Best Way to take photos of bikes?

Originally Posted by glade

Now that's a nice shot - the only touching up I'd do to that is to mask and airbrush in a very slight tin to the edge of the screen - being a clear one it's got a little lost towards the top.

But the balance is nice - simple and clean. I like it.

I just have a really basic cheapass digi camera from Comet and know feck all about it's various controls apart from the self-timer and ambient light settings. But no matter how good your camera is 75% of the battle is the framing and setting of the shot itself.

From an artistic point of view (rather than a camera tech one) look for either conforming or contrasting. If the bike is to be the focus of attention then you need to surround it with simple and clear backgrounds.
Fizz's shot of the black SV on the quay is a perfect example. Even though the bike isn't centrally placed in the image every thing just draws the eye along to it. The reeds to the left form a nice subtle arrow pointing to the bike, which itself is nicely framed to the lower corner. The rest of the shot gives it space that is simple and uncluttered - and the overall proportion is complimentary to that of the bike itself.

Likewise shots where the background has more varied, flowing lines work well in those shots where a part of the bike is being used for impact.

Contrasting is harder to work with as it's easy to get wrong and just end up with a shot that is far too busy or confusing. Dramatic backgrounds tend to work best on thier own merit with the bike part of the shot being used more by way of a highlight.
Thumper's shot would work better to my eye if it was cropped to be much wider in proportion that it's height. Having the forground dominated by the width of the road with the bike off to the side gives the eye a good starting point.
A different angle may have worked to - lower down with just the wheel or headlight bordering the lower left side. The focus is on the rought the road take rather than the bike - but the bike highlights where your eye starts off.

The advice to take loads of shots is very sound. It' a luxury that can be afforded with digital media now and should be exploited at all costs.
For every few hundred shots there is a good chance of a real gem and that makes it all worth while. Tiny little changes to the clouds, the way you stand/sit/knee/whatever can make an amazing difference. But if you don't take all the shots from all the angles and spend time sifting through them you won't have the images to learn from.
I think I've learned more about taking a half decent photograph by deleting images than by attempting to actually 'set-up' a shot.

I have to say though - look up MitchC's profile as I'm fairly certain he has a website of his photos - there's some very inspiring shots. But then he lives in Canada I believe - the land of dramatic backdrops so it's not really fair.

I use a Pentax DSLR and i would suggest maybe looking at a camera that enables u to shoot RAW format as well as JPEG. You have fantastic control over sharpness, exposure and colour in RAW format with no quality loss when converted to JPEG. Each time u do a correction on a JPEG you lose quality. RAW format has saved so many of my pics....however not everyone wants to go to all the trouble

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by K

Fizz's shot of the black SV on the quay is a perfect example. Even though the bike isn't centrally placed in the image every thing just draws the eye along to it. The reeds to the left form a nice subtle arrow pointing to the bike, which itself is nicely framed to the lower corner. The rest of the shot gives it space that is simple and uncluttered - and the overall proportion is complimentary to that of the bike itself.

blimey K did you swallow an art appreciation book

We literally parked Liz's bike on that quay and then I took 6 or 7 photos I didnt think about the reeds or framing the shot, my main aim was to make it look like Ben ( thats what Liz calls her SV ) was floating on the water. It was literally park it, take pictures from different angles and then I kept the one that looked best. It took about 5 minutes to get that picture. I wander sometimes if keeping it simple and not thinking to hard about the picture is the best way to go. This is one of the ones that didnt work so well



I've got a 2 year Old Nikon CoolPix 4 MP camera. I leave it on auto all the time and the camera does the rest. You can achieve pretty good results now with cheap kit I think. I am purchasing a DSLR in the next few weeks though. My compact is great for still shots, but for moving images its a bit limiting and doesnt really work well also the zoom on its isnt very good. It works but I can never get close enough to the subject matter to get the picture I really want. Although these are not bike photos. I took them with the same camera on auto settings... I love the lighting effect I've managed to capture.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

blimey K did you swallow an art appreciation book

Kinda.

Did my Fine Art A level a year early, studied graphic design at college and spent 10 odd years working as a graphic designer in stuff ranging from fine art/illustration through packaging design to architectural drafting.

So I know the theory of a good picture - doesn't mean I can put it into practice most of the time though.

I really ought to make time to get back to doing a bit of drawing again... a friend keeps nagging me to illustrate a book on theatrical superstitions that she's writing.

I LOOOVEEE that pic of Liz's bike... wen i saw it originally I thght it was awesome/.. andrecall fizz saying wot apin it was to get the bike back off that long strip of concrete !!..

its ace fizz.. it may even be my desktop for a while.. (replacing a gsxr1000! )



isnt there smething in photograph composure about structur of the piccy in L shapes or H's??

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

its ace fizz.. it may even be my desktop for a while.. (replacing a gsxr1000! )

It was worth the effort... I've got the original pic still so I'll email you the orginal as I resized that one for uploading.

[fizzwheel]

oopsy reposted...

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

This is one of the ones that didnt work so well

This could work better if it was cropped to a tall, narrow shot - concentrating at the bike towards the top and following the reflection down the length of the picture.
The only problems being that there is a bit too much of the quay exposed - the water level needed to be higher so there's not as much break between the bike and its reflection.
What would let it down though is the upper background - unfortunately it's too busy with little or no conformity.
The reeds are pale and plentyful on the left, but green and petering out on the right - it really needs to be one or the other.
Above the tank the skyline is good, but unfortunately doesn't continue that was towards the back of the bike - the trees on the left need to be absent.


With regards to L or H framing - the very basic version is for the eye to either have a line to follow, or to be forced to concentrate on the subject as it's boxed in. But to my mind some or the 'rules' on composition are too strict and mathmatical when compared with the reality of what your brain translates.
In reality the Last Supper is technically appalling. It has about three vanishing points - but it still looks right and so you can throw maths and technicality out of the window.
It also is far to bottom heavy in its composition - until you remember that it was painted on a high wall and so the correct viewing angle foreshortens the foreground - making it more balanced.


At the end of the day people will pay thousands for a Jackson Pollack - which looks like it was painted by a handcuffed chimpanzee having some kind of seizure. So go figure.

[northwind]

I find that chosing your shot well, ie location and position, is the most important thing. That's how I took this work of genius:



What raises it above the rest is the artistic position of the garden hose, and the horrendous harshness caused by having the flash set too high.

Originally Posted by northwind

I find that chosing your shot well, ie location and position, is the most important thing. That's how I took this work of genius:

I especially like the way you've positioned the hose, really brings out the colour in the photo