What is Reddit's opinion of KelbyOne?

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If you haven't heard of this, Kelbyone is one of the greatest resources I've found. It does cost a bit at 20/month but it was one of the most comprehensive and professional series I've seen. Here is one of his earlier videos that is completely free on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpHMuK7Htic *The videos on kelbyone are not a group setting like this one.

The website content isn't produced by Kelby anymore but the people he has hired to do are all really great. I've not found a single video I didn't like.

http://kelbyone.com/

For those interested in her photo process to get similar shots, there's a class that she offered on Kelby One (Note that the intro video is free but the full class requires a membership.)

See an interview with her here (which is free)

(edit: better description and grammar.)

The folks over at Kelby One had a free webcast about switching including moving files over and what sliders correspond to what. You can check it out here:

http://kelbyone.com/aperture-to-lightroom/

(free registration required)

Your shot composition is nice. Got a good sense of how to frame and keep it interesting.

I'm learning as well and here's what I am doing to get the basics.

I bought the book Stunning Digital Photography by Tony Northrup. Kindle edition is 10 bucks and comes with videos. It will get you a good grasp of the basics (rule of thirds, lighting, etc...)

I also watched a tutorial on my Camera OM-D E-M10 from Tony as well. His tutorials are a good overview of the features of a camera. Here's one for your model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmWBW8aZSS0

And I also bought classes at http://kelbyone.com/ for 10 or 15 bucks a month. If your diligent, you can probably make your way through them all in one month. Very helpful to get another viewpoint of the basics.

Yes, he's lightpainting them. He used a little torch to light them. He also puts on the dome light for a few seconds, touches the brake for a few seconds so the brake lights light up, and puts on the headlights for a few seconds. That particular shot was done his second lightpainting course for Kelby, which you can find here

Some of the best free training: http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos

For paid training I recommend: http://kelbyone.com

Kelby training has courses on software and photography. It is a great resource.

Kelby Training-Kelby One has videos on shooting cars by Tim Wallace that will help you alot. It's $20.00 for a month. You can easily complete these in one month.

Others have mentioned that you need more light on the car. Here's a way to do that, but you'll need a flash, remote flash firer thingy, remote shutter release, a tripod and Photoshop or other software that can work with layers like The Gimp (free).

1. Set up your shot including composition and exposure with the camera on the tripod.

2. Take your first shot, no flash.

3. Walk around the car with the flash and shutter release taking more shots lighting one area at a time. You might want to make a snoot for the flash so you don't light too much. For instance, your photo would look cooler if the front left wheel were brighter. Also light the tread on the tires on the tires. Put your flash inside the car and take a shot. Take care not to point the flash at the camera.

Of course, you and your flash are going to be in most these additional shots. That's where layering in PS/The Gimp comes in.

1. Load your first shot as the first layer in PS.

2. Load the additional shots in layers above the first layer.

3. Turn off layers above layer 2. Now you should see only layer 2 with your goofy self holding a flash pointing at the wheel, let's say.

4. Erase everything but your freshly lighted wheel so that layer 1 now shows with your flashy wheel on top. Rejoice at what you just did.

5. Do the same damn thing on layer 3 (leave layer 2 visible).

6. Keep going until you have one badass picture of your car.

7. Export as a JPEG so you can. . .

8. Come back here and show us your badass picture of your car.

That's basically it. Really, watch those videos. The investment in the other equipment will always serve you well for car photography.

The background on both your examples seem to have been deliberately underexposed.

A technique I've seen used is actually to piece together a shot from separate photos that light different parts of the car separately. This course would be highly beneficial, but it's not free.

Give it a try! I learned from this online Photoshop magazine that we're subscribed to at my work. I think it's a paid subscription so you might not be able to see it, though. The first one I did was Billy Corgan with Smashing Pumpkins lyrics.

If you really want to take it to the next level, take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKrgBbm6j2Y

EDIT: This guy is apparently one of the kings of automotive retouch, he has a class on his site: http://kelbyone.com/course/twallace_car4/

This too - tutsplus has great content:

http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-on-creative-car-photography--photo-7174

Let me know what you produce, I'd love to see how it turns out!

Toddlers will not listen to anything. You have to adapt to them. This video course may be helpful. I've found Kelbyone videos to be very good.

I highly recommend switching to a zoom lens. You need to be able to zoom in and out to keep the kids in frame as they move around, adapting to them because they aren't going to adapt to you. Shoot wide, then crop it in post.

Start shooting at smaller apertures, 4-5.6+. A bigger DOF will be much more forgiving of any AF inaccuracies.

Organizá tu propio recorrido, con black jack y prostitutas... quien guste puede ser Walk Leader en su zona. No te lo pierdas, apurate y la gente se engancha.

Por cierto: Córdoba, Córdoba Argentina , anotate, no tenes excusas.

I don't think it'd hurt to give the free trial a shot, poke around a bit and see if it's worth it for you. Honestly I feel like there are plenty of other, free resources out there, but that's just me.

Here's a link for the 7-day free trial - http://kelbyone.com/freetrial/

Last year I went on the Kelby photowalk in Prague and met some really great people. If you're in town for the one this year, I'd suggest it.

http://kelbyone.com/photowalk/walk/prague-hlavni-mesto-praha-czech-republic/

Aside from good looking food, the most important thing is good lighting. I'd suggest natural light from a window with reflectors for fill. Also, think about presentation. Are you shooting on a dark table top, on a table cloth, or can you be creative? If you look at Bon Appetit you won't see monotonous setups. That sense of place grounds the food.

http://kelbyone.com/blog/natural-light-food-photography/

This course on Kelby One is geared towards a little known tool called a Mixer Brush which may alleviate some frustration with the default brush settings. As one of the first posters notes, understanding brush settings and experimenting goes a long way and you'll need to practice.

Cheers

For those wondering about the switch from Aperture to Lightroom and the similarities and differences in how it keeps your photos organized and the sliders, check out the free web seminar from KelbyOne. It does a really good job of explaining it.

http://kelbyone.com/aperture-to-lightroom/

Check out Plearn.com or Phlearn on Youtube, I learnt a lot more from Aaron than I have from any Lynda.com video. To be honest I watched a Lynda.com tutorial on dodging and burning last night and found it to be very "cheesy" and the guy totally ruined the image.

Just my opinion though, but do check out Phlearn

Also if you have $7 to spare, rent this course by Dave Black on Kelby One. He used flash for his shots, but there's a section on motocross you might find interesting.