complete spaz/n00b alert :(


i was trying to take a photo of inside the carwash, i wanted to make the water blurry coming from the jets, but it is not working, the photo also seams to be blurry at the top



i assume the focus is set on the ground so the high stuff is not in focus, should i be setting the focus on the water (will the ground and roof then be blurry?)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Sticky/Stuff%20for%20forums/DSCN0872.jpg
would prefer to have everything looking sharp apart from the streamy/blurry water, what am i doing wrong :thumb:

Suggestion:

This is a difficult scene to take....Lots of contrasts. If using a camera that has some settings other than point and shoot, use a tripod or a firm support maybe even the ground. Set your aperture (AV) small (bigger F number) to make the whole picture in focus but set the focus(and consequently the light meter) on the top of the jet so that the camera does not expose for the light the other end.The darkness of the scene will ensure that only the water will be blurred.
If using a point and shoot, still make the camera as steady as posssible , focus on the dark part above the jet and shoot...It might work ;)

And if your camera has it, (and many do now), set exposure to "spot metering" then meter off the jets.

Alcazar

thanks for the suggestions, the camera was on a small tripod on the floor :eek:

i will have another go as it has all the options mentioned so far :)

ok, had another go

2 second exposure and the aperture was set to f8.0

i also changed the metering to something else

seams a bit more clear

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Sticky/Stuff%20for%20forums/DSCN0887.jpg

I still think it needs a smaller aperture and metering off the jets, to avoid the light at the other end spoiling it.

What's the smallest aperture your camera will go down to?

Alcazar

To be honest this is never going to make a decent picture whatever you do....... .......unless you are employed by a carwash manufacturer? :Suspiciou We all have ideas which seem great in our imaginations but just don't work in photographic reality. Its the best way to learn and improve, so I would bin this idea and move on to the next one. Dare I call it a washout! :D

i own this carwash franchise ;) :lol1:


i think f8.0 was the limit to be honest on this nikkon :(

although i have a minolta dimage 5 SLR in the drawer that might a bit better?
compleatly clueless with most of the features, but i need some new shots for some thing thats happening soon.

In that case I think you need to try photos with a car in it so you can see water running off the paintwork or summink! Its going to be difficult to achieve the kind of thing you are after as the water is just a very fine spray. Maybe a wide angle shot of an extremely clean glistening car with the carwash and signage behind might be a better advert?

have a go in the dark, with a car in there and some choice foreground lighting.
the possibilites are endless.

also a smoke bomb strategically placed will give a sinister look :)

i can manually switch various different jets on, some fine, some rough and some of them shoot steam, i will have a play about, as i originally posted, i am a complete noob, with all the gear and no idea, so i need to learn from the mistakes :D

problem is i have this awesome idea in my head and i cant work out what i need to do to get the thing i am after :rolleyes:

What's the idea?

What you appear to be trying to do is photographically very dificult. And I'm not sure you can make the inside of a car wash look much anyway.

If you just want to promote your car wash, a nice shiny motor or two parked ouside a nice tidy car wash facility will do the job.

At the absolute best you're only ever going to get the foreground in focus aren't you. The water spray is going to distort the light coming from behind it no matter what aperture you use.

I agree with the others that having a car in the shot is the best way improving it, but keep having a go with the different jets and see what you can come up with.

OK here is my tuppence worth. Shoot it at night. Long tripod exposures and if there isn' much light in there add some via portable halogens etc. You will need to play with white balance and lots of angles, take loads of shots and see how you go. I recon you may be able to get something quite cool if you persevere.

In order to show the mist/water jets, you need to ensure that the water is lit differently from the background - in your original pic, the most visable water is near the jets which is against the dark background, as soon as the mist forms and goes against the light windows it disappears.

The suggestions about shooting at night and with a car are good ideas. I would try placing a car in the wash and shooting from a low angle. If you were to place a light out of sight behind the car, pointing forward, you would "rim light" the car and illuminate the spray, while at the same time losing the light windows and giving you a darker background.

It's always difficult to give a "do it this way and I'll guarantee it'll work" type answer when I haven't tried it before, but if you were my client, I'd try that and see.

Generally backlighting works well to illustrate smoke or water, but it obviously needs to be against a darker background, white on black shows - white on white doesn't - which is why the spray isn't as visable against your white windows in the original.

Hope that helps a bit

Gareth

I'd go for a night shot with some external halogens lighting the water. this will help identify the water. place them as near to right angles to the water without them being in shot.

set the camera to exposure bracketing and make 1 image out of three. for the water jets go for a setting that give a heavier water release rather than a fine mist. also get the brushes going.

can you get even number of jets on at the sides as the top?

by getting a car or vehicle in there you'll show more purpose to the image and give an idea of scale.

use a tripod with the self timer function or remote sutter release.

from a car detailers point of view though, car washes are evil things.but then send business my way so promote the use of them as much as you can ;)

problem is i have this awesome idea in my head and i cant work out what i need to do to get the thing i am after :rolleyes:

Draw it out on paper. only has to be a rough sketch. then once happy, set the shot up. that the proper way to do it. :thumb:

As already suggested by 'f1_fan' and 'mneame', I believe that this could turn out to be a great picture but you really should do it at night. Have the shutter speed set to 5-7 seconds in TV mode. You need to use a tripod or something else that is really stable. In the dark I would not use the spot meter because it would measure to harsh on a dark or bright light source and give you very dark shadows or blown highlights. Also try to make the picture as symetric as possible, so the tunnel looks creepier. Get as close as possible. Try wideangles and teleshots, with car and without and with additional external light source and without. Don't listen to the ones suggesting to scrap this imo great idea. I would actually enjoy to shoot the car wash scene in a dark situation. Just try again and again. It's actually a brilliant idea. ;)