How To Photograph Your Car Like The Pros

Angle of Attack
The thing that separates snapshots from quality photography is the angle the picture is taken from and the physical distance between the camera and the car. The following photos show those differences.

Here, equipment is key, but only two pieces are truly needed: a tripod and a zoom (or telephoto) lens. The tripod holds the camera steady at set heights and angles, the zoom lens "flattens" out the car. Another handy piece to have is a remote cable release, which is a remote control to trip the shutter in the camera. This keeps your hands off the camera, so it doesn't shake while making the shot. It's not necessary to purchase a cable release; you can accomplish the same thing by setting your camera's self timer, but it eats up time.

This is the typical method... read full caption This is the typical method most people use to take snapshot photos.	The biggest thing here is... read full caption The biggest thing here is that the photographer is standing up taking the shot at eye-level. This angle looks down on the car, so you see the top of the hood and roof. It's not very dramatic.	Also, the lens being used... read full caption Also, the lens being used is a standard 35mm, being shot from about eight feet away from the car. This makes the perspective of the car somewhat distorted, making the rear of the car seem much farther away.
This is a little better. Using... read full caption This is a little better. Using a zoom or telephoto lens "flattens" the car out, so it doesn't look like you need a golf cart to get from one end to the other. Get the camera as far away from the car as you can, but still keep the image in the view finder as big as possible.	By getting the camera closer... read full caption By getting the camera closer to the ground, the shot becomes a little more dramatic. Also note that the front wheels are turned so you can see the wheel face, instead of turning away from the camera and showing its tread. This is also a garbagey background, but it's the best we could find around the office at that time of the day (the sun behind us).	Here, we've lowered the camera... read full caption Here, we've lowered the camera further still with the tripod. It's getting a little awkward to shoot the car from this angle, but it's making the shot more dramatic.
Notice, however, that the... read full caption Notice, however, that the building in the background is now very noticable and takes your attention off the car. Also notice that the car now has a phone pole growing out of it from the background. This is a very common problem, and happens with trees, road sign posts and other objects even in the best of photo locations. But it can be fixed.	Here's the fix for making... read full caption Here's the fix for making the background less distracting--lower the camera even further, and get an ant's-eye view of the machine.	Tilting the camera to one... read full caption Tilting the camera to one side also gives the photo a much more dramatic feeling. The tip here is to always angle the nose of the car up, because it looks like it's diving into the ground otherwise. Notice the front wheels, too: they're turned away from the camera, hiding the face of the wheel.
The tripod we use has a couple... read full caption The tripod we use has a couple of bells and whistles: the camera mount pivots on three axis (up/down, side/side, tilt left/right), and the center pole comes out and can hang under the tripod, putting the camera right on the ground. Taking pictures like this is uncomfortable, but it makes the cars look larger than life. It also hides trees, etc. behind the car. Notice the phone pole circled behind the roof on the top shot of the car.	By moving the camera and tripod... read full caption By moving the camera and tripod just a little bit to the side, the post is hidden.	This shot fully demonstrates... read full caption This shot fully demonstrates the lower camera for drama and background clean up: There were three palm trees behind the car that looked as if they were growing out of it, and the only way to make them disappear was to put the camera on the ground. The f-stop for this shot was manually set at f-13 or f-16, and the camera determined the shutter speed.

Bracketing
The final thing pros do is "bracket" their pictures. This means taking the picture at the shutter speed and f-stop the camera indicates for the proper exposure, and then moving either the f-stop or the shutter speed (not both) one setting lower and one setting higher than the camera's settings indicate for the exposure. Sometimes the lower or higher exposure than the one indicated is more desirable, because you can see some details better, or the color of the car is better.

If the f-stop is the critical element in the photo (getting the car in focus from end-to-end), bracket by adjusting the shutter speed. If the speed is important (trying to freeze a race car), adjust the f-stop.