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The Van… Shot from Another Van
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Not really sure what section to post this in. It’s part of a college assignment I’m working on, it’s an advertising assignment and my theme/product/service is SARDA (search and rescue dogs association).
I have to submit 30, 6×4 pictures and I’m trying to present them with/in a documentary/fly on the wall, feel. The set is still a bit rough, but if you are interested you can view some of the other pictures here
Got up early this morning to go out and shoot the team vehicle, wanted this picture to have a feeling of movement, speed and urgency. Some of you who are into car photography could probably point out a million technical faults, but I’m more concerned about the atmosphere of the picture.
I would appreciate any feed back on this, and thanks to everyone who offered advice on this shoot. Will try and upload a few more later.
Sinead.
Certainly give a sense of speed which is helped by the low angle really like the processing too.
This looks a bit like a random photo taken from a car (please don’t take it personally). I am saying it because the sign on the van doesn’t stand out… it is probably because the top of the van is much brighter than the bottom, and the white writing disappears in the reflection of the grey sky. Do you have any more shots from a different angle?
Thanks lads for the comments.
Zoltan – don’t worry, I won’t throw a strop!! tee hee… Yeah, I know what you mean, I would agree 100%
I do have some different angles but have only really had a quick look.Here are two more.
I find all three to be really appealing photographs. Love the movement and angle in them. As Zoltan said, it’s a pity you can’t really see the sign in the first one. Maybe a polarizer would have helped to tone down the reflection?
The van’s a little far too the right in the middle picture I think.
I’ll have a look at the other ones too. Hope your project goes well.
Hi,
First off, I really think these are great photos…..technically.
But seeing these are for an advertising project, shouldnt you have a few in colour? Or was the brief to shoot b&w? What colour are the vans?
Another thought is that the shots are on a motorway (well a big road!). I dont know anything about SARDA, but I doubt they do much rescueing on the M1? Granted, they have to get there, but maybe some on a smaller road and the dogs leaping from the van (ala starskey & hutch)….
Now theres a thought…….. :lol:
Newry/Warrenpoint dual carriageway?
The pix do show a sense of speed – rushing to the resuce, I presume.
It might be worth increasing the saturation of the colours of the writing before converting to b/w.
Sinead-
I think you might have a number of difficulties with these-
first of which is the state of the van-
it’s a bit dirty, with no reason to be- it’s on a main road, presumably rushing to a call,
and should perhaps be gleaming.In the first, the blank sky is a distraction, particularly to the signage-
its reflection interferes with the text.Perhaps trying the same shot on a stretch of road overhung with trees might add to the movement,
as well as making the text more legible.I might agree with Bricker about the use of colour too-
The stipulation about the presentation of 6×4’s might give a clue to the requirements;
I expect they’re looking for something clearly legible and immediate,
and those artsy asymmetrics might not work too well at that scale.Some other things to think about:
an even lower viewpoint,
and using lighting within the cab to humanize the shot a little-
the reflection of the sky in the windscreen makes the van into an object,
and it’s difficult to engage with that-Some remote flash might work….
Also, shooting towards dusk might allow headlights to register…
I know this might turn into a small part of your presentation;
it’s difficult to see how rushing van shots will tell the whole story-
I know that you’re not afraid of getting close to a dog’s nose,
and I expect that we might be seeing some of those soon too-Interesting project, would hope you don’t get too hung up on this shot,
and explore some of the other possibilities-j
bingbongbiddley – thank you. I get the point about the sign, maybe a polarizer would have been the job, the thought of using one didn’t even enter my head.
I agree about the van being too far to the right of the frame.Bricker – thank you. The colour thing, I can’t decide, initially I thought of an all b&w panel (didn’t state either in the brief) and then one of the lecturers suggested it also, am still undecided, can’t really find a style of colour processing that I like. The vans are black.
It’s a big road, I wanted to shoot on a real road and thought this was the safest option, I would still like to shoot on a smaller road and get the action shot of the dogs leaping from the van too :)rc53 – will I get in trouble if I say yes? It might have been :wink: thanks for the suggestion.
j – I noticed that my self, the dirt. I think it may have been gleaming when, it left where it was, but, was dirty, when it got to where I was… All that salt and stuff on the road.
I think I will most likely ditch the first picture.Good point about a road with trees, but, again it had to be this location for safety reasons, but, now that I know I can do it (shoot a van from another van) it’s something to think of if I decide to do this shoot again, although, I doubt I will, for this project anyway.
Artsy asymmetrics… Can I take that as a compliment? You might be right, they might not work, but I’ll give it a whirl anyway.
I did try an even lower view point, with, some remote flash, will have a look at them next.
Never thought of the cab light, good point.
Shooting towards dusk would be mad, crazy, mad on this road, but yes, I get the point.And, I hope I don’t get too hung up on this too…
Thanks again all, much appreciated.
Ok, here is one, from a lower viewpoint, with remote flash, in colour…
Have not done any processing to this one.Not that sure I like it, no movement…
jessthespringer wrote:
I have to submit 30, 6×4 pictures and I’m trying to present them with/in a documentary/fly on the wall, feel.
I think too many people are missing this point. The image needs to be judged in the context of the remaining 29 images; does it add something to the story you are trying to tell or not? It doesn’t have to be a technically perfect or an award winning image. In fact a panel of 39 award winning images probably isn’t going to tell the story!
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