On the way to Mount Jura

[HKGBoy]

Hi guys,

Recently went on a road trip with my best mate to Geneva for the 82nd Motorshow. On the way there saw some signs for Monts Jura so being the inquisitive pair we are took a slight detour.

I have a few Photos but really want to know what you think of these few. I have tried to capture the main subject (being the car) and include the stunning scenery around us.







plus a few of just the car





and a misc "Messing around" shot



I am going to use Photoshop to add a bit of mood to the sky but would love some C&C of the actual photos pre-Photoshop

Cheers Chris

[Troy]

I like the scene/composition of the first shot, but i'm not crazy about the location of the car. The winding road and the distant mountains give a real sense of scale, but i can't help but thinking it would have had more impact with the car larger in the frame.

The last photo is a good idea, but I think that angle works best when there's another point of interest in the mirror.

It is a nice car though, and if I had it i'd spend more time driving it than taking photos of it. (Although i'm very much the same with my wheels! )

[ALwin]

I agree with Troy. I live in Switzerland and know that the Jura offers a lot of wonderful scenery for photography. However for shots like these, you either need to use a telephoto and zoom into the car to force the perspective, or to use a wide angle and get close to the car. Another thing here is that you may want to consider getting some suction cup mounts to attach your camera to the car as you or someone is driving it.

Do some online searches for DSLR suction cup mounts, here is an example: http://www.filmtools.com/carmounts.html
Yes they can be expensive.

Or if you want to take photos of the car while it is stationary, choose a better background and hour of day. Midday sun is not really the ideal time for photography as the harsh light can bland everything out. Places like Lac de Joux, or Versoix/Montreaux parts of the Jura have wonderful scenery. Definitely loads of places to park your car and just wait for the perfect lighting. The season is late already but during the months of December, January and February, Lac de Joux gets frozen solid enough for hundreds of people to ice skate on it, it may be strong enough to support the weight of a small car...not sure.

What are the attributes of the vehicle you are trying to photography?
- sporty streamlined look
- being a car, you definitely want to show a sense of motion/speed
- a car has its own lights, you may want to consider doing some long exposure shots during low light hours, perhaps with rear-curtain flash sync

[simon3116]

If I hadn't read your opening lines and then gone straight to the first shot I'd have thought "why's that car in a landscape shot? I'd have waited till it drove away."

Second shot is dull and flat and needs some "Photoshop" work to try and bring it alive, I'd also crop it and remove the foreground road and most of the sky.

Third shot the car is out of focus and again it's very flat and lifeless.

Fourth shot is a static car, dull.

Fifth shot is two half cars out of focus, strange!

Sixth shot is the best of all but I'd like to see more road.

[ravens-eye]

Firstly, Great choice of car I have a sonic blue blob eye WRX myself.

As for the photos, I think it would be nice to see a little more evidence of movement. If you want to keep the car & background sharp then maybe take advantage of that loose ground and try and get someone else to drive it (if you dare) and get them to kick up some dust. Also if the car is traveling from say right of shot to the left, make sure there is much more space on the left of the car than the right. This way the car tooks like it has a space to drive into (unless your doing some rear-curtain flash sync as Aung suggested, where the interest will be more about where the car has come from).

The second shot works best for me but I think the colour of the car is dull and causing it to get lost in the background. Not alot you can do about that I know. Just something to keep in mind for your next shoot.

[ALwin]

The second shot works best for me but I think the colour of the car is dull and causing it to get lost in the background. Not alot you can do about that I know. Just something to keep in mind for your next shoot.

He could always polish it up a bit and try to get some nice color onto the car via reflections, but that would require picking a good location.

[ravens-eye]

The second shot works best for me but I think the colour of the car is dull and causing it to get lost in the background. Not alot you can do about that I know. Just something to keep in mind for your next shoot.

He could always polish it up a bit and try to get some nice color onto the car via reflections, but that would require picking a good location.

I have had one in this colour and for some reason it doesn't reflect well (even after a good polish). My best pics worked when I had very strong colour backgrounds like lush green grass or deep blue sky directly behind the car.

[parker1986]

Stunning portraits! Just beautiful!

[JR1]

I am going to be harsh and honest

Some snaps of cars standing still on a dust road.

Someone could have been in the car, driving down the road with dust rising at say 1/60th of a second and panning