Tips on picture taking

[Aleromod Owners]

Okay. There has been a lot of questions going into Redog's PM box about "why my pics never get voted on" There are some ways to increase the chances of your car being AOTM, with some tips and tricks to take a better pic of your car.

The theme: Try to stick to the theme of the month. Don't try to be suttle about the picture. An example would be for "Best Fall Scene" don't take a picture of the car parked on the street and have 3 leaves on top of it. Go to a park where there is a lot of fall colors.

Shadows & lighting: Nighttime pics can set a mood, Bright sunlight is always good. However you always want to take the pics in the best lighting possible. Lighting can cast unwanted shadows on your car and create poor lighting for your scene. Also, you want to try to have the shadows casted behind the object. You can take a picture of the car with the sunlight behind it, the shadow of the car is in your picture. Might be a good shot of the car, and the car looks great, but a huge shadow between the camera and the car it's not pretty.

Angles: These are cars, not a bride at a wedding. A car will never cry, say you made it look fat, so say "You got my bad side" or, get mad and say it's a bad picture. Be creative and have fun

Other cars: It is always ALERO of the month. Let's try to take a picture of the car and not have any other cars in the shot. Move your car from in front of your house. Go to the empty side of the parking lot. Dead end streets usually make for a nice clean shoot. And middle of road pictures always look good, but choose a road that has no traffic. We don't need to have guys getting tickets or their car hit, just for a picture

Setting: Stripes in a parking lot, Dumpster in the backround, Parked in a trash filled parking lot. Not really a good backdrop for your picture. Pick a clean location and/or a location that doesn't ruin your flow

Get the entire car in the shot: This isn't hard. Get your entire car in the shot. Unless you are setting up some kind of location type pic (like the beach and just the side of your car for example) I've seen pics on here and all over the net where the front of the car is cut off, back of the car is cut off, or just getting a pic of the wheelbase. Pictures like that, they are just not going to cut it.

Use of models: this is kinda a moot point. We haven't had one go up like this, but we would welcome it. Female models would require at least a full coverage 2 piece swimsuit (no thongs, pasties, etc string sides are okay as long as it's a full coverage front and back, again this is bare min) and no obscene poses as per our rules. Male Models, if you choose to use them, must be clothed decently as well. Just think of it this way: If you wouldn't let your mother see it, don't post it up here.



Okay guys, get working

[sleepyalero]

All in all, take good CLEAR pictures. Not half assed pictures on your 2mp phone camera, if you have an iphone, USE IT! They take awesome pictures for a phone, so do other newer smart phones.

Get a real camera! The results are fantastic.

Dont take pictures in the dark with your headlights on, let alone in the dark at all. We cant make out your picture in the first place. On top of that the headlight glare the camera pics up just makes it worse.

Take your time into photos, learn good angles for the car, pictures in direct sunlight suck almost always, find a good time of day to get pictures, or on a very cloudy day a great picture can happen at any time.

Find unique things to park in front of to snap a picture of the vehicle, adding a cool background makes the photos that much cooler to look at.



Hate to say it but ive seen so many photos where people just are to lazy at comitting into a good photo, its like that go outside, take a quick picture and submit it, sorry a side shot of your car parked in the driveway is not a vote in my book. The picture has to make the car look good and aggressive, while also having s good scenery around the car.

[tw0123]

It took me about 2 years of submitting pictures before someone other than myself voted for one of my pictures.... I'd watch what would win and take that into consideration next year and looked through the archives of winners and took those ideas into my pictures as well....
as for the appearance of your car, it doesn't have to be highly modified to win, a clean stock alero with the right background can be perfect...

[AbHeLlRaZoR]

My suggestion is taking multiple photos. Go out burn an hour, an afternoon, a day. Go to different locations try them out, sure a corn field or wheat field might not seem too appealing to someone who sees them every day but to someone who's stuck in suburbia or a city it's different than the concrete jungle they're used to so it's possible they may appreciate it more. I used living 2 hours away from the mountains to my advantage knowing most members on here live far away from the Rockies.

[aleros_eat_rice]

I've been taking mine with my phone. I was thinking about getting a camera, not like they're that expensive anymore.

