Took this photo recently. The car was under a tree in a sunny day. As a result, there were shadows on the car - much like a patch work. Is there anyway to over come this? Tried with flash but not helpful
Unwanted patched work!
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:bsmilie: Two200, you are not a photoshop person, right? 
I thought you can PP them away? Hahaha....
I have no experience in this. Would personally also love to hear what the experienced members out there have to say.
Thanks for raising this thread, Two200!
I thought you can PP them away? Hahaha....
I have no experience in this. Would personally also love to hear what the experienced members out there have to say.
Thanks for raising this thread, Two200!
Well maybe if your flash is a gigantic softbox inserted between the car and trees it's possible. I guess you can airbrush the colours in, as in picking the colour and then applying it over the affected areas. But you'll also need to replicate the gradient, the gloss reflections, the metallic nature of the surface. The final result would be a overly photoshopped image (assuming you managed to do all that) and entirely unrealistic because the ground would be patterned but the car entirely pristine or do you plan to clean up the ground as well?
1. hdr/ tone mapping would tame the high contrast.
2. wait for cloud cover.
3. drive to another spot.
other methods are not logistically possible for a single person:
1. set up an overhead butterfly (basically a silk like cloth fasten to a big frame and positioned over the subject)
2. large powerful flash units with/ without appropriate diffusion at strategic positions.
2. wait for cloud cover.
3. drive to another spot.
other methods are not logistically possible for a single person:
1. set up an overhead butterfly (basically a silk like cloth fasten to a big frame and positioned over the subject)
2. large powerful flash units with/ without appropriate diffusion at strategic positions.
This case is pretty extreme... Don't think you can rescue it too much.
Really... waiting for the conditions to be right is part of the skill of photography as well. You can't make magic out of nothing...
I guess that wasn't your vehicle, coz the location is bad.
:bsmilie: Two200, you are not a photoshop person, right?
I thought you can PP them away? Hahaha....
I have no experience in this. Would personally also love to hear what the experienced members out there have to say.
Thanks for raising this thread, Two200!
This is one of the few patch work I told you about earlier.
PP is such a short word but it actually involved a very looooong and tedious process; both of which are too difficult for me. Furthermore, I can only 'afford' GIMP :cry:
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Thanks foxtwo, alexj, zerocoolAstra and catchlights.
Looks like there is only so much technology can do.
Mother Nature will always win the day and timing (as usual) is everything.
Lesson learnt: Its all about timing.
Looks like there is only so much technology can do.
Mother Nature will always win the day and timing (as usual) is everything.
Lesson learnt: Its all about timing.
can help a little only
Thanks for the effort, ortega. You are right is saying that it helps a little
Still a patched work
Looks like this photo is lost... :cry: luckily, this photo is more a test shot, and is put up hopefully as a learning shot
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A car is like a giant, multi-facet mirror - it will reflect anything that is present. Even your reflection is in there somewhere.
If you want as 'clean' a shot as possible, do it in a studio built to handle car shoots, or look for a space with as little elements in the surroundings as possible, and select a time of day when the light is not so harsh, and hope that you don't have distinct cloud patterns in the sky.
Post editing can help, but that's a lot of torture involved.
If you want as 'clean' a shot as possible, do it in a studio built to handle car shoots, or look for a space with as little elements in the surroundings as possible, and select a time of day when the light is not so harsh, and hope that you don't have distinct cloud patterns in the sky.
Post editing can help, but that's a lot of torture involved.
:bsmilie::bsmilie: Haha... such a cute description!
Never thought of it this way... "radioactive"...
Now that I see it, it suddenly dawns upon me that many of my photos became radioactive after I did something to them.
Still, I think those are commendable efforts from ortega and eyes.
Opened up my eyes to what I can do to salvage my photos.
eyes, looked like fungus growing. Does this involves alot of work and the use of layering as the background is not as radioactive (as ortega puts it) as foreground
Aptly described
Very true, PP of this scale is only suitable for those masochist. My type of PP is straight forward clicking on one or two buttons
I guess PP can do wonders but think of the sheer time and energy wasted, unless it is a once in a lifetime photo like those on wedding days. I have neither the skill nor the patience
p/s waiting to see you zebra photos :devil:
Huh??!!
My zebra photo?
My recent venture into studio shoot have been nothing short of disastrous.
You got to let my broken heart heal a little bit first mah, my friend.
Then I will take a deep breath and post my "zebra" shots. Can?
from my limited knowledge, CPL filter will uniformly reduce the amount of light hence, the patch work will still be there.
graduated filter will not help also as there is no proper demarcation between the bright and the dark areas, so cannot reduce light from a certain half, so patch work will still be there
No layers are involved. Just playing on the curves. The 1st attempt was done on in 2 minutes. I was concerned about bringing some colours and details (shaded part of the car & the blown tarmac of the road) back without creating artifacts (like halos and noise) that I forgot to watch the grey point. The second one was a rework from the 1st attempt and it's about 15 sec- just finding an appropriate grey point to use.
If I've got my hands on the original full size photo (& better still the raw version), it's possible to bring back anything dull or appeared blown within 2 and half stops. If done properly, I would say the process will take about 5 - 10 minutes depending on how meticulous the audience is.
Just in case you're wondering, the prints on the car makes good design for making into fabric being worn on a model- but that's another story altogether.
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