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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken while on a Christmas holiday in Hulguin City, Cuba back in 2011.Time
It was taken in the late afternoon just before a huge storm, the storm clouds can been seen in the center of the image.Lighting
I would love to say that the image was taken with the lighting at the forefront of my mind. However that was not the case...I guess I got lucky! Though the reflections in the paintwork & chrome was my main draw to taking the photo.Equipment
Just goes to show you don't need the most expensive camera to win competitions! This image was shot using a fairly cheap point & shoot camera. For many years I have used different versions of the Canon IXUS range which I believe make great compact travel cameras. This picture was taken handheld with my latest version of the Canon IXUS 870 IS which I still use on my travels. EXIF info:- Focal length: 7mm Exposure: 1/500 sec. Aperture: F3.2Inspiration
I was inspired by some of the classic cars pictures I'd seen prior to my trip to Cuba. Many of the cars have been converted to taxis & loving maintained by many Cubans. While staying in Holguin, I saw several cars that I thought looked great with very shiny chrome bumpers and glossy paint finishes so I took pictures of them adopting a low angle and a wide angle lens, this enabled to get some background detail in to the shot.Editing
For this image I used Lightroom 4 to make three copies of the image, one with the correct exposure, and one of each overexposed /underexposed by +/-2 EV. I then used Photomatrix to do the HDR magic using the Creative preset 'tone mapping' to create the basic image before de-saturating the green hues and increasing the contrast in the sky. Some of my Cuban car images I have created to replicate the cartoon Sin City feel, which I think looks great.In my camera bag
When I go on holiday my camera bag has my discreet Canon IXUS 870 IS which is great for street photography when you don't want to draw attention to yourself and my DSLR Canon 600D. I carry 3 lenses ranging from my wide angle Canon EFS10-18mm, a Canon EF50mm which I love using for portraits, and my zoom lens is the Canon EF 70-300mm L IS USM. My lenses all have UV filters mainly to protect the lens from getting scratched. I also carry a set of ND filters & polarizing filters. A light weight Manfrotto MKC3-P02 tripod which is essential for those night shots.Feedback
My advice for great photos...find unique angles, I think cars look great when taken from low to the ground and shooting slightly upwards. Photographs taken just before or after storms can give you great skies with the clouds making your photographs appear much more dramatic and vivid. High gloss finishes in HDR can produce some great photos.