yes @capturingthemachine has been nothing short of heaven sent. I'm shocked the subscription is where it's at. So proud to be in the first 2000. I expect hundreds in time to come. As a photography lover and a car lover I'm going through each and every video and nothing is uninteresting. Captivating and fun, informative and chill. I love all their content.
I've been an amateur photographer for closing on 50 years and this show and tell tutorial was a fabulous learning opportunity and represents the best 10 minutes I've spent all month. What, the video is only 5:51? Fifteen minutes is an understatement because after the first six minutes, I've spent time reflecting on photos I've taken which would have benefited from watching this 30 years ago, or ten years ago. Thank you Kevin . . . I've subscribed.
Some of my best shots came off a 80mm lens. But then again, photography is an art, and art is subjective to opinions. I love shooting wide angle (nothing fish eye) and really has it's place when at a crowded event. Nothing more frustrating than sitting back for 10 minutes while people keep walking in your shot.
80mm is great, if you've found something you love that works for you, that's awesome. Thinking about the lenses you use - and being purposeful about it - is the most important thing. I have a video about shooting car events, if you're interested, it has some things you can do if you can't avoid the crowds: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5lF4EkOWgd0.html thanks for watching!
I love how you laid out this video. Great intro, the video outline & text to go over each lens is easy to understand. The camera flipping back to you talking is at perfect timing to keep the viewer engaged. 👍🏁
thanks so much! I was so thrilled when the shadows started to form as the sun went down at that location, it was so unexpected. Since you specifically brought up the shadows, I have a book coming this fall that is exclusively photos of cars and dramatic shadows: www.carrarabooks.com/waiting 😄
As a beginner who likes to photograph vehicles in the street and who hasn't had their film developed yet (old school I know), I'm pleased to hear that I'm on the right track by using the 50mm focal length.
Been watching camera reviews and comparisons all day thinking about wether I’m going down the right line or not… then I watch this video and just drop all those thoughts and long for the next shoot with my current camera… Loved this!!
Good choice! The 85 1.8 is a fantastic lens, but after using the 70-200 2.8 day in, day out, I've never had a reason to use the 85 - your mileage may vary!
I'm a car photographer. Have 24-70 and 70-200. I love using my 70-200. It makes me look more professional and the photos I show my clients are gorgeous.
Coming back to this video after a couple of months and I have to say I love your point at 4:45. Back when I started dabbling in photography in college a decade or so ago before resigning myself to the iPhone ecosystem for the past few years I'd keep everything pegged at the widest focal length possible just because I thought putting more things in the frame made for a better contextualized picture, and phone photography has taught me to work around the wider default focal lengths. Now that I've got nice gear again and I'm recommitting myself to learning more, I'm trying hard to default to the tighter focal lengths when composing, and I'm really happy with what I've been seeing. 5:01 is just the perfect sequence to drive the idea home too. Great video!
Hi Pete, thanks for your comment, and I'm so glad you found this helpful! Honestly, making this video has been beneficial for me - just articulating all of it helped reinforce some things, which has helped the shoots I've done since publishing it. With photography, you want as many factors as possible to be "right" - the right time of day, a good location, good weather. But you can't always control those factors, no matter how much you prepare. Part of being a photographer is being able to get powerful images even if those factors aren't on your side - and I think using understanding focal lengths and picking the right one is another tool in the toolbox to help with that.
Finally a high quality video on RU-vid. These are hard to find. I might be biased, but I do agree with shooting long looks wayyy cooler. The 15-50MM looks like a smartphone picture, no matter what camera it is. At least to me... Oh and really love the font you used for the intro/outro
I used these tips for my first time photographing cars, and in my opinion they turned out really well! I had to take fotos of cars for a school assignment, and wasnt sure of how to approach this homework. This helped a lot, and motivated me to shoot some more pictures of these machines in the future! Thanks
I enjoy using the 75mm APSC on Fujifilm XT5 and its about 112-115 Equivalent Full Frame and I love the style of shots you can frame with it specially for cars!
I am an automobile detailer, who is now trying to learn how to do car photography. I need to learn it to promote my business. Thank you very much for showing me I need to spend some more money on lenses. LOL that 200 looks nice.
hi really liked this video i am starting to shoot some old cars i am definitely a amateur i have had a couple good cameras but never found the time to get rite into it anyway my only problem with my 85mm and 100 to 500 is i cant seem to get close interior shots for detail this seems to be where im stuck but atleast now understand thanks to this video much more about my lenses and how to use them thanks 3 years later )
So glad this was helpful! I am working on a video all about shooting interiors, but you really want to something 35mm or wider to accurately capture an interior. 20mm or 24mm are ideal, and then you can use longer lenses for details.
I've been smitten with the shots I'm getting out of my old Nikon 180mm f2.8 manual focus lens, while many around me are using 50 and 85mm lenses. The look is so different and I feel like you explained what's been in the back of my brain for a while! Excellent video. You have a new subscriber. 😁
Wow, I’ve never heard anyone say that the 105 is a good lens for automotive photography! I am so in love with my 105, I rarely use my other lenses. It’s nice to hear that there is someone who also thinks that you can use a 105mm.
Great insight! Admittedly I was borrowing the 105 for this video shoot, so it's not in my regular rotation, but I definitely see the benefits (and uniqueness) of using it.
recently, i've been fininding tips on shooting cars and your video just popped up on my feed. i can feel something unique and genuine about you from the first 30 secs. subscribed!
Great video, very helpful. I inherited a few bits of camera gear and 35mm, 18-105mm, and 70-300mm lenses which I wasn't sure when to use each. This has helped me better understand focal lengths and what is best suited for my needs.
