I lack the skill in Photoshop to execute. Same thing with that program, I got it and I load a pic and just start pushing buttons to see what does what.

So I have another shot where I painted from far away with an led Maglite, it has more of a bluish color but it just looked like I took a crap picture with a blue light, I'll post it later so you can see what I mean. I'll try stacking the two and see if it looks better. The wheels I was trying to get, but I was painting the cars with my cellphone flashlight and just didn't do a great job, that's why the lines are kinda random. That's something I need to practice more. For the beltline I think you're talking about one line of light reflection going along the outer body line of the car? To kinda highlight the figure of the car? Also, I tried a pic with the interior lit up since I have LEDs in my floor well, and I put my flashlight in his car but I couldn't get the two to look even so I decided not to use that one. I need two of the same lights for that next time. I also did one with the halos since we both have those, but even flipping them on and back off as quickly as we could it came out brighter than headlights normally look. It also lit up the front of my car way more than I could paint in the back so again I decided to forego it. I know what ghost light look you're talking about though, I love it. I'm gonna a go back to PS and see what else I can cook up. I know what you mean when you say brush it in, but I haven't actually done it yet, need to practice that.
Thanks bud, I appreciate it!

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

So I dont know how youre shooting but I would recommend Manual mode for something like this.

When I light paint I obviously leave shutter open for 10 sec or so.
When I do headlights pass I make it about 250th of a sec or faster. To make sure everything is dark but headlights.

I paint one thing at a time. Tire, Mirror, Headlight, Bodyline, etc...

Then in Photoshop you can use a blend layer "Lighten" or "Screen" and that will take your light paint and blend it with the layer below. Thats how you would have good control.

Then make alphas for layers and brush in the parts you want to show and what not to show.

Hope that helps.

Good to know. IIRC, I was shooting at ISO 640, 4.5-5.6 and 25-30 second exposures. Hit the shutter, walk to the cars covering up my flashlight with my finger, then shine the light while walking past the cars, done.

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Yup, everything Redstar said was spot on, only thing to add would be to use some curves adjustment layers to match the color temp of all the light sources.

I hate this part, I sitll get too lazy when retouching and skip this part lol.

That's something I know nothing about, need to learn.

Zdayz 2015 woohoo!

Subbed:tup:

I wish this thread wasnt only 197 pages :/

Went out with my friend last night and shot his car. Black cars are always a challenge.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/555/1...07bed6e1_b.jpg

New magazine gig I just picked up generously offered to do a web article and profile on my business, so they requested a new portrait. The wife and I did this last night, I set up everything, she did my makeup, I did my hair, and she took the shot. We said f*** your typical corporate head shot, lets do it fresh, new and modern lol

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/328/18...471db84c_z.jpg

I love it man! Great shot.
Love that little bit of red in the back, adds some nice flare to the shot.

That's a nice shot dude!

Absolutely perfect! Nothing needs changing in this shot imho, very nice:tup:

Sorry for the big post, keep seeing everyone's posts while I'm at work and cant upload anything then fall asleep once I get home.
http://i57.tinypic.com/28bct2g.jpg
http://i59.tinypic.com/29dh7nr.jpg
http://i60.tinypic.com/2ey9c92.jpg
http://i62.tinypic.com/swyfzd.jpg
http://i60.tinypic.com/2hrzynl.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/s4rqc3.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/f1krbs.jpg

Thanks guys:tiphat: Yeah, my wife and I rearranged the living room and faked a big window light at 10pm at night lol with a big light and a scrim, came out great, threw the faux cherry blossom vase thingy we have in the back for some shape and interest.

About as good as it got with the stock lens, humidity, lower position on a bridge, etc. Played around with bulb mode and shutter priority.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/543/19...462fb692_b.jpgIMG_4185 by Panda House, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/543/19...e3280b95_b.jpgIMG_4201 by Panda House, on Flickr