any good tips for taking bike pictures

[drewpy]

When I finish my tracker, I want to get some good pro looking shots. Now I've seen the pros do it (on line) but wondering if anyone has any lighting, POV tips that will be helpful.

I see alot a spoiled pictures of good bikes, coz the background is too busy/in focus etc.

and what sort of extra kit would be needed (lights etc)

cheers

Drewps

 

[Joel]

You can probably get away without using a light kit if you're out in the day. Like you say, have a simple background. Set the bike back from it if you can to help isolate the bike as the focus. If you can, wait for a nice cloudy day to get the most even light, plus it puts texture in the sky. The warmest light is dawn or dusk, but it's also your shortest window for shooting. Also, you'll put the bike in a better focus if you use a telephoto (or zoom in with a point and shoot camera). Hope that helps.

 

[Daddio]

Here is my take:
For direct sunlight shots have the sun to your back and shoot during the golden hour or one hour before sunset. Still use a filtered, boxed,indirect or bounced flash. Use a tripod if no flash and hold the shutterspeed a little bit to draw in the warm glow. If the sun is behind you take the picture standing far enough back so your shadow is not in the picture.
Try shots in full shade too, use a reflector or just white board to bounce the natural light on the bike, especially effective on chrome.
Play with taking pictures in the complete dark, set the camera on a tripod set the shutterspeed to 3 seconds, maybe 2 for a bike. Squeeze the trigger and shine the light slowly across the bike, playing with this gives great pictures, or try keeping the light on one area and let the light filter over the rest of the bike. Play with the light and shutter time. This is a fun way to waste an evening. I usually hook my camera up to a PC and look as I go. For shots where you're riding to the location, take a brush to clean the tires of dirt, hide marks in dirt, bring spray mist and a microfiber clothes to touch up the bike. Look around the background for junk you can get out of the way. Shots after the rain are great because you can park your bike in a puddle and do some pretty cool reflective shots and look for fun angles.
for more art shots try to frame the picture with things in the foreground, they don't even need to be in focus. Shots through a spoke wheel showing your bike in the background looks cool or a reflection of your bike in a rear view mirror or off of a chrome bumperor shop window adds a ton of depth to a picture.
Box lights are great but expensive, a flash bounced off a white board will give 75% of the effect.
Since there is no film cost anymore just take your time and play. Review your work as you go so you can see how your lighting and settings changes effect the picture.
hope this helps-

 

[Daddio]

One note for the pictures in the dark; make sure the camera cannot see the light directly, only the light reflecting off of the bike. Otherwise it will look like an electrical storm with this white lightningbolt. I have used a mag flashlight in a coffee can with a piece of white t shirt as a filter. I cut the can with a hole saw, ductaped the flashlight to it and covered the wide opening with a t shirt to create a basic hand held light box. You can walk across the front of thecamera as it will not see you as you are behind the light. Just wear black. Have fun and show us your pix.

 

[drewpy]

guys, you are great! that's exactly what I was asking for.

I'm not a fan of re-inventing the wheel and your tips will save hours of fiddling

cheers

 

[650Jarrett]

Try to find neutral, non busy backrounds. Cement walls or distant city skylines work well. Under bridge overpasses are good cement wall backrounds, and usually by rivers you can get some distance between the bike and it's backround. Taking the pictures in the late evening is usually best for lighting if you can have the sun to your back and manage shadows. Take tons of pictures, leaving a little room around the shot to crop later, but not too much. After all the pics are taken, they can be enhanced by any number of programs, many of which are handy dandy free iPod or iPhone apps. You can even make marginal bikes look good with the right shot and enhancements. My 650 gets attention wherever it goes, but my dual sport doesn't. Yet, they both look good in the pics I took....BTW, these pics were taken with a 6 year old, barely working Canon 7 mega pixel camera, and I used a free app on my iPod called tilt shift generator to enhance them.

Here's a good pic to demonstrate how I didn't manage the shadow properly (my own shadow), but the pic is great otherwise.

