GearHead_1
10-22-2011, 08:04 PM
Let me start by saying these are my opinions alone, further I hope no one takes offense to this thread. I love to see threads with pictures. The befores and afters are really where the rubber hits the road on a detailing forum like AF.
I made this post in another thread and reread the post. It looked to be a bit harsh when posted in any one particular thread. I pulled the post and started this thread so that it didn`t come across as picking on any one individual`s work. I`ve stated this a number of times before (probably will again) and some are likely tired of hearing it, for others it may be a first. This is kind of a pet peeve of mine and admittedly, I probably feel more strongly about these issues than others. Some of you may not be feeling this post but I`ve spoken with others and know that they feel the same.
Here it is, taking ones "after shots" in the shade DO NOT demonstrate the quality and hard work put into detailing a vehicle. If the "afters" are taken in the shade no one can be sure what the finished product really looks like beyond being somewhat clean. I find this practice to be somewhat suspicious when it`s fairly apparent that it is a sunny day in the pictures. I always wonder what the poster is hiding.
I looked but could not find the thread. It`s been some time ago, we had a member of this forum demonstrate this very concept with a photo set he had taken. It may have been Charles (don`t hold me to that) that wrote it or maybe he was the one commenting in the thread. This thread showed a car that looked like a million bucks in the pictures but as it turned out the poster had yet to wash a fairly dirty vehicle. It goes to show that you can make a rather ordinary vehicle look pretty darn good, shooting shots down the side (length) of it or taking its picture in the shade.
This is a bit of a side bar but kind of goes with the thread. I sincerely believe that a thread with perhaps around 10 photos total is more than sufficient to show the quality in a detail. Show the highlights. I don`t believe every panel, crevice and wheel well needs to be viewed. In my opinion, some of our photo threads are rather lengthy. This is a situation where less can be more. I, for one, subscribe to many threads on this forum, most include pictures. When comments are made I go back and review the thread. Threads with many photos attached can take a long time to load and can become a bit much when viewed multiple times. Videos can be great when every aspect of the detail needs to be shown, go Garry Dean. This of course allows you to see the results once but read all related posts without loading the pictures over and again. I realize that not everyone has a video camera and there is a time and a place for both formats. Ultimately, I would like to see more photo threads with a reasonable number of pictures per thread.
In the end, I believe pictures to be a great thing for our forum. I also believe that if one is going to the spend the time to shoot a car do yourself a favor and show your work off by shooting the "afters" in the light where possible. Weather changes and clouds roll in, the sun goes down, this we understand but final pictures need to have some light on them in order to really show the quality in one`s work.
Now jumping down from my soapbox. Forgive me if it has gotten rather high in this post. ;)
I made this post in another thread and reread the post. It looked to be a bit harsh when posted in any one particular thread. I pulled the post and started this thread so that it didn`t come across as picking on any one individual`s work. I`ve stated this a number of times before (probably will again) and some are likely tired of hearing it, for others it may be a first. This is kind of a pet peeve of mine and admittedly, I probably feel more strongly about these issues than others. Some of you may not be feeling this post but I`ve spoken with others and know that they feel the same.
Here it is, taking ones "after shots" in the shade DO NOT demonstrate the quality and hard work put into detailing a vehicle. If the "afters" are taken in the shade no one can be sure what the finished product really looks like beyond being somewhat clean. I find this practice to be somewhat suspicious when it`s fairly apparent that it is a sunny day in the pictures. I always wonder what the poster is hiding.
I looked but could not find the thread. It`s been some time ago, we had a member of this forum demonstrate this very concept with a photo set he had taken. It may have been Charles (don`t hold me to that) that wrote it or maybe he was the one commenting in the thread. This thread showed a car that looked like a million bucks in the pictures but as it turned out the poster had yet to wash a fairly dirty vehicle. It goes to show that you can make a rather ordinary vehicle look pretty darn good, shooting shots down the side (length) of it or taking its picture in the shade.
This is a bit of a side bar but kind of goes with the thread. I sincerely believe that a thread with perhaps around 10 photos total is more than sufficient to show the quality in a detail. Show the highlights. I don`t believe every panel, crevice and wheel well needs to be viewed. In my opinion, some of our photo threads are rather lengthy. This is a situation where less can be more. I, for one, subscribe to many threads on this forum, most include pictures. When comments are made I go back and review the thread. Threads with many photos attached can take a long time to load and can become a bit much when viewed multiple times. Videos can be great when every aspect of the detail needs to be shown, go Garry Dean. This of course allows you to see the results once but read all related posts without loading the pictures over and again. I realize that not everyone has a video camera and there is a time and a place for both formats. Ultimately, I would like to see more photo threads with a reasonable number of pictures per thread.
In the end, I believe pictures to be a great thing for our forum. I also believe that if one is going to the spend the time to shoot a car do yourself a favor and show your work off by shooting the "afters" in the light where possible. Weather changes and clouds roll in, the sun goes down, this we understand but final pictures need to have some light on them in order to really show the quality in one`s work.
Now jumping down from my soapbox. Forgive me if it has gotten rather high in this post. ;)