# what am I doing wrong and what can I do? need to know by 1pm lol



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

Morning people 

Im having abit of problems getting nice pictures in low/artificial light areas i.e in our dyno room and workshops.

here is a couple of examples





































As you can see they don't look too clever. So what do I need to do/set the camera to, to make them all pretty 

I kinda need abit of help by 1pm as I should be off some where very special this afternoon.

The camera is a Sony A350 with a 18-200mm lense.

thanks in advance

Ben


----------



## ay4alex (Apr 15, 2009)

White balance will make a difference, and will help get some more exotic shots, start with small adjustments of exposure, shutter speed / aperture. Nice RS


----------



## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

do you have the inbuilt flash or do you have a external hotshoe flash.

from my little knowledge, i would say, you need a external flash with the flash point up at the ceiling or off a wall depending on what shot you take, this will diffuse the light and make it seem like a bigger light source.

in conjunction you may want to use your lense at a bigger aperture (to let more light in in less time) and maybe increase the exposure slightly.

i used to shoot with onboard flash, once i got an external flash my photo's became a million times better as i could control the direction of light, the power, the zoom etc


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

ay4alex said:


> White balance will make a difference, and will help get some more exotic shots, start with small adjustments of exposure, shutter speed / aperture. Nice RS


Cheers  Should I leave it on "Auto" though?



Estoril-5 said:


> do you have the inbuilt flash or do you have a external hotshoe flash.
> 
> from my little knowledge, i would say, you need a external flash with the flash point up at the ceiling or off a wall depending on what shot you take, this will diffuse the light and make it seem like a bigger light source.
> 
> ...


Im just using the pop upflash thats built into the camera, I did think that could be part of the issue.


----------



## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

On the last one, the focus is not on the car but on the floor somewhere.

When you offset the subject, set focus with the subject in the centre and then frame is probably the easiest way.

I'm guessing you are quite new to this so don't have off-cam flashes and the like. I'm also quite new to this so this is a bit of a guess but i'll try to help.

For the ones facing into the garage (using the porsche as an example), you could set up a light off frame to the right at the back to fill in that dark spot. The ones where you are facing out of the garage are facing into the daylight which is also giving you problems. Can you shut the door for the sake of a photo? Don't need the RR running do you?

The lights on the ceiling are over exposing the image and causing the rest of it to come out dark. You could set your camera to spot meter and do this on the car. It will then ignore the lights (i don't actually know your camera so i can't help on settings i'm afraid).

All i would suggest is varying your shutter speed and aperture and WB until you get the cars how your would like them and then crop the lights out of your images.

It is more difficult to photograph cars than you would think. I have seen some really good stuff from a guy with the username Stink. A PM to him may well be worthwhile. He is also a member on www.photography-forum.org

HTH.


----------



## JasonRS (Aug 8, 2006)

Take it off full auto mode for a start, take control of the camera!

Set it to Aperture Priority (Av) as it's not a moving subject. Set your aperture as small as you can (higher number) without getting a ridiculously long shutter speed

Use a tripod - so you can deal with longer shutter speeds a pin sharp car with blurred people moving around could look quite cool.

Use the 2 second timer - So preing the button doesn't add shake

Don't use the onboard flash - It makes the image flat, blows number plates etc. Or do, try with and without. If you do, switch it to rear curtain synch.

Try to keep the room lighting out of the frame - It messes with the metering

Switch to spot metering, and meter off the car - you're using pattern, which takes the lights into account.

Control the ambient light - close / open doors and windows

Get some off camera lights in the next 2 hours


----------



## JasonRS (Aug 8, 2006)

You could also take 3-5 bracketed exposures and blend them in Photoshop or similar.
Use a tripod if you do.

Not retina burning HDR though!


----------



## pre620ti (Nov 25, 2007)

You can correct quite a bit through photoshop (just not the reflections!)

What about using free standing halogens pointed at the walls instead of the car and turn the strip lights off.

The white balance settings should also have a setting for using under fluorescent lighting.

Paul.


----------



## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

most the stuff's been said

i would definately shut the shutters down so you can control the lightning, as the sky's blowing it on a few


----------



## stink (Nov 19, 2008)

I think as above everyone has pointed out there are a few things you can try, if you can get your hands on a good flash gun this will give alot more control on the over all lighting, along with white balance and playing around with the shutter speed and Aperture

What sort of shot are you trying to get, what feel?


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

Thanks for all the tips sofar lads. I really am abit cluless to all this and would love to be able make the most of my camera, so all the info is greatfully recieved. 

with ref to photoshopping, thats not really an option as I havn't got a clue what im doing with that and I can't really be messing about setting up lights for a quick photo just need the camera to make the best of them but obviously at the momment I don't know how to do that 

I did try not using the flash on a couple of shots but they were very poor quality.


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

buckas said:


> most the stuff's been said
> 
> i would definately shut the shutters down so you can control the lightning, as the sky's blowing it on a few


What setting adjusts the shutter though? as I doubt it just says "shutter speed" on my camera :lol:



stink said:


> I think as above everyone has pointed out there are a few things you can try, if you can get your hands on a good flash gun this will give alot more control on the over all lighting, along with white balance and playing around with the shutter speed and Aperture
> 
> What sort of shot are you trying to get, what feel?


I just want it to be clear thats all, not after an special effects.


----------



## stink (Nov 19, 2008)

well best thing you can do is use a tripod at least this will take out any possible camera shake and should give you a nice clear photo, but best thing to do take a photo see how it comes out and try a different setting see how it comes out etc etc


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

stink said:


> well best thing you can do is use a tripod at least this will take out any possible camera shake and should give you a nice clear photo, but best thing to do take a photo see how it comes out and try a different setting see how it comes out etc etc


I think its more the lighting im having issues with, ill stop at Jessops and get a new tirpod anyway as mine is broken  . Hoping where im going has ok lighting so its not too much of an issue!


----------



## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

minimadgriff said:


> What setting adjusts the shutter though? as I doubt it just says "shutter speed" on my camera :lol:
> 
> I just want it to be clear thats all, not after an special effects.


the shutters on the garage door entrance  to block out daylight


----------



## stink (Nov 19, 2008)

if it is the lighting a good tip ive read is take a bit of white card with you, this way you can set the white balance manually (if your camera has that function) here it is

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=114162.0

hopefully will make sense and help


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

hmmmm well I took aload of pics they are "ok" but not great. 

I put it on Aperture and then went to adjust the white balance...............but there are thousands of settings :lol: :lol: so I wasn't too sure what the hell to set it too! 

I didn't want to mess about with the settings too much as this was an oportunity that might not come up again, so didn't want to chance that they all came out really bad due to my lack of knowledge!

So ill have to have a play at work.


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

here is how they came out 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=130510


----------



## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

minimadgriff said:


> here is how they came out
> 
> http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=130510


Why the ?

I think they came out OK. Magazine photographers have access to lights, lenses and better cams so don't beat yourself up.

Thanks for sharing, there were some real stunners in there.


----------



## JasonRS (Aug 8, 2006)

Yep, and all of those can be lifted with a little tweak in PS. 
Mainly just to sort out the White Balance and sharpen a bit.


----------

