Latest detailsâ„¢ v.10000th vehicle and '05 BMW X5 4.8 + coke explosion interior

Drop the exposure setting on your camera to prevent those washed out pics. For the interiors, try without the flash for a more natural looking shot.
 
my mom is looking at a new 4.4 or used 4.6. I cant imagine a 4.8 x5. That thing is just beautiful. How do you keep track of the number of cars you've done?
 
animes2k said:
As far as your exposure compensation when shooting black cars... Depends on what kind of camera you've got, but basically what you're seeing is the camera metering the exposure for the black car, as it's taking up most of the camera's metering area (the center of the frame). Obviously it's dark, and the camera tries to expose the metered area for 18% gray - to compensate for the darkness, it makes a longer/brighter exposure. There are a couple ways to get around this...

  1. if your camera has an "exposure lock" you can meter for the scene without the car in it (turn 30 degrees right or left, meter, move back with locked meter reading and press shutter)
  2. shoot in Manual mode - basically the same as above - get your camera to meter for the scene without the black car, then dial in those settings in Manual mode and shoot the car
  3. Exposure Compensation - if your camera has this, you can best-guess that the car is going to make the camera overexpose the shot by XX (looks like it's about 1-1.5 stops over) and tell the camera to underexpose by XX (in this case, 1-1.5 stops), thereby getting a correct exposure.



It all depends on the camera. Some pocket digitals you can get to lock an exposure (and focus, so be careful) by half-pressing the shutter release button. If it's an SLR, there are likely controls for all this.



Judging from the depth of field, it looks like you're using a SLR and judging by the color balance between images, I'm guessing daylight-balanced print film? I could be completely off :) You might look at a gray card to assist in getting proper exposures if you're shooting film... It can also be used to set a proper custom white balance if using digital.



Again, great work.. and 10,000!?! How do you keep track to know this is #10,000? Does that include cleaning your own vehicles? :)



Good info. This is my first automatic camera, my last one was full manual. Yes, 35mm SLR (Nikon N60) and I am using Kodak's High Definition Film. I have been adjusting the exposure to compensate for the dark subject but the range seems limited. I may end up going to manual mode and just shooting that way.
 
WX51 TXR said:
Wow. That X5 is stunning... you sir, are an inspiration. How long have you been detailing to achive 10,000 cars? That's a stunning amount!





I started part time in 1992, when full time in April 1994.



Craigster said:
Man, you must have arms like Popeye!



:nixweiss



BMW_me_buffing2.jpg




Rich-yes, it is metallic black.



rotaryb-had to use flash on the interior or the areas in the shadows would have come out too dark.



Beason-I've kept a running total of the number of cars I've cleaned.
 
Nice work scott, I really like the vanilla moose. I currently have the ex sealant w/ carnuba, how much different is that than the ex-p. How does the ex-p hold up?
 
Congrats on your 10,000th car and great work on all the details. Acrylic Jett is reall showin off on the Escalade and your car looks very amazing. I really like the X5 too.
 
They all look super-dee-dooper...as usual!



I'm going to also recommend DPPSSPS - for white and dark colors. Now I'm not one to really go into great detail about an LSP because, frankly, there cannot be too much of a difference when the vehicle's paint comes together in the PREP step. But it reminds me of a thicker (applying) version of Wolfgang, but not as "salad oily." So in the look, it's like UPP. Makes the white quite wet, is reasonably durable (3 months on a heavily "weathered" vehicle), has no bonding issues to my knowledge, and also looks very deep and wet on a dark color.



The 4.8...with CHROME wheels is very bling!
 
Scott - what lens are you using? 50/1.8? I noticed that you've got some seriously shallow depth of field in some shots, so it would appear that you're shooting relatively wide-open. Unless that's what you're going for, you might try stopping down the lens a bit. This will certainly do more than exposure compensation (of course, you'll have to be in manual mode or the camera will adjust the exposure length to compensate).



Depending on focal length, I'd say these shots would probably do well in manual mode from around f/8-f/11, then adjust shutter speed to get a proper exposure (minus dark car), then point at the car and ignore the camera telling you that it's underexposed. Hand-held, you should be able to get a shake-free shot at 1/125th or faster.



With digital, you want to expose for the highlights (shadow detail can be recovered, highlights blow out completely), but with print film you want to exposure for the shadows (highlight detail can be recovered, shadow detail tends to block up) - so don't underexpose TOO much. :)
 
WOW 10,000 vehicles detailed :buffing: nice pics on the X5. I have a regular customer with an X5 and I think I'll try some RMG on it next time. Great work Scott.
 
Gosh Scottwax , so you've made at least $600,000 doing details at an approx averaged out price of $60 per car .

You are da man !!
 
1 Clean WS6 said:
This photo alone would explain why you have 10K details under your belt!!!



CONGRATS Scott that is a milestone to be proud of!!!! :woot:



Thanks Mike! Means a lot coming from a fellow pro. Just FYI, black paint with clouds reflected in it make for a great website shot. Even better if you can see some blue sky too. :)



foxbody-EX-P isn't as deep and rich as EX w/carnauba but it is wetter and more reflective. I go with EX on pure black and EX-P on metallic black. Decent durability, at least 3 months on vehicles maintained with weekly QEW washes.



pigeonbus-definitely in agreement on DP's Sealant with a really long name. ;) Very much reminds me of UPP, although I think it has better depth (somewhat) on black paint. Stays slick for a while too. If the durability is as promised (3-4 months), I can see myself ordering it in a larger size next time.



animes2k-I am using a 28-80 zoom lens. I tend to shoot on the 'speed' setting since I can stop down and get better depth of field. The problem is in that mode, it uses center-weighted metering instead of matrix metering and to correct that, I have to up it 2-3 stops which kind of defeats the purpose. I'm going to start taking multiple shots of the same dark vehicle in bright sun and see which mode gets me the best exposure...or I am simply going to start shooting in manual mode. Like I said earlier, this is my first automatic camera and while that is nice for general picture taking, I want my work pics at a higher level.



papi_jay-Hmmm-I think that bit of information I will keep to myself. Lets just say I make about double what I made as a restaurant manager, work less hours, no more nights and I am a lot happier. :)



Everyone else-thank-you for your kind words. :)
 
Fantastic work as always!!!!!



Congrats on reaching 10000 cars.



The X5 isn't carbon black is it? I will work on a brand new carbon black X4 thursday. :up :up :up :up
 
Scott,



Congrats on the 10,000 cars! :2thumbs: :waxing: :bow :bounce



All your details look so good, and even when you did not have any power, your by hand skills still shine through!



Keep up the ultra steller work Scott!!!



Cheers,
 
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