sixtoes : an automotive fine art gallery : returning soon!

[Revolution.]

Nice work. The Evolution of a Heartbeat is my favourite composite shot I've seen from the game as yet. And the reason I did my Christmas composite shot in that same location.
The Camaro is nice, I love how shiny the reflections down the flanks of the Camaro are, very crisp.

 

[Mac K]

That looks amazing!

 

[sixtoes]

Nice work. The Evolution of a Heartbeat is my favourite composite shot I've seen from the game as yet. And the reason I did my Christmas composite shot in that same location.
The Camaro is nice, I love how shiny the reflections down the flanks of the Camaro are, very crisp.

Thanks, Revolution - I've heard a lot of kind words about "Heartbeat", and I'm grateful... I'll freely admit that the image took me a lot more effort than I though it would , but the results were absolutely worth it.

I'm glad that location could provide a little inspiration, too! As for the crisp reflections on the Camaro HDR, let's just say I've got a few sharpening tricks up my sleeve...

That looks amazing!

Thanks, Mac - and welcome to the gallery!

 

[sixtoes]

One drawback to working on building a gallery (in my opinion, at least) is my never-ending desire for more premium model vehicles to shoot in Photo Travel. This means, of course, that rather than save my money for cars I need to drive in the game (Formula Gran Turismo, for example), I'm spending it on cars I want to shoot in Photo Travel. So, my in-game wallet is often light - as I lack the patience to save for the bigger ticket premium cars.

So when I get a chance to drive a car that I don't yet own - say, the SLS AMG provided for use in the AMG Driving Academy - the photographer part of my brain is thinking about what a good shot might look like. The other day, as I was working on the final challenge in AMG's level 24 Driving Academy (full lap of the Nurburgring, in the rain) and was flying down the long straight, I had a few ideas. The following image was one of them:

​

A straight-on shot, taken from great distance, but at full zoom (500mm), capturing the contrast between the color of the vehicle and the dreariness of the wet weather conditions, as it throws up a huge spray of water in its wake.

 

[ragnar666]

I had a little bit more time today than expected, so it's a Merry Christmas Eve posting - wouldn't mind finding one of these under my tree in the morning!



This race modified Camaro (painted Guardsman Blue) was shot using a 5-shot bracket (-3 to +1 in 1-stop increments) at Ahrweiler Gate. The resulting HDR image was processed in Photomatix Pro, then worked on in Photoshop CS5 - mostly masked curves layers, along with a little sharpening.

If I have a chance later tonight (or even - gasp! - early tomorrow), I'll post another action shot of my race modified Corvette Z06. After all, it's been painted a festive red, so it needs some more exposure.

truly outstanding shot one of the best i've seen on GTP and all your rest are incredible.

i've just starting messing around with HDR and im loving it. it also breeds itself to the whole quality over quantity thing since it takes alot more time and effort so you want EACH shot to be immaculate.

im really loving the whole concept and hopefully with some more time and practice i can be just half as good as you are and i will be happy!

would love any tips you can send my way lol i'd be more then happy to "sponsor" you with any premium cars you desire im starting to aquire a very large library of premium cars myself so if there are any you would like i would be happy to "sponsor" you a car for some HDR tips and just to see more of your work

PM me if your interested

 

[sixtoes]

truly outstanding shot one of the best i've seen on GTP and all your rest are incredible.

i've just starting messing around with HDR and im loving it. it also breeds itself to the whole quality over quantity thing since it takes alot more time and effort so you want EACH shot to be immaculate.

im really loving the whole concept and hopefully with some more time and practice i can be just half as good as you are and i will be happy!

would love any tips you can send my way lol i'd be more then happy to "sponsor" you with any premium cars you desire im starting to aquire a very large library of premium cars myself so if there are any you would like i would be happy to "sponsor" you a car for some HDR tips and just to see more of your work

PM me if your interested

Thank you, ragnar - very kind. Take your time learning HDR - it's a whole new way of looking at images, and it's very easy to end up overdoing it... or, just as bad, applying it to images where it doesn't help. (Like the SLR in the rain, above.)

As for tips, stay tuned - I'll be putting together an HDR and Photoshop tutorial of sorts, so that should be helpful.

