I guess from Tom's samples you could take his line-of-F40s shot, and his Hallin fell shot for similar subjects as yours to compare/discuss.
Lots of Tom's quality is the composition, rule of thirds, using positioning to manipulate the subject, etc etc, but he's also using specific kit to match to the subject - like a lens that can snap incredible low light sunsets adding further value to a well composed shot, or understanding what the aperature + length enables him to capture, thus positioning himself to fill the screen with F40s and have them all in focus, etc.
I'm a basic amateur (but i'll try to come up with something productive to say haha), but i'd say with a line of cars as you have - it's hard to get dramatic effect as they're arranged in such a way that prevents you filling the screen with them, so you end up with lots of tarmac, and lots of grey sky. With some kit, you can make grey sky more interesting (CPL filter,perhaps a better lens may allow you to capture a higher IQ etc.), but probably you want to arrange the cars to suit a photo, and/or position yourself to best capture the subject rather than the stuff you dont want it in the shot. Also mixing people with cars - i guess that kinda makes it a bit harder, i dont really know any 'tried and tested' ways to make that work. perhaps arranging all the people in the foreground and having all the cars behind might make it more interesting (and the cars could be outside the focused area, so there's a blur of coloured cars and some sharp faces or something). Though writing that does remind me there's a difference between styles of photography too - like 'documentary' vs 'fine art' type stuff, so different pros would approach in different ways.
By pure fluke i've done a similar photo, you can see i could do with taking some of my own 'advice' (hence half of it is knowing what to do at the time you take the picture!). Given the choice to take the shot again i'd try to fill more of the screen with the subject (and less tarmac/crap sky), which is perhaps why tom knows from experience to angle the camera a bit.
Parking Lot by JimmyBell, on Flickr
Here's another one i took of the same subject, in a different situation (clearly!
). i like how i've composed it, but i had a crappy 18-200mm lens that whilst i could CAPTURE it, it's not high quality, so there's blur and no real depth to it. likely a 70-200 L lens, or probably a much longer one would enable me to get a nicer result.
Diamond 9 by JimmyBell, on Flickr
I'll let tom critique further half the battle is knowing what to do in the moment, as moments done tend to last. I know the parking lot photo was me literally walking past with a group of pilot mates, and i took 5 seconds to stop and grab a shot, didn't really have time to figure out the best angle or try a few different things.
Oh and with car photog, the 'done thing' seems to be front quarter with wheel facia facing the camera. Here's a crap car photo of mine, vs a good one (apologies instagram is generally low quality and budget filters used left right and centre):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BczPRSflP1j
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYv-Mvfls5y/
Lots of Tom's quality is the composition, rule of thirds, using positioning to manipulate the subject, etc etc, but he's also using specific kit to match to the subject - like a lens that can snap incredible low light sunsets adding further value to a well composed shot, or understanding what the aperature + length enables him to capture, thus positioning himself to fill the screen with F40s and have them all in focus, etc.
I'm a basic amateur (but i'll try to come up with something productive to say haha), but i'd say with a line of cars as you have - it's hard to get dramatic effect as they're arranged in such a way that prevents you filling the screen with them, so you end up with lots of tarmac, and lots of grey sky. With some kit, you can make grey sky more interesting (CPL filter,perhaps a better lens may allow you to capture a higher IQ etc.), but probably you want to arrange the cars to suit a photo, and/or position yourself to best capture the subject rather than the stuff you dont want it in the shot. Also mixing people with cars - i guess that kinda makes it a bit harder, i dont really know any 'tried and tested' ways to make that work. perhaps arranging all the people in the foreground and having all the cars behind might make it more interesting (and the cars could be outside the focused area, so there's a blur of coloured cars and some sharp faces or something). Though writing that does remind me there's a difference between styles of photography too - like 'documentary' vs 'fine art' type stuff, so different pros would approach in different ways.
By pure fluke i've done a similar photo, you can see i could do with taking some of my own 'advice' (hence half of it is knowing what to do at the time you take the picture!). Given the choice to take the shot again i'd try to fill more of the screen with the subject (and less tarmac/crap sky), which is perhaps why tom knows from experience to angle the camera a bit.
Parking Lot by JimmyBell, on FlickrHere's another one i took of the same subject, in a different situation (clearly!
). i like how i've composed it, but i had a crappy 18-200mm lens that whilst i could CAPTURE it, it's not high quality, so there's blur and no real depth to it. likely a 70-200 L lens, or probably a much longer one would enable me to get a nicer result.Diamond 9 by JimmyBell, on FlickrI'll let tom critique further
half the battle is knowing what to do in the moment, as moments done tend to last. I know the parking lot photo was me literally walking past with a group of pilot mates, and i took 5 seconds to stop and grab a shot, didn't really have time to figure out the best angle or try a few different things.Oh and with car photog, the 'done thing' seems to be front quarter with wheel facia facing the camera. Here's a crap car photo of mine, vs a good one (apologies instagram is generally low quality and budget filters used left right and centre):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BczPRSflP1j
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYv-Mvfls5y/
