Scott, I noticed you've been using 106 a lot lately. WOuld you say it is worth the price for the finishing ability on soft german clears? It sounds (and looks) like it leaves a real wet finish, but how is it at correcting micromarring? ALso, I was just doing some reasearch and came across the big green german spefic pads from properautocare. Have you ever used these? The idea is interesting, but I wonder if they actually work.
Mercedes SL500, C6 Corvette, my car, why you should focus on prep, not LSP
- Thread starter Scottwax
- Start date
eric77 said:
106FF does a great job on marring left by compounds, leaves the finish really clear looking. Adding in about 30% Clearkote's RMG cuts down on the dusting and adds serious depth to the clarity of 106. It does an amazing job after Optimum Polish on the black Cayenne I take care of-weird paint, not all that easy to remove swirls but as soon as you get even a little aggressive, marring and hazing galore!
Never even heard of any green German pads but I'd like to know more.
Scottwax said:
THe info on the "german pads" can be found here. http://properautocare.com/grgipopadfor.html I just picked up menzerna FPII and I will be trying that this weekend on another m5 and m3 (im sensing a pattern lol). If that doesnt give me the results I want i think I will be ordering 106 and those german pads too.
Scott, I thought those pics were great. I agree with you that shine, reflection and depth are fuctions of prep. I really how good your wax or sealant is without good finishing polish like Menzerna final polish 2 or optimum polish it will not..not have those fundamental qualities to highest degrees possible. I'm tired of trying different products when in actuallity it is all about prep. Therefore, I stay with Optimum polish or Menzerna final polish to create a true wetness, depth and reflection. I seal wiith FMJ/SG 50/50 mix to create a stunning finish. Scott, I've found that Festool 150 polisher outperforms porter-cable DA by far. This is the machine I depend on to give me result quickly without using Makita rotary polisher. This machine will save you so much time that you would wish you had invested in sooner. Keep up the good work!
Scottwax said:
Ah, I think you are just pulling our leg. Most all your photo’s are overexposed!!! I believe you have the talent to decide if your picture is going to come out overexposed or not. After all you did take photography in collage? I don’t blame you at all and I have done the same. Overexposed photo’s does give more depth, wetness and shine then reality. IMO anyway having the opportunity to decide what looks best in my advertising, I would pick overexposed any day. I don’t believe anyone can tell the difference (Wax or polish used) especially 5 feet away, in a overexposed photo!!!
imported_Picus
New member
Not to turn this into a camera/photography debate - but I use some pretty expensive equipment that I borrow from my wife to take customer car pictures, and even so metering can be very difficult when you're trying to get a combination of the following:
Pictures of a dark, reflective subject
...with the sun shining directly on it
....on a light background
.....with no sun shade or polarizing filter
and in Scott's case he's using film, so unlike a lot of us he can't just take 200 pictures of each car then go through them later.
I'll sometimes take 100-200 shots of a black car, and if it's in the sun and reflecting a lot of light on a light colored driveway, even with a sunshade, polarizer, and spot metering, I will still get over exposure in some areas of the shot. In the case of an N60, with only EV 1-20 at ISO100 (and only +/-3), I can certainly understand some over-exposure.
Cheers.
edit - here's a good example. http://gtaindetail.com/pics/03g35041606/photo6.jpg I probably took 50 of that same shot and came away with 1 or 2 usable shots. The ground is still somewhat overexposed and there is noise on the hood, because I was using a sunshade with a higher ISO to eliminate the over exposure.
Pictures of a dark, reflective subject
...with the sun shining directly on it
....on a light background
.....with no sun shade or polarizing filter
and in Scott's case he's using film, so unlike a lot of us he can't just take 200 pictures of each car then go through them later.
I'll sometimes take 100-200 shots of a black car, and if it's in the sun and reflecting a lot of light on a light colored driveway, even with a sunshade, polarizer, and spot metering, I will still get over exposure in some areas of the shot. In the case of an N60, with only EV 1-20 at ISO100 (and only +/-3), I can certainly understand some over-exposure.