Finally, as for 'sponsoring', I certainly appreciate the gesture. I won't be asking for cars from anyone (though I'm unlikely to turn down a gift), but I will be doing some 'commissioned artwork' every now and then. I'll be posting about that later today, in fact.

 

[sixtoes]

When people started posting HDR images from GT5, there was a little debate about whether it was 'appropriate' to use HDR for in-race replay shots (Photo Mode). The argument against using HDR basically boiled down to this: since you'd never be able to shoot the multiple exposures necessary for HDR in real-life in-race situation, you shouldn't use HDR on similar in-game replays.

Of course, this ignores the fact that - in a "real-life in-race situation", you'd also never be able to set up a camera anywhere you want on a track, and somehow avoid getting run over by the dozen cars barreling along at 200+ mph! It also ignores the fact that anyone who's tried shooting a "real-life in-race situation" knows full well that you can't shoot a 500mm lens at 1/2500th and f/32! Never mind the fact that there's no such thing as a 14-500mm 1.0 lens!

So, when pressed with this make-believe photography dilemma, I fell back on my first philosophy about photography: use every tool at your disposal. So, while I'll still approach HDR-action shots with the same intent - to create stunning images where the viewers' attention is on the car and not the effect - I've got no problem utilizing HDR in an in-race replay.

Heh. All that talk just so I could show you this:

​

This image of my race-modified 'Vette coming down the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca was originally shot with my usual 5-shot bracket approach, but I ended up using only the middle three exposures - kept it more realistic in this case. Some curves layers were added (notably to keep the tires dark, but the wheels visible), and a little bit of sharpening. Enjoy!

 

[sixtoes]

A word regarding 'commissioned artwork':

You might have noticed that bit in my signature about requests for commissioned artwork. I've received a couple of requests already - which is great! - so I thought I'd let my subscribers, and passers-by, know what I'm talking about, and what to expect from the process.

1. Premium models only. As much as I really love some of the other cars in the game (why, oh why, couldn't they have made the '64 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans GTO a premium model?), I really don't like taking pictures of standard models. If you want one of your cars featured in my artwork, it must be a premium model.
   
2. I prefer cars that I don't already have. After all, there's a reason I'm offering to produce images of other peoples' cars - and that's to get images into my gallery of vehicles that I don't own. That doesn't mean I won't shoot your Ferrari Italia - but cars that I don't own will receive priority.
   
3. As you can see from the style of images I post, I am not interested in photographing garishly-colored vehicles. So please, no hot pink Ferraris, or matte purple Subarus. If you have an unusual request, ask first - and please understand if I pass on the opportunity.
   
4. I am not charging for this service. I don't require paint chips, cars, or anything - though, of course, I'm not likely to turn down a gift, either.
   
5. In return for allowing me to create photos of your vehicle and post them in my gallery, you'll receive a high-resolution image you can use as a desktop background. You can also post my image of your car in any thread, so long as you credit me, and post it using the link to the image in my flickr gallery, or here in my GTP gallery.
   
6. The process is easy. Just PM me if you're interested, then add me as a PSN friend and gift the car to me based on a schedule I'll give you in PMs. Be sure that your car is washed, has any aero bits or custom wheels you want equipped, and is painted the color you want first, of course. It'll take me anywhere from a day to a week to capture the images I need, then I'll gift the car back to you. After I process the images, I'll post them in the gallery and provide you with your desktop image.

I hope this encourages some more of you to consider providing your premium vehicles as subjects for my future photo shoots. Looking forward to hearing from you!

 

[Revolution.]

Hmmm. Nice. The HDR effect is very subtle. Yes, I suppose I was put off by the prospect of HDR/motion shots because of how focused some photos are on the effect rather than using HDR to enhance the image. Nice Corvette too, I have one very similar, except painted in a bronze/orange colour, rather than red.
Looking forwards to seeing future stuff from you.

 

[sixtoes]

Hmmm. Nice. The HDR effect is very subtle. Yes, I suppose I was put off by the prospect of HDR/motion shots because of how focused some photos are on the effect rather than using HDR to enhance the image. Nice Corvette too, I have one very similar, except painted in a bronze/orange colour, rather than red.
Looking forwards to seeing future stuff from you.

If there's one word I hope describes most of my HDR work, it's "subtle" - so thanks, Revolution. I am certainly in agreement with you regarding the approach that some have taken with HDR - where the effect takes center stage, rather than the car. I certainly hope to avoid that pitfall...

Oh, and that Vette isn't red anymore - I thought blue would look nice. I'll have to get a shot up of it sometime soon...

 

[sixtoes]

I'm working on three sets of images for the gallery this week, and should have them up over the next few days:

• The beautiful, but under-appreciated, Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, shot at the Piazza del Campo.
  
• The low-slung German beast, the AMG SLS, shot in Ahrweiler (gate, street and square).
  
• A composite photograph of the Bavarian beauties - the three M-Series BMWs - shot in Kyoto.

 

[sixtoes]

As promised, I've been spending a little time in Italy with a beautiful redhead... the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione (in Competizione Red, of course). I'd put together a nice montage of the following images and sliced it up in Photoshop, complete with links - but I haven't quite figured out how to embed a sliced HTML file in a thread here. Ah, so my coding skills are lacking. Perhaps a few photos will make up for it...

​

Tomorrow, with luck, the Mercedez-Benz SLS AMG will be ready. Also in the works, my first 'commissioned' artwork: a photoshoot of the out-of-this-world Zonda R.

 

[GT5photographer]

Very Nice HDR shots! Love that style, do you use photomatix?

 

[Revolution.]

Ooh, lovely shots! You've captured the beautiful lines of that car. The colours are so nice too. Have you applied a bit of a soft glow effect to the pics?

 

[sixtoes]

Very Nice HDR shots! Love that style, do you use photomatix?

Thanks, GT5 - yes, I use Photomatix Pro to create the HDR and do the tonemapping, then I do a little layers work in CS5. (Usually nothing more than some masked curves layers, and a little sharpening.)

Ooh, lovely shots! You've captured the beautiful lines of that car. The colours are so nice too. Have you applied a bit of a soft glow effect to the pics?

It is a beautiful car, isn't it? I'm surprised at how rarely I see photos of it here in the forums, because it's so very unique. As for soft glow, I added a tiny bit to the first and last images to give a sort of ethereal feeling; I hope it wasn't overdone. (Kinda looks like I applied it to the first vertical image, too - but I just checked my layered PSD file, and I didn't... just a result of the HDR tonemapping, I think.)

 

[chrisr1984]

excellent gallery, very impressed with your work so far and look forward to your future work.

 

[grncivic03]

Your work is great, really like the picture of the alfa romeo emblem. How did you get the interior picture?

 

[sixtoes]

excellent gallery, very impressed with your work so far and look forward to your future work.

Thanks, chrisr - I hope you enjoy my future posts!

Your work is great, really like the picture of the alfa romeo emblem. How did you get the interior picture?

Thanks, grncivic - the Alfa's a gorgeous vehicle and I'm really surprised I haven't seen it in galleries more often. As for the interior image (and the interior images you'll see in my next post), I took a look at this thread and it had a lot of useful tips.

 

[sixtoes]

As promised - though a little late - here is a series of images of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, shot at the various Ahrweiler locations (Street, Square and Gate).

Technical information about the images:

• The first image is a 5-shot bracketed HDR image
• The two Ahrweiler Square location images are 3-shot bracketed HDR images
• The square-on front and rear shots (outside Ahrweiler Gate) were intended to be 3-shot bracketed HDR images, but I couldn't get the look I wanted. Instead, I blended the images manually using masks.
• The two interior shots are one-shot images with only minor adjustments (curves and sharpening).

Enjoy!

​

 

[rfcnkt]

Your photos have a nice style to them, I'm not one to do post processing on GT5 images but it really works for you. Keep up the good work I hope to see a lot more. I like the second SLS shot the most just because it's crisp and has higher contrast.

 

[Nicknamealguem]

That second picture in post #42 is really amazing. First time I see both car and tower with perfect exposure.
In fact, your work is all excellent, from the subtle HDR through the angles and composition of the images. Really great stuff.

 

[GPR]

Wow, awesome shots of the Alfa. All of them very very good the colour and tones are very punchy and the HDR is done at a great level.

They almost look illustrative in a few which I quite like.

 

[s12ken]

Nice shots man! I remember how back in the day in GT4 we all used to pull of some amazing shots too! Now that I'm back, don't forget to stop by my part of town as well..

 

[Nlmkiii]

Fantastic photo's, loved looking through these. I got to this thread after seeing your classic race cars trading post. I may be picking up a couple of the ones you are looking for soon, if I do I'll be happy to loan you one for a shoot some time. Its great art!

Also, did you ever shoot the chap 2D? I love the look of that thing!

Oh, I also acquired myself a chrome paint chip recently which I am tempted to use on a Sambabus, one of the few vehicles in this game that it would probably look great on. Not sure yet, but if you are interested in something like that let me know.

 

[suzq044]

[link]
^ Shiniest brakes EVAR. lol

 

[allen-XY]

Nice photo. Actually you can paint your Z06 RM. It will be better look. As far as I concern every car that gone through Racing Modification will lost it's original paint. Your Z06 RM will have 2 color if you send it to paint. silver and the paint color you choose.

 

[laflech44]

Those AMG shots above are amazing.. I might have to send over a vehicle

 

[sixtoes]

Your photos have a nice style to them, I'm not one to do post processing on GT5 images but it really works for you. Keep up the good work I hope to see a lot more. I like the second SLS shot the most just because it's crisp and has higher contrast.

Thanks, rfcnkt (how do you pronounce that?) Because I spend so much time in Photoshop for work, I have a tendency to see images in my head based on how they'll look after post-processing. Sadly, they don't always turn out that way, but I'll keep trying. I'm glad you like that SLS shot.

That second picture in post #42 is really amazing. First time I see both car and tower with perfect exposure.
In fact, your work is all excellent, from the subtle HDR through the angles and composition of the images. Really great stuff.

I appreciate the kind words, Nickname - that Piazza just screams for HDR shots since they've put all the car locations in shadows.

Wow, awesome shots of the Alfa. All of them very very good the colour and tones are very punchy and the HDR is done at a great level. They almost look illustrative in a few which I quite like.

Thanks, GPR! The color was a bit tough to maintain correctly through HDR processing, but I'm glad it made it through.

Fantastic photo's, loved looking through these. I got to this thread after seeing your classic race cars trading post. I may be picking up a couple of the ones you are looking for soon, if I do I'll be happy to loan you one for a shoot some time. Its great art!

Also, did you ever shoot the chap 2D? I love the look of that thing!

Oh, I also acquired myself a chrome paint chip recently which I am tempted to use on a Sambabus, one of the few vehicles in this game that it would probably look great on. Not sure yet, but if you are interested in something like that let me know.

Thanks! I'm glad you found your way over here from the marketplace. The 2D has some gorgeous lines - I've not shot it yet, but was planning on doing a lap or two and saving the replay before I trade it away. Might be awhile before the images get posted, as I've got a few projects in the works, but it is a pretty car, isn't it? A lot better than the 2J in that sense, for sure.

[link]
^ Shiniest brakes EVAR. lol

There was a light there. A really bright light, I swear!

Okay, maybe it was a curves layer instead. Should have masked it just to the rim and not to the brake... might go fix that soon.

Nice photo. Actually you can paint your Z06 RM. It will be better look. As far as I concern every car that gone through Racing Modification will lost it's original paint. Your Z06 RM will have 2 color if you send it to paint. silver and the paint color you choose.

Thanks, allen - yes, I know you can paint the RM'd cars, I just shot that one early in its lifespan. If you browse through the rest of the gallery, you'll see here that I eventually did paint it.

Thanks again, everyone - look for new work to be posted again on Sunday, as I'll be away from the computer and PS3 today and tomorrow. Happy New Year's!

 

[boozybloke]

Holy cow, I have spent most of the day surfing through these galleries, some good some so-so, but your shots have stopped me in my tracks. Simply astonishing work; it's quite clear you are a photographer in real life. Love the composites, and all the HDR work. These are the type of shots I'd like to be able to do, but I have neither the time or patience to be able to, so carry on the good work so I can carry on drooling!

 

[sejtur]

Awesome pictures, Sixtoes! The third SLS is my fav, the reflections and the composition are very well done. 👍