By Kerry Drager
I love photographing the artsy details of custom cars, classic cars and gleaming hot rods at outdoor car shows.
This means zeroing in tight for strong graphic-design images that feature great lines, sensuous curves, shiny chrome, mirrored reflections, and bold colors. By looking for creative close-ups, I can also avoid the many background distractions of car shows - show goers, other cars, and even buildings - that draw attention away from the main subject. A few tips for car show photography:
1. Arrive early. In fact, visitors often can get into an event before the "official" start time while car owners are getting their cars ready. This lets you take advantage of the early-morning light and the casual, pre-show atmosphere. (To be safe, call ahead to verify that non-owners can gain early access.)
2. Work with the light: Is your favorite car in the shade? If so, keep looking, since you'll probably want to a more cooperative (i.e., sunlit) subject. But remember: If you're there all day, a vehicle that's in shade in the morning will likely be in sunlight in the afternoon.
3. Reflection thought: Often, the shady side of a black car can very nicely reflect a colorful sunlit neighboring vehicle: click here for an example of a car-show reflection .
Additional information and inspiration:
- My BetterPhoto.com article: Cool Cars: How to Photograph Car Shows
- My BP online photo class: Creative Close-ups
- BP's digital photography school
- BP's gallery of cool car pictures
(c)Kerry Drager
1957 Chevy; early-morning light; 105mm lens; 100 ISO; 1/25th sec.;
f32 for good Depth of Field, plus slight sunburst effect on highlight; tripod
(c)Kerry Drager
1932 Ford Sedan; car show; 105mm lens, ISO 100; 1/25th sec.; tripod;
F32 to get sunburst effect for highlight on headlamp
(c)Kerry Drager
1948 Ford; early morning light; 105mm lens; f25; 1/40th sec.; ISO 100; tripod
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