Automotive Night Photography

[spngr311]

I have a few shots I took this weekend that I am looking for some help. I have never posted anything for critique before, so bear with me if these do not fit a specific format. I also apologize if I put this in the wrong forum, but I thought it went with the street photography.

First are these alley shots, taken with a 50mm on a Canon T1i. I believe the aperture was 2.8 or 3.something. The conversion to jpeg stripped the exif data, sorry.





My concerns with these are the dark areas at the bottom of the car. The only available light were the street light above the car and my external flash. What could I have used to add more light to the bottom of the car? Also, any tips to get rid of the hot spots on the hood by the grille?

These next two were shot in the same alley with a 15mm fisheye. I think i used the same apertures.





I have the same questions regarding lighting. The first fisheye has no flash. On the second fisheye shot, I attempted to bounce the flash off of the wall behind the car.

This last picture, I wish I could take over. Next time, I will pull the car forward. I want to keep the lights in the tree as an effect over the car, but pull the car forward enough so they do not reflect in the hood.



I shot this with the fisheye, with the flash bounced of a reflector. What can I do to get the bottom of the car on the right more illuminated?

Thanks for the help!

[Donald]

I shot this with the fisheye, with the flash bounced of a reflector. What can I do to get the bottom of the car on the right more illuminated?

Only thing I can think about is a second flash unit.

In overall terms, I like #3 and #4. There's a hard 'street' edge to them. #3 in particular - I think it's a much better composition.

One thing I'd suggest you consider - lose that logo. It really distracts from your work.

[spngr311]

Thanks for the comments.

Any suggestions for a flash unit I could run as a slave?

I'll probably shrink the logo down, it is admittedly a bit large. I got lazy, and left it the size I use for when I use it on my desktops!

[stevewe88]

I recently bought a YongNuo YN560 to use as a second flash and it is absolutely superb for the money. No TTL when on or off camera but unless you are going to spend a fortune on triggers it isn't that important. It will act as a slave with any other flash so no need for wireless triggers at all but can be a bit unreliable in daylight.

I think it would add a new dimension if you put a flash under the car. Nice shots, very different.

Cheers
Steve

[spngr311]

Thanks for the suggestion on the flash.

That's a cool idea putting a flash under the car, I'll have to try it out.