My bike only has a couple "good" sides. - Ducati.ms

TiltTheHorizon · Mar 29th, 2010, 10:31 am

So I rode around on Sunday, and realized that I can't really find any other angle of the bike that looks good, other than the right side, or from the back 1/4. Here's a few examples:

Any suggestions?

mantis_nyc · Mar 29th, 2010, 11:21 am

[QUOTE=Any suggestions?[/QUOTE]

Yes, give it to me.

Seriously, love that bike, she looks great from every angle.

corks67 · Mar 29th, 2010, 11:24 am

in front of white fence is darn good photo

Bill_Anderson · Mar 30th, 2010, 12:41 am

Shooting your bike presents the same problems I face taking photos of our local bald eagles. The details on a large, dark, flat toned object such as your bike or one of my local eagles do not "jump out" to create an interesting photo.

Try taking some shots early in the morning from the same angle as photo #3 with the sun behind you. Place the bike against a light colored, uncluttered background, such as a concrete wall. The low sun shining broadside on the bike should give you the best "shot" at bringing out the details for a good photo. Just make sure your shadow is not in the photo and your reflection is not on the bike's tank.

If you have a digital SLR camera, play with the manual settings (aperature, shutter speed, ISO) to slighlty over expose the shot. This is the same technique I use with the eagles to bring out the feathers of their bodies, which would otherwise appear as large, dark masses with no details.

Photos #1 & 2: the sky is a nice deep blue, but the undersides of the eagles are an amorphous black.
Photos #3 & 4: over exposure washes out the sky, but look at the feather details now visible on the eagles' undersides.

Bly · Mar 30th, 2010, 2:46 am

From the back, down low is the best angle imho.

TiltTheHorizon · Mar 30th, 2010, 6:42 am

Thanks Bill.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my ass out of bed for a normal early shoot. Well... I was, but wasted a bunch of it eating breakfast and staring at the beach.

I'll see if I can't find a nice "plain" background next time. I normally try and keep things simple, but I guess I went a little overboard this time.

I could head downtown and maybe find an ally or building facade to shoot in front of.

Oh, and if anyone has ideas for specific angles, I'd appreciate it.

**John** · Apr 1st, 2010, 3:37 am

Your right about good sides and bad sides of a motorcycle, they are just like people in that sense. I've always contended my 916 had a good side for picture purposes while the bad side was something you wanted to avoid. I recognized this but many others do not, they shoot away at their bike in the case of advertising it for sale and are hurting their chances of showing the bike in its best pose. I can demonstrate exactly what I mean by either changing the position of the bike or changing the angle of the photograph. The bike can look fantastic, or it can look bulky and dated. I wish I had a 916 still so I could do a show and tell.

silent-chris · Apr 1st, 2010, 7:09 pm

NICE!!!! i really like the last 2

JackFlash · Apr 24th, 2010, 2:48 pm

Nice photos but if you are concerned about the lose of detail, which you suffered on a couple of the shots, try getting closer and using a wider angle lens if you want surrounding. The problem with including a lot of surrounding scenery with an all black bike it that it floods you sensor with light and causes an underexposure in the center of the bike. The key here is fill flash, learn it, love it, it will vastly inprove the type of photos you are showng in this post.

tahoest2 · Apr 24th, 2010, 10:07 pm

Are you able to shoot at f 2.8 to get a shallow depth of field? That would help eliminate some of the background and focus on the bike. Try getting on the ground looking up, from up looking down. Tilting the camera a bit. Also, lighting is key. Find something unique. Sunset/rise, some odd yellow street lamps.