Thanks for the submissions, and keep them coming. I'd like to have some in the bank, too.
We should also talk photo composition, too, because if it's not a pretty picture, well, let's say that it doesn't go to the top of the pile.
What makes a pretty picture? Glad you asked.
Let's use this one as our example:
First, the light. Is the car half in the sun and half in the shadows? Is a telephone pole casting a shadow right across the car? If so, either wait for a cloud, wait for sunset, or find a different place. The light on this one is fairly consistent.
What does your background look like? This one doesn't compete with the car. The person tried and gets a gold star. If there is a lot of junk around the car, then that doesn't help. What counts as junk? Other cars, telephone poles, Dumpsters, porta-poties, trailers and stuff like that. People can help or hurt. If they're part of the scene, cool. If their heads are cut off, well, no.
Then there's composition. If the camera is 5 feet off the ground, then the photo is going to look a little boring. Get down a little or maybe shoot from high up. Create some excitement (or tension) in the photo and you're doing well. If you have a telephoto lens, walk away from the car and then zoom in. Don't forget to get the entire car in the shot, too.
Special effects: For the magazine, no, please. We want the jpg right as it came out of the camera. Please, no fake tilt-shift, etc.
Looking for inspiration? Check out Instagram. I'm looking at #E46 right now and seeing some cool stuff. Anything posted by Magnus Walker looks great, too.
And don't forget that they need to be high-res, too. Figure that our minimum spec is 1280x960 pixels.
The big thing is to have some fun with it.
Thanks!
(And don't forget to share your camera photos at #grmphoto, too.)
