GearHead_1
Long Time Member
I decided to start this thread because I made this post in a thread where someone had taken before and after pictures of their work. Once I re-read my post I decided that it sounded way to critical to make this comment in a members thread displaying their hard work. The car they had taken pictures of looked very nice. Basically this is a cut and paste of the response I made to some before and after pictures. I would be interested to hear others opinions regarding this topic.
I'm going to make a comment/suggestion and I mean no offense by it. As everyone knows pictures don't always tell the whole story. Pictures taken in the shade with a light source in the back ground don't really show the quality of one's work. It's very easy to take a shot under those circumstances and make a car look good when it's not very good. I'm sure this car really does look good and I'm not suggesting your work is anything but great.
There was a guy on one of the forums a number of years back that made this comment and I thought he was nuts. We all like before and after pictures but he was making the case that pictures are worthless (they're not worthless and most of us know that). He took some pictures of a car and the car looked pretty nice. He then pulled the car into the sunlight untouched and took some pictures to show that the car that was obviously well maintained but had been through a recent rain, water spots and all. It was almost unbelievable to me to think I was looking at the same car.
I learned something that day and now wonder every time I see follow up pictures taken in this manner. This is particularly true on white/light cars. I have two of them myself and I know I can do this with a camera, it's almost like cheating. I think about this often and laugh to myself as I walk down the side of my truck parked in the garage. It looks pretty good but I know it hasn't been cleaned up in 10 days.
As we take before and after pictures I think it is our nature in the before pictures to show every flaw that exists under bright light. Then when it's time for the after pictures we portray the car in the manner that makes it look best. Sometimes moving the camera's perspective only 10 degrees can make swirls totally disappear. If you really want to show your work off take the pictures in the sun light. This can be a challenge especially when you have a car that has taken all day long and the sun is setting but try to get the bulk of your after shots out of the shade and with some natural light on it. Just my 2 cents.
I'm going to make a comment/suggestion and I mean no offense by it. As everyone knows pictures don't always tell the whole story. Pictures taken in the shade with a light source in the back ground don't really show the quality of one's work. It's very easy to take a shot under those circumstances and make a car look good when it's not very good. I'm sure this car really does look good and I'm not suggesting your work is anything but great.
There was a guy on one of the forums a number of years back that made this comment and I thought he was nuts. We all like before and after pictures but he was making the case that pictures are worthless (they're not worthless and most of us know that). He took some pictures of a car and the car looked pretty nice. He then pulled the car into the sunlight untouched and took some pictures to show that the car that was obviously well maintained but had been through a recent rain, water spots and all. It was almost unbelievable to me to think I was looking at the same car.
I learned something that day and now wonder every time I see follow up pictures taken in this manner. This is particularly true on white/light cars. I have two of them myself and I know I can do this with a camera, it's almost like cheating. I think about this often and laugh to myself as I walk down the side of my truck parked in the garage. It looks pretty good but I know it hasn't been cleaned up in 10 days.
As we take before and after pictures I think it is our nature in the before pictures to show every flaw that exists under bright light. Then when it's time for the after pictures we portray the car in the manner that makes it look best. Sometimes moving the camera's perspective only 10 degrees can make swirls totally disappear. If you really want to show your work off take the pictures in the sun light. This can be a challenge especially when you have a car that has taken all day long and the sun is setting but try to get the bulk of your after shots out of the shade and with some natural light on it. Just my 2 cents.
...once something like that is clean you can see the difference...that's dramatic IMO
) so I'll use one of my details, a Toyota Highlander. If I remember correctly the customer was pressed for time and mainly wanted the rotary holograms removed. So it wasn't a concourse detail for perfection, just a quick polish and seal. The holograms were removed and the customer got the results they wanted during their available time. Naturally I would have liked to have done a full job but sometimes thats not always possible.
