F Stops, Focal Lengths, Lighting, and Composition
by Robert H. Jacobvitz

Continued from Advanced Photography Part 1

For this photo, background blur was achieved by using a low f stop instead of a high focal length lens.

85mm, f-stop/1.2, 1/4000 sec., ISO 200

This is an example of using a low f stop, an interesting angle, lighting, and the Rule of Thirds to create an interesting photo.

85mm, f-stop/1.6, 1/20 sec., ISO 800

This photo is designed to capture the gloss and reflectivity of the detail. The background was blurred in Photoshop using the Gaussian Blur adjustment in the Filter pull down menu.

24-70mm lens @51mm, f/7.1, 1/25, ISO 100

These photos are designed to show off the wet look of the wax, as well as the gloss. They are taken at different angles.

24-70mm lens @ 25mm, f/7.1, 1/30 sec, ISO 100

The background in this Photo was overexposed, which was necessary to create a better exposure of the subject. Some compensation for the overexposure of the background was made in Photoshop, where the background blur was also added. The Bokeh in this photo (quality of the background blur) is not very good, there are still blown highlights (areas of overexposure), and the background is too busy, but I still like the picture of the car itself. A more sophisticated technique, not used here, where the background needs to be overexposed to properly expose the car, is to take two photos with different exposures and then merge them in Photoshop.

16-35mm lens @ 18mm, f/10, 1/20 sec, ISO 200

Using f/2.8 for this photo resulted in background blur. The Bokeh in the photo is good.

16-35 lens @ 16mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 200

This photo is taken at a low f stop, with the camera placed closer to the ground. It does not show off the detailing as well, because much of the car is blurred, but it creates an interesting effect and blurs the background. The Bokeh in this photo is very good, which is an attribute of the lens. Use of an 85mm lens also compressed the foreground and background. Compare the same house in the background across the street in the image that is three photos above taken at 25mm. Also, note that the car looks much longer in the two photos above, taken at 16mm and 18mm, than in the one below taken at 85mm.

85mm, f/1.2, 1/8000

Reflection shots are fun. Here is an example. For this photo, the camera is placed above the car. To get a good hood reflection shot, a ladder sometimes can come in handy.

24-70mm lens @ 40mm, f-stop/11, 1/40 sec., ISO 200

And do not forget to give the car a good detail before taking photos.

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