I've got 2 cameras. My phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 2. And a Samsung WB150F. I've seen people take amazing pics with both. But the best picture I've netted to date is this one



It was taken at about 0730. It's about the only picture where the carbon fiber on my bike looks like carbon fiber.

I know my options are limited by the cameras I use. But they should be able to capture CF, as my Note 2 proved with this pic. So what am I doing wrong? What did I do right here?

And any general tips on motorcycle photography with point and shoots / smart phone cameras would be appreciated. By all I think. Lugging a dslr all the time isn't practical on a motorcycle

 

1. Lighting. Your lighting sucks. There is not much you can do with the limited throw of your cameras flash. You need to pay attention to what natural light is available to you. Put the sun to your back and try to keep the shadows off the bike. Shoot a sunrise or sunset for the soft light. Bright sunlight is hard...

2. Background. WTF with the van? The light pole coming out of the mirror is a nice touch too. Pick better areas that have contrasting color to make the bike pop. Stay away from backgrounds that have too many hard lines. Notice how the white van makes the black CF stand out but loses the tail. Use something the opposite color to what you want to stand out. Use a color wheel for reference.

3. Camera settings. Play with the manual modes a bit. Shorten the DOF settings to so the bike is the main thing in focus. This will blur everything else a bit. Change you WB to match the appropriate light quality. Change your ISO as low as it will go for lot of light and all the way up for darker settings.

4. Photoshop. There is not a great digital picture out there that hasn't been run through Photoshop. Things always need too be tweaked and cleaned up... (like all that crap on the ground could be removed) A good editing job can make a bad pic look good and a good pic look great.

Most of the things that make a picture suffer are not the camera. Compose the pic in your head and set up the shot. With practice, you will be able to see the shot before you take it. Usually things in the viewfinder look great, then show up later when you view it or make a print. Pay close attention to picture killers before you lift the camera, the double check through the camera.

 

Sharp looking **OS logo.

Camera is centered on the brightest & most reflective part of the of the Bike
best way to mitigate that is through auxiliary lighting (flash etc) in conjunction
with a better angle of the subject matter (no not the van) so as to not have so
much brightness solar / reflection.

Looks like your own shadow on the mid/front part of the bike too

 

All about the lighting.

If you have photos on your note download an app called snapspeed. Click the auto adjust, add the drama filter and increase the saturation. It's cheating but gets good results. In my opinion anyway!

If you want your cf to look good you may have to do close ups... I would do it on my bike but it's not clean enough!

 

The van was in the background cause it was Ride to Work Day. It wasn't an intended "glamour shot". Which is why it was so maddening to have the CF come out so clear. Most pictures it looks like plain black abs plastic.

Still getting the lighting part down. My wb150 has more options for adjusting the pic than my phone. But my phone is always handy, like for Picture Challenges. The shadow isn't being cast by me. I was actually sitting, steadying my phone on my knee at the time.

Will also have to look into the DOF and white balance. Keep the tips coming. The Snapseed tip makes a pic look great on my phone. But it doesn't translate as well when I upload it to PB.



Yes, I know. The angle places the white upper cowl against the bright sky, washing it out

 

I suck at taking pictures but I think I've figured out:
- late afternoon bright sunny day.
- keep the sun to the West and point the bike East (or West) so you are taking the pic from the South (or North).

I attach a mini bendable tripod thingy and set the timer on the camera for 10s after pressing the button to give it time to stop shaking. (no anti-shake mode on my camera).

not sure about cf, I'd have to buy some first.

 

 

my turn with imagetricks lite

 

My turn?

 

Yall having fun?

Seriously though. I used this pic as an example of carbon fiber standing out in a pic. But nearly every pic I've taken of any of my bikes, the black doesn't "pop" like I've seen in other pics. Where I'd take a pic having the black plastic look almost matte, others taking random shots showing the black abs plastic glossy or sometimes looking wet.

Is this really a result of post-processing? I'll buy (from torrents ) Photoshop if necessary. But the biggest reason I don't take more pics / videos is they all come out looking like I'm using 10 year old equipment. Including before I gave my ex the Canon Rebel I owned.