Comments on: The Story Behind the Image: Old Car Interior

By: Cole Thompson

Cole Thompson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:08:36 +0000

Alburt, you make a good point, that there are many ways to create an image and that mine certainly is not the “right way!”

I try not to focus on the process but on the image and what it needs to fit into my vision. For this image HDR would not have produced the look I was after.

But if you were to photograph this same car, HDR might work for you. It is likely that you and I would create two completely different interpretations of this old car, because each of us has different visions.

And that’s a good thing!

By: Alburt

Alburt — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:35:07 +0000

Not that clean and clear technique..and I think HRD does much better.

By: Jean-Philippe Poli

Jean-Philippe Poli — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:53:18 +0000

Really love your shot and your own rule of thirds ! The best one i think…

By: Lesliediana

Lesliediana — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:03:22 +0000

I like your rule of thirds. This shot shows how something broke and busted can be beautiful. Wonderful work. Thank you for sharing your techniques. I have so much to learn and appreciate when others are so giving.

By: Eduard Crispi

Eduard Crispi — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 05:03:05 +0000

…wonderful! …I always tell my friends about Cole’s rule of thirds. Thanks for sharing!

By: Gary Larsen

Gary Larsen — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:10:47 +0000

I totally agree with your 1/3 Rule. You’ve got to see them in your mind, then you’ve got to make the image technically and finally you’ve got to fufill that vision when you post process. Each part of the process is equally important to produce a great image.

Your “Old Car” is a great iamge… I have a copy. Oddly, I used the same (two-frame, non-HDR) approach to make an image of the dashboard from inside an old truck in Rhyolite, NV (just east of Death Valley) a few years ago. But I was making a color image (the red patina of truck was too much for me).

But I also found that you can make a believeable image from an HDR start if you work with less “distance” between the 3+ exposures and do some post-processing to “make it real.”

By: Juzno

Juzno — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:06:06 +0000

2oD? That would be considered vintage in digital years. I too use the same approach, i.e. taking two exposures and manually “overlaying” them together. It’s more time consuming but I can get better results. (I don’t like the artificial look that HDR softwares usually render.) Hopefully, when I get good enough it’ll look like something you’ve done here. Very nice touch to it. Thanks.

By: Bill McMyne

Bill McMyne — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:27:33 +0000

Your posts on your process have not only taught me technique, but have also freed me to be more creative in my post processing. In the past, I have taken a more conservative approach as that is what I was originally taught. Since meeting you I have gone back to images I had already printed and achieved results that much more closely match my vision. Thanks!