TomScott @ Silverstone Classics 2013 UPDATED Day 1&2

tomscott · Aug 18, 2013

haha who let her in the pits

neilthomas · Aug 18, 2013

Amazing pics Tom!

LeeZ4MR · Aug 18, 2013

neilthomas said:
Amazing pics Tom!

+1

really enjoyed looking at them.

shotbybothsides · Aug 19, 2013

Excellent work Tom,
I really like what you do to the highlights. Is this a global curves adjustment in your processing or do you have a plug in or action for this? If it's a trade secret and you'd rather keep it that way, I do understand.

tomscott · Aug 20, 2013

Haha its not a trade secret just something I like to do. But thanks for noticing! Subtle but really makes the car pop.

But to answer your question I have preset adjustment brushes that I make. The wonderful thing about Lightroom. I have lots of them to emphasise different aspects of the car. Headlights, number plates etc

Because it was such a bright day the dynamic range was huge from the darkest shadow to the lightest highlight. Impossible for the camera to capture the full range. One way to equalise is to use a flash but I couldn't be bothered to run around all day with a flash. So the easy way is to underexpose by around a stop, gives detail in the sky and increases shadows. A lot of the time I will shoot with editing in mind, with having two cameras with two lenses its enough to carry without flashes extra filters etc Cameras like the 5DMKIII are so good that you can get away with doing this, but its not the way I would shoot commercially as it increases noise and decreases sharpness, but the images have come out great and making big prints wouldnt be a problem. So its a good way to work when the weather is working against you.

Its easier to recover shadows than highlights, when recovering blown highlights the result will be flat and the gradation of colour creates an unnatural grey colour. So when processing the image I will increase the shadows a stop which should equalise the exposure. But its was very very bright that day so I had to recover the highlights a little. When you recover highlights it usually reduces the contrast globally across the image and by recovering both shadows and highlights it adds an unwanted HDR effect which I cant stand. If you add a curve or contrast adjustment it will undo the highlight recovery by adding more contrast and looking less natural and the gradation in the sky from grey to white will turn even more choppy. Although I prefer a more contrasty image, there are different styles of contrast. I process a little more on the warmer vibrant side because thats just the way I like it

But there is now the clarity slider which adds contrast to the edges, it adds real dimension and I love it!

For the headlights I create a brush with positive clarity, positive highlights a little contrast, sometimes a little exposure too depending on the image and paint the headlights. Makes them really stand out. The Z headlights are so distinctive and I think this makes them more true to life, in pics they look flat and lack dimension whereas in real life they are very dimensional, I think this brush accentuates it. Which after all that gumf answers your question lol

Heres an example where I have done it on my car.

BMW E86 Z4M Coupe, Z-Fest, Silverstone Classics 2013 by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

And forgot to do it on this car

BMW E86 Z4M Coupe, Z-Fest, Silverstone Classics 2013 by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

Another problem with recovering highlights is the number plates usually go a weird dark HDR colour with a look that is completely unnatural. You can see above I have forgotten to do it on the image of my car. Again it is to do with reducing the amount of colours that make up the gradient but its also to do with number plates reflective quality. So what I do is make a brush with increased exposure and add clarity this really isolates each letter because usually they are quite small in the image. When clarity adds contrast to the edge it will cover the whole letter because they are so thin. So this also makes the car look more natural.

Like with all editing, its a fine balance between realism and the intended style. With mine I intend to create the original look but accentuate it and adding more dimension and warmth.

Another secret is I spend ages on each image removing distractions and at car shows there are hundreds. This image is a good example.

TSP_SC (71 of 333) by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

There were quite a lot of people in the background and the texture on the floor was very uneven and really distracted the eye. By removing them you can really concentrate on the car, but not too much if I removed every stone it wouldn't look right.

This one was made up to two images, I was kneeling on the floor waiting for this guy to move that was looking at the car, but he spent a long time looking at it so I snapped two images one with him toward the rear and another when he had made his way around to the front. I then combined them to remove him from the image. I have just noticed I havent removed his refletion on the front wing. But if I hadnt said you probably wouldn't have noticed :rofl:

TSP_SC (244 of 333) by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

Obviously with 300 images and I was late getting them done anyway. I didn't spend that much time as I usually would because the likelihood of me selling any of these images is quite slim, and I do it more for everyone on the forum that wasn't there to get a feel of the event.

Still have another 300 to do

shotbybothsides · Aug 20, 2013

I'm really grateful for this Tom, so much inspiration, I have a lot to learn

tomscott · Aug 20, 2013

No problem any time.

Its just decision making really and sometimes there is so many options that making them can be hard! But the more you do the easier it is and you set into a bit of a routine with your style of image making

Stuart Truman · Aug 20, 2013

Some cracking shots there

You made IMmie look blood red!

tomscott · Aug 20, 2013

Cheers Stuart

Carol M · Aug 20, 2013

Cracking pics Tom, as usual.

tomscott · Sep 4, 2013

Day 2

We were there very early got right in front of the BMW stand. Light got better through the day sorry for a little repetition I'm sure you don't mind!

Link to the full set

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscottphotography/sets/72157635105306341/

TSP_SC (334 of 191) by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

TSP_SC (337 of 191) by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr