Hmm, I must need to work on my tecnique some more. My pictures don't seem to look that good with an XTi and a 17-85mm lens. The only difference I see is your lens aperature can go a little lower. Are you shooting your pictures at f/3.5? Of course, I've never adjusted any of my pictures in Photoshop either (never even done research to know how).

 

You are an incredible photographer! I have the same coloured car in an 06 and I've never seen it look soo good! Nice car and welcome to the forum!!

 

Thanks

I edit my pics by altering the contrast, saturation, and brightness. What else do you do in Photoshop to make your pics look like yours?

I'm a total amateur at photography but after seeing your pics I think I'll get into that topic a little more

 

^
I am no photographer by any means but I personally think that the best photos are the ones that require very little editing. Over contrast and editing in general kill the pictures for me. But that's just my personal opinion.

OP, your interior shots are breath taking to say the least.

Forgot to comment on your clear bra mod earlier. That is a must have. I regret not doing it and now the car is too old and has far too many rock chips to warrant one. Any new car from here on out will get the 3M treatment right out of the lot.

 

I know what you mean. Too high contrast and oversaturated colors look really bad. However I think all pictures require a slight editing to show the full effect, no matter how minor the tweeks.

 

My front bumper looks like that too, and I have 130,000+ miles. Are you following a lot of gravel trucks?

 

What part of the front end is covered when a clear bra treatment is done? I am familiar with these - had one done on another car - but after looking at the front end a while there are a lot of curves and bends to cover. I wonder how much of that is done/covered and how much is not. Fortunately my car is still pristine and therefore a candidate for a 3M treatment. I'm just trying to get my head around what will be covered.

Has anyone had this done that can post any detailed pictures?

 

No, it's just my daily driver. When I bought the car at 33,000 miles the front bumper had just been resprayed. They probably did a shoddy job of it (low quality soft paint?) because they knew they only had to make it look pretty and once they sold it they wouldn't need to worry about it anymore. The car now has 45,000 miles and the front bumper looks rough. I bought some touch up paint and made my modest attempt to clean it up, is a cheap fix but didn't do the trick. When I eventually have the time, and find a local paint shop who will respray the bumper for me, I will (perhaps this is a DIY job I will consider). I can't imagine that roads in Northern VA are any worse than any other part of the country. In fact, they are in all likelihood better than in most regions of the country. During the winter I encountered a lot salt and small gravel that was kicked up as a result of snow plowing...

 

Welcome to the forum -- beautiful car and a great eye to boot! As far as mod's go, for me the best mods, in order, were the Black Series steering rack, followed by the KW v2 suspension, then the Kleeman headers, a custom Jerry dyno tune and IForged Seneca 3 piece wheels (they look just like BBS LM's) -- the rest of my mods are fun but not nearly as dramatic as the above 5.

 

Looks great! You have good taste in cars. Welcome!

 

There are different kinds of applications and depending on the shop you choose, the area they cover will vary. You can cover as much or as little of the car as you wish. The more you cover, the higher the cost. I know some shops only do this from precut matterial and some will customize it all.

 

+++++++++++++

 

I had mine custom made. The shop made sure to follow lines where edges would show least. I.e. hide the edges in the lines and wrap them under the panel gaps.

Here are some pics, sorry for the poor quality. (I'm shopping for a good compact camera, PM me if you have any suggestions )

 

Thanks for taking the time to post the pic's. No offense, but you need photography lessons from the OP of this thread We all could use his help actually.

I was thinking about just doing the very front bumper - no part of the hood of front fenders. It is all the curves down low that have me worried. It seems it would take someone with one heck of a talent to maneuver that material around all those curves. I've seen it done (fenders on my shelby cobra), but no where near the level of difficulty as the front fender on the C55.

 

Yall continue to amaze me with the hospitality and sense of community...must have a lot of fellow southerners here.

I usually shoot on the lowest f-stop that the camera will allow in full manual mode...f/5.3 is what it's showing right now.

Get photoshop lightroom...it's great and easy to pick up and use.

Thanks mate!!

I do a variety of things...I will usually try to alter the contrast as little as possible unless I'm going for a particular effect. I will adjust exposure, turn up the black levels, sharpen, individually adjust saturation color-by-color and I like to throw a little vignette on a lot of my shots.

Look at me, giving away all my secrets! Yall are supposed to think I'm just naturally gifted with a camera.

Agree...some people go overboard on the editing or just don't have a good eye for it. Of course some may say my pics aren't that great, so to each his own I say! Make em look how you like.

I will say though...I used to shoot hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pictures trying to get that one perfect natural shot. Now, I can snap off 10 really quick, mostly focusing on the composition, angles and focus of the shot...and I can go back and adjust to the perfect exposure afterward.

Editing really does make it so much easier to get that perfect picture. There's still a lot of art and skill involved in post processing. I'm definitely a big time noob compared to the pro's. I've just figured out how to work this one little program and produce results that I like.

I would recommend getting a "custom" clear bra if there is someone in your area that specializes in it. This isn't done from any kind of pre-fab kit...it is cut by the installer specifically for your vehicle. It's designed to cover 100% of your front bumper, hood, fenders, etc...sky's the limit. And it can be made to appear seamless.

Love the insight! Thanks so much. The BS steering rack definitely has me intrigued. I'll have to do some research.

Thanks man!! Glad to be here.

Yep. Custom's the way to go if possible!

Excellent. Thanks for sharing!

If you want a nice little point and shoot, I'd recommend something from the Canon PowerShot line. You'll have to pick one that fits your budget though.

I'm currently just planning on having the front bumper done. If I committed to the hood and fenders, it would have be the ENTIRE hood and fenders because I don't want to see any lines.

 

welcome aboard

Phenomenal pictures! wow

I would also like to thank you for my phone's new background

 

Excellent pics!!

 

Thanks for all the help Because of your pics I started looking thorugh some photography forums and just realized I need a polarising filter - bought one today.

I'll try out your hints next week when I get a chance to take some new pics.

 

Why do you need a circular polarizer? Do you really want to put a <$50.00 piece of glass in front of your $XXX.00 or $X,XXX.00 piece of glass? They have their place, don't get me wrong. But more often then not, they muddy colors, cut clarity, and induce glare.

 

No body mentioned anything like that in my research, I just bought one last night as well.

 

Alright, got myself some photography lessons . Here are better pics.














From a distance you can't tell.

 

Wow, good stuff mate! Can't wait to get mine installed.

 

ha Very welcome man!!

Thanks!

Awesome!! If you post new pics, shoot me a pm to let me know.

If you've used one, you know the benefits...

You will enjoy it, I assure you. It comes in handy.

 

Definitely get it installed as soon as you can before you get a lot of rock chips. Also make sure you get the better quality 3M film. It's well worth it as it won't yellow over time.

Your photos are very inspirational!

 

OK, I take it back, you're pretty good with a camera

Thanks for taking the time to post up some better pictures. Clearly gives me a better sense as to how it looks. If I do it, I'll probably limit only to the front fender. My car is black and I suspect the lines on the fenders and/or hood may be more noticeable. Amazingly, my front fender is free of any chips or marks. I guess it not being my daily driver allows me to avoid some of the situations (like highways with work trucks) where flying rocks are more likely to be an issue.

The pics are very helpful - thanks again for making the effort to help out.