I'm shooting my first car show this weekend, and have been DEVOURING your channel the last day or two!! Great tips, and very well put together! Have you covered shooting cars in direct sun? I'll be at a big, open dealership with no cover for the event, and the forecast says clear and sunny all day.
Awesome to hear this, thanks so much! I have wanted to do a video on the subject of shooting in direct sun, but haven’t yet. If there are no trees it’s going to be tough. You’ll have to make it work with interesting framing and perspective. Avoid shooting *into* the overhead sun, that should make a big difference - even if the sun is high overhead, it still has a direction, so avoid shooting towards the sun and straight into the shadows. Hope this helps!
Looking to buy my first real camera and cars are my the main thing im looking to shoot as I just bought myself an R32 Skyline lol thank you so much for this video, this helps a lot!
Stumbled upon looking for exactly this type of content, thank you for the tips and the inspiration! Been holding out on shooting my first car hoping to gather the techniques first
This is excellent, and just the kind of thing I have been looking for to make my photography better, thanks so much for making it! Now it's time to dig in to the whole channel :)
I've been shooting cars for a while and a couple years ago finally upgraded to a A6300 and after the kit lens the first thing i got was the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 (24mm when scaled to full frame) and had been mostly using that and been happy and I'd picked up a 1960's Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 (75mm scaled to FF) I was barely using it for cars due to just being frustrated to wait for a shot. This year I've suddenly had that moment click and I'm using the vintage lens more then ever and with a ND8+CPL it's allowed me to capture much nicer photos and I no longer care about waiting at a Cars and Coffee to get the right shot because when I do it's super satisfying. I was debating whether to get the Sigma 18-50mm next or if i pick something with a bit more length to it and seeing this done make me thing it might be worth getting a longer lens thats a bit sharper.
that's awesome, it sounds like it has worked out and you've found what you like! I like 50mm on full frame but I don't really enjoy shooting wider than that, but it's all personal preference. Cars & Coffee and events are tough because of the crowds, but sometimes it forces you to look for details or crops you wouldn't otherwise notice.
Good eye! It's such a cool car. There are some good pics of it here (I am not affiliated with this site even though the name is similar to my channel haha): www.trustinthemachine.com/post/mirror-finish-ii
I think 35mm is also a very good focal length for car photography since you can blow the background with a low aperture and also it's wide enough to get some interior shot! I work for a dealership and they really need all the interior detail. Right now I'm shooting on a 24-70 f2.8 but I'm thinking about switching to a 35mm prime for better sharpness and the F1.4!
Great overview! I've always been inspired by Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gear and they used short focal fisheye lens for a lot of their shots. Would love to see them bring some of that vibe back with modern fisheye lens. Would also really love to see you start doing videography!!!
That's a "for sure" about getting far away and using a longer focal length. I was shooting a local car meet and had packed up my car when a vintage motorcycle rolled in. My feet and my back were done so I dug out the camera on the passenger seat and just rested the camera on the frame of my open window while I sat behind the wheel. Took a few shots since my 12 Mp Canon bridge camera has long reach and left. I now use that photo as my monitor desktop image to remind me what I can get. Like he says, it's not the same thing you saw with your eyes.
You did a good job shooting the prime focal lengths rather than a zoom lens. People just don't understand that prime lenses yield the best results yet the wonder why their pictures don't end up the same
thank you, I could do a better job expressing the differences between zoom and prime further as a subject by itself, maybe this will be a future video topic! 😁
Yes, like this? How To Shoot Panning Photos of Cars (Photography Tutorial) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bHaKPrrBLa0.html I also have one about getting media credentials, it’s pretty recent like 1-2 months ago
Dude you're awesome. I love the way you direct these video's, I don't know what it is But I love em. Im subscribing. I wanna be as good of a storyteller as you are♥️
This is one of the coolest comments I've ever gotten, thanks so much!! I have many other topics and videos I'm working on that I'm excited to create, I truly appreciate the feedback 👍
Do you think this stuff would apply to a car show? I have one coming up later this year and want to take a film camera for car pictures, at the moment I have my 55mm f2, and a 70-200 zoom. But I ordered a 135mm prime lens since I wanted the pictures to come out a bit more sharper than they would with the zoom lens. Not the mention the focusing on the zoom was very sensitive. Do you think the 135mm and a tripod be good for a beginner? I was thinking I’d ditch the zoom lens and just take the 135 and the 50 in case I need something a bit wider.
I have a video all about shooting shows and events: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5lF4EkOWgd0.html A 135 might be too restrictive at an event, since you have to move a lot and it's such a specific focal length. But it might work! Usually a tripod slows me down at a car event, I would rather shoot at higher ISO and be able to move more quickly.
Can you discuss apertures? When shooting cars, I try and stay around 6.3 (give or take a stop) when shooting oblique angles like the front quarter view you did of the 911, and something closer to f/4 when head on or in profile. But I’m not sure if I’m happy with that or not..wonder if a numerically lower aperture might give a better DOF on the quarter angles. Thoughts?
This is a great question, I think most of these front quarter shots were at 2.8 for the most impact, and to show the foreground and background depth of field. I never concern myself with the ultimate sharpest possible image, which would be a smaller aperture, because 99% of the images are not being reproduced anywhere where the 'image sharpness at frame edge' matters. So, if you're shooting a front-quarter and you need the entire car to be sharp - side, and rear - then 6.3 is probably a good place to be. But one of the reasons we carry around bulky cameras is to get that nice depth of field - a flat, completely sharp image could be captured pretty well with a phone camera these days. So the wider aperture image, at something like 2.8, is going to stand out more and look, subconsciously maybe, like it's higher quality.
