Day 0: I Want to Get Better at This.

"Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin" (ulteriormotors)
12/31/2015 at 21:42 • Filed to: photography, iamNOTthespeedhunter

Dear Oppo,

How’s it going? It sure has been a while since we were last together. I just got off a long overseas contract, so I’m in the very fortunate situation of having some money and plenty of spare time. So I’ve decided I’m going to work on my photography. I have always been in awe of the photos I see on Speedhunters and the like; I pore over every post for hours in end. I’d love to be a photographer, but my skill level is just not there. So I’m going to improve it. I’m going to take more pictures of cars, I’m going to play with angles, and I’m going to learn. And I’m going to do that by taking (on average) one new car photo per day for the next year. I figure you fellas will be my sounding board, helping me figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Since I’m moving around a lot while trying to figure out job, the logistics of posting to Oppo daily are difficult. But by this time next year. there will be 365 photos here.

I also think it would be a lot of fun if other people want to join me in this project, and I encourage you to do so if you’d like by posting here or under !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on twitter.

Penny for your thoughts, E30 for your time.

DISCUSSION (15)

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 21:54

Neat! First word of advice here, shoot RAW if you can. It allows for more editing.

also, Rule of thirds. I turn the grid on with every point and shoot camera i use (counting phones)

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 21:55

Having an eye for the details and proportions of a car is important. It will vary from car to car, so there is no universal rule for photographing cars.

Happy new year, have fun and post often!

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
12/31/2015 at 21:57

Thanks! As you said, since there’s no universal rule to follow I just need practice.

THOMAS5 > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 22:03

Try to use a telephoto lens and or a polarizer.

66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 22:18

Maybe you could post weekly with 7 shots in each post? Just a thought, but I look forward to them.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > 66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash
12/31/2015 at 22:20

Good thought. I think I’ll try to post daily but if I miss a few days include one picture for each day missed. I wish there was a way to schedule posts in advance...

phenotyp > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 22:30

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/e34-as-the-sun…

I know it sounds trite, but: practice. Practice practice practice.

Most of the stuff you’ll see on speedhunters, petrolicious, etc is all HEAVILY processed. Start with figuring out the fundamentals. Get a nifty 50 lens for whatever system you’ve got. It’s the best $100 investment you can make.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > phenotyp
12/31/2015 at 22:51

You’re absolutely correct. Practice is everything. I tend to get impatient, which is why I’m going to try to shoot the same subject (cars, not an individual car) every day for a year. I hope that I might be able to take that time to dial in my eye and learn what works for me and what doesn’t.

As far as technicalities go, that’s where my eye is tuned. I know what images look like coming out of the camera, and it’s the rare one I see published on a high-gloss car porn site that looks like it. That being said, everyone has their own style. Some things are developed more in the computer and some are more in camera. It’s a matter of taste - some people just tweak the contrast and black points, some go nuts with graduated filters and simulated grain. Done well, I think both look good. I’ve done both.

Kinja'd!!!

This is not what I saw when I went outside to take the picture. It’s the result of thousands of exposures and hours of post-processing. But it’s a picture, and I like it.

Kinja'd!!!

This is exactly what the negative looks like for this frame (except inverted). I also like it, even though there’s a tree growing out the top of the car. It’s a matter of taste.

Funny you should mention the nifty fifty, I have a few weeks worth of shots to start off with - all of which were shot on that one lens. But still, as you said, it’s about practice to learn the subject.

Speaking of which, I love your bimmer and your photos of it! Want to join in?

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 23:05

Sounds like a good plan. Best of luck.

phenotyp > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
12/31/2015 at 23:50

It’s the same thing as that Ira Glass bit about how bad he was when he started. The same thing that my mentor at my first internship told me: “it’s all mileage.” So cliche, and so true because of it. The only way to get there is to take every single step along the way. There aren’t any shortcuts. You know where you want to be, and you know where you are, and.. Sad to say, it’s all the journey, the process, the steps. The masters are the the ones who talk about being beginners.

As for me, photo stuff is a love, but it's one I've had to set aside a lot the last couple years. At this point, it's all just experimentation. My neighbor (it was his E34 in that post) was talking about old medium-format lenses he's been putting on his 5d2, and now I'm super intrigued. I love combining old and new and seeing what you can make with it.

roflcopter > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
01/01/2016 at 11:10

I doubt I'll have the time to dedicate to doing one a day for an Oppo post but we are setting some goals for our website which I think will vastly improve our photography and writing. I think I'm going to try and keep enough content flow to have an article every week. Which will be tough.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > roflcopter
01/01/2016 at 12:09

One a day for just posting a photo with no writing will be hard for me. If I had to write an article a week, I could probably do that for a little while, but it would be really tough. Good luck, it hope it works out!

Also, aren’t you the guy who does featuredgarage? If so, I really like your work.

roflcopter > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
01/01/2016 at 13:33

I am! One of two guys actually. But I think our biggest drawback right now is the up and down nature of our content, we need to get more consistent and more frequent with our updates and move away from social media a bit more.

The biggest issue I think will be sourcing things to do articles about. I can't wait to see your work and improvement! Photography is a lot of fun.

Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin > roflcopter
01/01/2016 at 13:47

Consistency is interesting. One thing I really like about sites with multiple contributors is that they all have their own distinct style even though they’re shooting a common theme. Consistency in terms of quality is important, but that variation in style keeps things interesting. I think the really hard part is frequency and story. My style with cars has always been a quick shot or two, but I’d love to try a feature at some point, and to really explore one car. Otherwise I can have one cool picture, but there’s no story to go with it. Nothing really interesting, because the thing that makes cars interesting is the little details that every car owner puts into their vehicle whether they notice or not. Something I plan on trying once car show season gets moving in the spring, anyhow.

If you ever need anything, front-end, back-end, media, whatever, feel free to ping me (jeremy@ulterior-motors.com). I’m lucky enough to have spare time to spend helping other people with cool things and not finishing my own projects. :)

roflcopter > Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
01/01/2016 at 14:08

Consistency is definitely a fine line. I want to make the formatting, watermarking, and other details consistent. I’ve been considering making a sort of ‘style guide’ for us to follow that will make it easier if we get new people on board. I really want to get more consistent on posting schedules though, just because that will help drive traffic to the site be keep people interested.

I'd love to talk more about ideas and such, I'll shoot you an email for sure. We're always looking for anyone willing to help out, it's just my friend and I doing it all in our spare time right now.