82nd Geneva Motor Show

[ALwin]

I should be posting these in the Gallery section, but I decided to post here instead because I really want to hear your tips and advice on how I can improve when photographing in these types of places (conventions, blacklisted_site, etc.).

I have been living in Geneva for 8 years now, and this is only the 2nd time I have visited the Motor Show. Last year I went with some friends, this year I have decided to visit the show almost every day and get some timelapses and videos done too (which will come later), so for this opening day I went to scout the convention center and get a feel of how I should plan my future visits.

The lenses I used for today were: Nikon 16-35 f4, Nikon 16 f2.8 Fisheye, Nikon 24 f3.5 PC-E (for getting level shots when the car display was behind a glass fence).


BMW by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr

Used the built in lens profile (Nikon 16 2.8 Fisheye) to correct for distortion. Below is another photo of the same scene without distortion correction.


BMW by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Lamborghini by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Audi by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr

[ALwin]

Vredestein by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Chevrolet by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Infiniti by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Lotus by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Opel E-Mobile by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr


Opel E-Mobile by A.LwinDigital, on Flickr

[Richampton]

I like the distortion in the second BMW one Alwin, it works well with the circular features and curves in the display itself. Nicely captured too with the guys having a look at / discussing the car on the podium

[simon3116]

At the moment all photos are unavailable, might just be me.

[ALwin]

At the moment all photos are unavailable, might just be me.

Sorry about that Simon, I was doing some minor retouches to the photos in Lightroom and re-published them to Flickr. I checked the browser and thought Flickr no longer has this issue where image links become broken when Lightroom does a re-publish, seems it was my browser showing me an old cached version of the forum instead.

[Chris Humphreys]

Depending on what you're trying to achieve here these are a good set i.e. well exposed, sharp etc...

Of all the shots number 2 and the shot of the infiniti do the most for me. The wide shot of the stand with people in the foreground tells a story and draws you into the shot, and the wide angle produces a dynamic image. The shot of the Infiniti is also dynamic, nice angle which works well with the lines of the car and excludes people which I would imagine is pretty hard to do at a show.

The rest look like well executed shots of stands at a motorshow, if this is what you're going for then you've cracked it. But my guess is that you're aiming to produce some 'photography' here?

[ALwin]

But my guess is that you're aiming to produce some 'photography' here?

Yup, I'm not really into cars.

Thanks Chris, as always I appreciate it.

With the people at the show, there are times I appreciate having them in the frame and there are times I wish they would just magically disappear from the frame. And the hard part with composition is that most of the cars on display are behind some sort of fenced out areas where you need VIP access to enter. It's not easy to always get the best angle that would suit the lines and shape/design of the vehicle being photographed.

Also, as I go around the convention center, I am taking into account not only the colors, lines and design of the cars, but also the colors, lines and shapes of the display areas which surround the cars. e.g. When I saw that BMW highlight display area with a round shape, I just knew that using a fisheye lens would be better than using a typical ultra-wide lens.

[simon3116]

I think the details, colours and sharpness of the shots is excellent and I think you've used the fish-eye lens to good effect and they look even better when viewed on black via Flickr however I find myself agreeing with Chris, they are shots of cars on stands and thats about it.

Whilst I appreciate that it's impossible to get closer I think use of a longer lens to capture some of the finer details would make them stand out more or some photoshop work to separate the cars from the stands would help to improve them.

[ALwin]

they are shots of cars on stands and thats about it.

That's what I felt too after taking a second look at the photos and the place. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[ravens-eye]

they are shots of cars on stands and thats about it.

That just about sums it up really. A cars home is on the road/track or at least outside. Its like photographing animals at a zoo, sometimes you may get lucky and be able to capture a shot where you create the illusion that its in it natural habitat or a dramatic close up, but mostly they will look like just nice pics of animals in the zoo and there is nothing amazing about that.

Cars are meant to be aggressive (not ornaments) so the setting should reflect that or focus on the finer details for the arty look (close-ups)

The photos you took are great for what they are and you have got just about all that you can given the location, but they are what they are.

Your timelapse on the other hand works really well and is shows off the car show in the best way possible in my opinion. A standard video of an event like that is just boring and a photo of a car on a stand is as said just a car on a stand. The timelapse accentuates the cars and the hive of activity surrounding them.