Cheers.
edit - here's a good example. http://gtaindetail.com/pics/03g35041606/photo6.jpg I probably took 50 of that same shot and came away with 1 or 2 usable shots. The ground is still somewhat overexposed and there is noise on the hood, because I was using a sunshade with a higher ISO to eliminate the over exposure.
klnyc
Deep scratch guy.
Wow Scott, that trunk its Bio Hazadrious. :nervous2:
doged said:
doged-I had no idea you also have ESP and can know what other's think.
I took photography in college but did all my own developing and printing. When using the enlarger, I was able to compensate for any exposure problems. I can't do that when someone else processes my film. Regardless of what you seem to think, overexposure makes the picture look worse IMO. It also kills the reflections and gloss when it happens on light colored cars, really frustrating. Why would I intentionally overexpose a picture of a white car if it ruins the gloss and reflectivity that you see in person? Take that white Ford GT I did a couple weeks ago. Under the artificial lighting in his warehouse, the finish looked really wet. Pulled it outside, natural lighting and in the pictures, the white paint seems to have no gloss or shine. Do you honestly think if I was manipulating exposure for better looking pics, I would have corrected that if I could? Or maybe you have another agenda?
Scottwax said:doged-I had no idea you also have ESP and can know what other's think.
I took photography in college but did all my own developing and printing. When using the enlarger, I was able to compensate for any exposure problems. I can't do that when someone else processes my film. Regardless of what you seem to think, overexposure makes the picture look worse IMO. It also kills the reflections and gloss when it happens on light colored cars, really frustrating. Why would I intentionally overexpose a picture of a white car if it ruins the gloss and reflectivity that you see in person? Take that white Ford GT I did a couple weeks ago. Under the artificial lighting in his warehouse, the finish looked really wet. Pulled it outside, natural lighting and in the pictures, the white paint seems to have no gloss or shine. Do you honestly think if I was manipulating exposure for better looking pics, I would have corrected that if I could? Or maybe you have another agenda?
I believe your photo’s are professional quality and “I� have no agenda!!! I was only expressing my opinion and those of professional photographers who I have used.. IMO overexposed photo’s are the only way to advertise. Please, I didn’t intend to ruffle any feathers. I would imagine you have many sources as a professional photographer too who develop’s your film. Sorry, I didn’t think that overexposing a photo and how it makes the car pop was such a secret!!!
doged said:
I am saying that intentionally playing with the exposure for the intent to improve how a car looks isn't honest. Black cars can look a lot better if the background is overexposed so I personally try to shoot shots of black cars (when possible) without a very light background for that reason. My goal is for my pictures to always be a true representation of my work, not an exaggeration of it.
1 Clean WS6
Detailing Rottweiler
Scott you need to face the fact that you can't detail worth a lick and must rely on devious photograpy methods to enhance your work.
Excellent work as always Scott. :cooleek:
Excellent work as always Scott. :cooleek:
dneedsmuscles
New member
Scottwax said:
Perfectly put Scott.....Why would someone argue with you about how overexposed your pics are when they can sift through your pics of your customers (return customers I'm sure) cars and see that high-end people demand your professional skills regardless of how well you take photos. It's not like all of your clients see your photos first then want your service(s). I'm sure most of your business is word of mouth/repeat anyways....and not based on the setting of your camera or who developes your film. Awesome work Scott and I'm sure the cars look even better in person. Thank you for all your postings/threads and your willingness to share your techniques and abilities. :bigups
dneedsmuscles said:
Many professional detailers have many high end clients.
I don’t believe dishonesty exist unless we misinform, this car looks like this because I use xyz product...... A person who is familiar with a camera knows how to take overexposed shots. It could be a manipulation of lighting and not the camera / film. Scootwax, I like your procedure of taking a regular shot of the interior dirty then a overexposed shot when clean. I’m going to try that myself and thanks for the tip!!!
klnyc
Deep scratch guy.
Wow you 2 still going at it :grinno: