^You should probably just give up on ONE of those...

 

with friends like these...

 

I suggest the last one... what's the point of looking like this?

 

Random “Rig” Beat: Smooth like Butta

 

^I'm thinking about getting a 18-200. Could I get the entire car in frame with a 10' ploe at 18mm???

 

You can barley get the car in the frame at 18mm when taking the front of the car. That focal length really limits the type of shots you'll be able to get. There is a huge difference between 10-14mm and 17-18mm. Even between 10 and 14mm there is a large difference.

Taken at 18mm

 

^That's cool.

I guess I could always go with a longer pole. I know too long and vibration starts to become an issue, but another 2 ft would help a lot. Also, I'm thinking about mounting it under the car. Maybe even using two poles mounted under the car.
I just can't drop $600 on a 11-16 right now. As a web designer/IT that does photography mainly as a hobby, I don't get much ROI on equipment.
Maybe I can talk my professional photographer buddy into buying a wide angle lens so I can borrow it

 

Good lord! I just looked at the EXIF on that shot.... you think 30 sec was long enough??

Must have been pretty dark

 

Marcus iza Supastar!!!!

But I didn't like seeing the actual rig... it's like finding out the secret to a magic trick, then it seems way less spectacular

 

I completely understand your point, but I guess it's my portraiture background, but I like this close crop of the car. I just prefer the closeness of the car filling the frame like this.. I can't help it. It really draws me in and lets me see all the detail. The background is blurred anyway, so it's not like you're really going to pull anything from it.. I guess it's because of this particular background that you're not really "missing" anything.

Or maybe I just really like this shot.

I'm a web application developer that shoots as well.. Don't worry about the ROI mayne, do it for the LOVE.. LOL..

 

The problem @ 18mm is that you have no room to work with. You have to extend the rig as far as possible from the car as you can (limiting the angle you can shoot at), which decreases stability. Then framing the shot is such a pain because there isn't much room for error.

I like the close crops too, but as I got into taking rig shots more, finding a nice backdrop really adds a lot to the photo IMO.

 

^Exactly.
Plus, you always have the option to crop it in.

 

yeah.. I guess that's what it is, my lack of experience w/ the rig.. I just like the resulting composition, but I could see how it'd be a pain to compose it this way directly in the cam.. NO room to play w/.. I got ya.

 

A longer rig is not the answer. You can see how low the camera is already from the angle of the pic. Any longer and you will be dragging the camera. You really do need an UWA to do proper rig shots. At 17-18mm, all your rig shots are going to look the same. Boring!

The background is not always as blurred as it is in here. Tight crops have their places, but a picture is more than just of the subject. It's of the subjects environment, too. The environment is entirely just as important as the subject itself. An UWA will allow more creativity. Again, rig shots at 17-18mm are cool...but they get boring after about the 5th time since you are limited to a couple angles.

I'd post some examples but you've probably already seen them and I don't wanna thread jack.

 

Marcus...

Still love the car.

Your car and Chris' (papa) are my favorite clean sedans.


Great work!!