# what am i doing wrong



## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

Everytime a take apic of my car, it never seems right, the colour always seems washed out and never show the true deep reflection of what it's like in real life.
Nikon coolpix s6, i know it's not an SLR but it's annoying as i cant seem to get it right, any help ppl much apprec.


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Looks fine to me, your never going to get a car looking exactly as it does in the flesh in a Digital Image, no matter how good the camera


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

maybe as the sky is blue it doesnt reflect propery in the paintwork


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

As Gaz has already stated not much wrong with your pics, I stuck the 1st image in Photoshop and did an Auto correction and the resulting image was little different meaning you and your camera are pretty spot on.

You can try experimenting taking shots at a different time of day, early morning/evening shots may give you a richer hue without direct overhead sunlight.


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## brympton (Oct 23, 2006)

Photo's look fine, if your problem is related to colour is this really a camera issue or a monitor calibration issue? What's the printed result like or have you viewed these on another computer for comparison?


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

computer viewing, i just think it is a hard colour to get right as it's not metallic, the photos seem fake to me


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## brympton (Oct 23, 2006)

riz said:


> computer viewing, i just think it is a hard colour to get right as it's not metallic, the photos seem fake to me


Don't give up, assuming your display is running at its highest setting (Check Start Button > Control Panel > Display > Settings) try some calibration. If you have not got any software to do this (maybe included with your graphics card or image editing software) try the advanced tab, colour management option and see if there is a profile available to match your display. Failing this and if you are running XP you can download the windows display applet here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A0-7721-43CA-9174-7F8D429FBB9E&displaylang=en

...it's free (my favourite word) :thumb:


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

Riz - I've had a look at the exif of your image and, if you have manual control, you might want to try the following things:

Increase your ISO to 100-200
When taking a picture, set the f-stop at f5 and above if possible
Turn off any controls in your camera that are 'features' such as colour boost/contrast + etc etc etc. Basically you want it to be as raw as possible. Your exif is showing this: Lighting Type = PARTY/INDOOR. I'm not sure if this is a setting you can change, but if it is, change it to outdoor or similar. 


This may or may not help. It all depends on the camera, and I've never used the s6 so am not 100% sure what you can do with it. 

I'd also try not taking pics in such bright sunlight. Wait til a bit later on in the day, when the sun is lower. 

Oh, and use your flash if you don't already. If you do, try not using it and see how the pics come out.


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

whats f stop?


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

what about white balance? auto or outdoors etc?


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

As I mentioned, there's a setting set on your camera that says party/indoor. That could well be your prob. White balance should be OK on auto, but personally I use cloudy. F stop is focus stop. It should say in the viewfinder what the current fstop is.


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

sortd i chngd the lighting thing, erm have to get the instruction leaflet for this f stop, what about EXp? im assuming this means exposure, so longer the time the more lgiht in?


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

Cool. Exposure is how much light you let in yes, and is linked to your f stop, kinda. 

If you find pics are getting washed out, point your camera at the brightest part of the car when you half press to focus, then move the camera if need be to take the shot (so holding your finger on the button) This will trick the camera into thinking you're taking a picture of something very bright and it will adjust the exposure the compensate. That will mean the pics of your car will be less exposed, so not to washed out.


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

i c sneaky mate
cheers for that one


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Riz

TBH mate I think its fown to the racing blue colour

I detailed a few in my time and I like to think i'm pretty handy with a camera but I just couldn't match racing blue! Maybe a studio setup is required with white balanced lights !!!!!


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

I have the same problem with the Mariner Blue MX5, in the flesh the paints alot darker than the photos show.

Just one of those things unfortunatly.


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## riz (Dec 17, 2006)

Brazo said:


> Riz
> 
> TBH mate I think its fown to the racing blue colour
> 
> I detailed a few in my time and I like to think i'm pretty handy with a camera but I just couldn't match racing blue! Maybe a studio setup is required with white balanced lights !!!!!


and a few birds spread eagled close to the bodywork?

cheers i had a feeling that was the case


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

A few birds on the car mate and you will no longer care what colour shade you are getting


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## andythilo (Mar 20, 2007)

As has been said, wrong time of day. Get out there at either 6am or 8pm and take your pics, the colour at that time of day is much warmer.


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