Which car pic best? Please vote/photoshop help...

[97tbird]

I need to know which of these 3 photos are best. Also if anyone knows how to edit out the handicap parking signs (I just parked there for pics around midnight in an empty college parking lot) and have suggestions OR can do it for me, I would appreciate it...

Thanks. Please vote

 

[FL_Rob]

technically,the 'golden hour' which car mags use to photo cars is best,this is usually between 5 and 7 pm.could you try this?

 

[tomcat27]

I really like the first one. it's different. if possible, I would reshoot it in the same location with the same camera angle, but try showing more of the front end of the car

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
I really like the first one. it's different. if possible, I would reshoot it in the same location with the same camera angle, but try showing more of the front end of the car

+1

 

[musicmanbass]

The 3rd pic shows the car best, but the 1st pic grabs the attention better. If you could mix the last pic's auto content with the first pic's setting, that would be awesome!

Oh, and I <3 your 3!

 

[silverrat]

I don't know if any car can look attractive parked between two handicapped signs.

 

[oilboy123]

3

 

[eljefino]

Did you add the rays in pic 1? I like the white rays from building light mixed with little ones from tail light.

 

[97tbird]

Yeah I think even a simple edit of the signs would suffice...

so any suggestions on that? I do want the "door" in the background

All hose pics are totally unedited - the "rays" in the 1st pic are from a street lamp, and I used the Aperture priority to capture more light.

 

[eljefino]

You can use the PS clone tool to use nearby bricks to replace the handicap sign. Ideally though you should have brought a ladder and couple wrenches and removed the sign, possibly replacing it with a "European cars only" sign as a service to your fellow able bodied men.

The issue you would face with the clone tool is the uneven lighting, most bricks you could choose would be either too light or too dark. The sign is also extremely close to your roofline so any monkeying with the pixels will be evident. Maybe you could get a lighted "Dominos pizza" sign and photoshop that on your roof.

Aperture priority has nothing to do with the amount of light hitting your CCD. The camera chose an appropriate shutter speed to go along with. You can mess with the EV +/- settings or go all manual where you choose both aperture and shutter.

 

[SLCraig]

I like pic 3.

 

[97tbird]

Thanks - I would be ok with doing that with the 3rd pic where the signs are not close to the car...
I have Ubuntu, so I can't use PS I think

 

[tom slick]

Just a couple of composition pointers that are purely my opinion:

The lit up window in 3 & 4 is too distracting. It's highlighted brighter than the car which makes the viewer think there is something there to look at instead of focusing on your BMW.

I like #1 the best but the highlighted tree looks like sparks coming out of the roof. I like the tree but it's relation to the car is what I don't care for.

The slightly highlighted tree in #2 is just right with respect to the car. It's lit up enough that you can see it and it adds interest but not so much that it grabs your attention initially.

 

[97tbird]

Thanks for all the comments -
My wife edited the sign out of one pic...I think it looks pretty good: (she's working on the other one, which I like better as it has the fog lights on

)

 

[eljefino]

^ That looks good. The bricks stick out but it just looks like the wall was repaired... like they filled in a window or something. That white glob (the window being discussed?) should be cake to blacken.

Photobucket has crude java image editing software... you could try that!

 

[Radman]

The Handicapped Parking signs just distract from the car. Sort of like a mole with a really long hair on a face. You keep trying to talk to the person...

but your eyes keep flitting back to the mono haired mole.

 

[NJC]

#3 - I only kept going back that hairy "mole" because people kept mentioning it.

 

[NJC]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
I have Ubuntu, so I can't use PS I think

The Gimp is a quite decent alternative.

 

[GMBoy]

First pic is very nice.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

The flare from the lights in the first pic is a bit distracting. And to my eyes it looks slightly out of focus. I think you should do a similar setting to the first one, but position the camera so it's not shooting straight at the side of the car.

Also, were you using a tripod? What was your exposure time, ISO, and aperture?