 

[650Jarrett]

In the second pic you can see my head shadow as well. Bloopers, but they didn't totally ruin the shot, although you won't ever see shots like that in a mag. The cool thing about tilt shift gen (free app) is that you can blur the backround a little to really bring people's eye to what you want them to see, and add contrast to really make it "pop". The evening light really warms up the shots. The 1st dual sport pic really shows what the evening sun can do. That backround isn't even all that great, but the context, coupled with the (natural) lighting made it work.

 

[drewpy]

I've played with tilt shift, but the free online program is now £'s

 

[foul]

IMO fake tilt shift is not worth it, it will almost always look fake.
For example in the pic you posted, the rear wheel is out of focus while the tail light is not while they both are at the same plane, same goes for front wheel and handlebar.
If you really want to fake it you better mask the image into focus planes and blur them, its a lot of work tho.
Or you could just get a really fast lens and shoot with it wide open.
For example:

(i did not shoot this image)

 

[650Jarrett]

I see your point, but the effect is still better than paying a ton to get it done. And how is free not worth it? Practice using the fake tilt shift and problems like that aren't as noticeable.

 

[Daddio]

Got home from working on the 400 and saw the 650...she was asking to have her picture taken.
These were taken in my garage with either the camera's flash or one or two flashlights. With the shutter open three to five seconds. The camera is an old Olympus C8080. Did not want to beg to borrow the wife's 5D Mark II for an impromptu shoot with a non-detailed bike.
Drewpy..did you ever post pics?

 

[drewpy]

Drewpy..did you ever post pics?

not finished the bike yet Daddio, just planning ahead.

I'm not too far off, but ran out of money again

 

[Daddio]

Man...that is tough. I started with $10,000 probably 12 years ago, built and flipped over the years and now it is $20,000 give or take. It is in my own account away from family money. Makes it a little easier. It is also great to know that if we have an emergency, I can flip something and give the money to whatever the need is. It took years of convincing the wife that the "toy" account was not the families.
Your plan will happen...glad to see your patient, too often we get restless and throw it together at the end of a project.

 

[drewpy]

thanks for the support man, I've been at it for at least 18 months. I was made redundant last fall, so its a case of starting again. luckily i got a job but it don't pay as much and bills keep on rising!

 

[Daddio]

Wow, I am sorry...it's awesome that you were able to find work, I have a lot of friends that lost toys and homes do to the fact that they couldn't find sufficient jobs. I for one appreciate the time and energy you put in these forums for all of us.
Maybe you can turn wrenches for people and utilize the money to help your ride. This will help you stay close to your hobby and see your vision to fruition. I told my wife this five years ago for her photography hobby was very expensive and I asked her to make it self funding. Now she is working hard to keep it part time. When you have passion for something, others want to share in the passion. Here is my wife's website: www.mistyphoto.com (her blog is most current)
You and your family will be in my prayers.

 

[volcomskater77]

im not a great pfotographer when it comes to manipulating images, but i can do angles and focus decent enough for never taking a class or having anyone show me.

 

[Daddio]

Wow Volcom, that reminds me of the bikes I road in the early '80's. Road bikes were at a fevered pitch around the '84 Olympics especially in SOCAL where the cycling races were held. I had an old Benotto and traded it for a Schwinn Paramount. Traded it all in for a Klein Mantra when I found out about Mountain biking. A bunch of good old memories.

 

[Joshwuh]

The biggest thing is taking pictures at the right time of day and with the right light settings. Like Daddio said the prime time for lighting is 15 minutes before and after sunrise. Use a DSLR and just mess around with the light settings (Cloudy, Sunlight, Shade, etc) until you find one you like. If you are experienced with photography you can take a good pic with any camera, even a phone, but if not then DSLR is the easiest way to go. Avoid the automatic setting as it often produces harsher photos than what you will be looking for in a bike pic.

Here is a random photo I took years ago with my Nikon D40.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshwuh/5199969570/

I'm assuming you'll want a softer background so low aperture will be key. IMHO if you have a decent camera you don't need to buy any light kits. The sun is the best light you'll find for a bike ;-)

Here is an amazing sight to learn some basic photography stuff on...

http://www.kenrockwell.com/

There is actually a section titled "How to Take Better Pictures". Ken Rockwell is a great teacher and photographer.