[xReVoLT]

About Me:

I began automotive photography about 2 months ago, I'm quite new to the style but I believe I've advanced quite exceedingly over those last several months. Not to mention, I just got into using Adobe Photoshop as well as Adobe Lightroom for my photos I'd say about 6 weeks ago or so. Fortunately due to my location of where I live here in Los Angeles, I have many contacts with people with exotic cars to shoot as well as being on the professional level and getting paid to do so.

Equipment used:

Camera:
Nikon D5500

Lenses:
Nikon 18-55mm(Kit lens)
NIKKOR 35mm 1.8
NIKKOR 10-24mm(Ultra wide angle lens)

Flash:
I-TTL Flash (AP-N1001)


Just some quick very basic tips:
Generally, when it comes to automotive photography, I try to excel in lighting as well as the right location to go to fit the right background needed for the car. For example, if it's a black paint job on the car, I may want to drive the car to a spot with a white background, or some background that makes the color pop-out. Although what I post, most of it is in the same location which is quite boring after a while so ignore my photos of being in the same location.

Another major factor is the weather. I tend to take photos on cloudy days or at least try to depending on the car color. Lighting is perfect then for the whole car.

Raise the aperture from 8 to 16(in my experience with my camera), as it's the sharpest aperture.

ISO, if possible set to 100 or the lowest.

Shutter speed, set it to whatever is necessary but not below 1/30 unless you're using a tripod.

Speaking of shutter speed, take a photo of a moving car going to have a blur effect on the wheels, as well as the background. These are called rollers. Rollers are very commonly used in advertisments with companies such as BMW, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, etc.

Try to get into editing with Lightroom, and then Photoshop. In my experience, it's definitely worth the money especially if you want to go on a professional level and get paid for what you do(generally in my area, I get paid $10/hr which is equivalent to minimum wage, plus another $50 to $100 for giving them 30 photos).

BE SURE TO LOOK AT AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY / EDITING TUTORIALS: My Playlist of Tutorials

Here's what a 'roller' or 'rolling shot' looks like:



Notice, the wheels are out of focus and are moving as well as the background, but not the further back behind the subject.

Some of my photos:

Additional detail, as a disclaimer in case you were to reverse search the google image, my Instagram account is @jdkauto

Here's a 2013 Mustang 302 Boss (Owner: @Bad_Boss_302) which was my very first photoshoot I've done with a car:



Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 640 | S: 1/800 | ƒ:8

Here's a 2017 Camaro SS (Owner: Me):



Took multiple photos(HDR) and merged them together to get the background color correction as well as the car color, raised and lowered the apertures.

2015 Camaro 1LE (Owner: @murcielagoz_1le):


Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 640 | S: 1/800 | ƒ:5.6

(Year unknown) Audi R8 (Owner: @deesquareddrives):


Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 250 | S: 1/800 | ƒ:8

Two BMW M3s, and two BMW M4s (Owners: @alpine_m4, @keshm3, @rtbm4, @frznred):


Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 100 | S: 1/2500 | ƒ:8


Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 500 | S: 1/1600 | ƒ:8

(Unsure what year - It's a 2015 model or later) Nissan GT-R (Owner: @chris_uka):


Nikon D5500 | 35mm | ISO: 500 | S: 1/500 | ƒ:8

Still not done editing - Got done doing the photoshoot 5 days ago.

McLaren P1 GTR (Owner: @ferraricollector_devidlee)


Nikon D5500 | 18-55mm | ISO: 1000 | S: 1/250 | ƒ:5.6

2015 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 (Owner: @yergacheffe):





And much more...!

Not done editing most of these photos, as I just got done with this photoshoot a 3 days ago.

Spoiler (Click to View)
Irrelevant to photography, but the owner of the Lamborghini Huracan use to be the vice president of Google Play Services across all Android platforms from 2010 - 2015. Fortunately enough for me, A. I got to meet him and B. He's tutoring me on programming/coding with many different languages(C++ / JavaScript / etc.) which raises my chances of getting a job at Google some day, hopefully someday I will! Wish me luck! :P


Those are some of my photos, keep in mind that I'm still a complete ameture(even though I get paid to do it sometimes with lower end cars) with Adobe photoshop/Lightroom and am still learning like everything else in my life, fortunately enough every weekend I get to shoot some cars as well as drive them which is a true blessing. Sometimes, if the photos are good enough they loan me their cars for a week. With the Lamborghini Huracan, he's loaning me that for a week when prom rolls in. Wish me luck in my next photoshoot this on Saturday - (Unknown what year but it's 2015+) Nissan GT-R 2017 Corvette Z06, 2013 Mustang GT and on Friday, a photoshoot with a 2018 Camaro SS, 2015 Camaro 1LE, and a Camaro ZL1. We'll be taking rolling shots.

Couldn't fit all images I wanted to post, so click here to see them.