I know I usually don't get votes, and the others that post do have better picture quality. I'm not complaining,I just like hanging out here and interacting with everyone.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by aleros_eat_rice

I've been taking mine with my phone. I was thinking about getting a camera, not like they're that expensive anymore.

I know I usually don't get votes, and the others that post do have better picture quality. I'm not complaining,I just like hanging out here and interacting with everyone.

Get a camera, dedicate 45 minutes to 2 hours for it, MAKE THE CAR LOOK GOOD and of course visual mods always help. Notice the ones that win either look showroom condition new or have mods that make the car more appealing. Bad paint, brake dusted wheels, scratches and dents, all that takes away from the car. The lighting makes it or breaks it too. My paint on my 94 Cutlass isn't in the best shape, but depending on the angle and light conditions, you wouldn't tell how bad it really is.

I've found the best lightning is around 2 hours before sunset. My favorite time to take pics is when the sun is near the horizon. Depending on the angle and the camera' setting you can make nice pictures in those conditions. Also, photoshop does wonders as far as fixing color balance. If your camera takes good pictures but the colors aren't spectacular, don't be afraid to edit them to make them better. Phone pics usually get washed out and sometimes messing with color settings will make them sharper.

[Redog]

I majored in photography in college and it's not easy taking photos of people. Eyes blink, slight moves, wrong lighting just ruins a picture, but with a car, you set it up, and it doesn't move.

My AOTM pic was shot while I on vacation in November. I dropped my son off at school and he's only in school for 2.5 hours so I wasn't going home between drop off and pick up. I did that pic on a whim after about 1.25 hours of shooting and driving to a different location in a park by his school (same place where older Aleromodders might remember the one calender pic and AOTM pic was taken back in 2005/2006 timeframe on the boat ramp. Tried the same boatramp and it just didn't come out that time.

Plus I took the Commonwealth required photos of the car to change title status of the car to "Classic" and they just started allowing Classic tags to be personlized in Pennsylvania (but it's an extra $100 on top of the $125 fee to do it. used to be $97.50 )

[That01Olds]

^ You can register a car as classic at only 15 years old in Pennsylvania and they let you personalize the tags too? That's pretty cool.

In Tennessee the car has to be 25+ years old to be registered as an antique auto and they don't let you personalize the plate. The fee for ours is a lot cheaper though. It's only $27.75 to have it done.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by That01Olds

^ You can register a car as classic at only 15 years old in Pennsylvania and they let you personalize the tags too? That's pretty cool.

In Tennessee the car has to be 25+ years old to be registered as an antique auto and they don't let you personalize the plate. The fee for ours is a lot cheaper though. It's only $27.75 to have it done.

They just started the presonlization in September 2014. I thik they have been getting pressered by people in the SE part of the state to allow it. New Jersey has what's called a "QQ" plate. All Antique plates in New Jersey start with the letters "QQ" and the car must be 20 years old. Pennsylvania has a two tiered system for this. "C" which is Classic and must be at least 15 years old and only gets saftey inspection every year, and "A" (25 years and older) which is antique does not require inspection at all. However Antique cars can only be driven from sunup to sundown. Both are limited to 5,000 miles a year.

If it wasn't for personalization, I would be transfering my old Delta's Classic Tag to the Alero. Classic Tags used to be a white plate with purple letters, and Antique is a purpule plate with white letters. Now the Antique plates look like regular plates with only 2 letters and 2 numbers and have a picture of an old car on it. The Classic tags are effing retarded. They have the same like regular issue plates but a box on the left side of the plate saids "PA CLASSIC VECH" and start with "C" and have 5 numbers, but at least you can personalize them.

Used to be $97.50, now it's $75, plus $50 title change fee, and an extra $100 for personlization, and it never expires

Standard personlizied plates were $20, now $76, and this is only a one time fee

They started a "Vintage" plate program now. If you have an expired plate, from the same year as the car, you can pay $75and have that be your plate. Only good for cars upto 1976 though. I guess they don't want to bring up the bad memories of the "You've got a friend" poor English stuff from the mid 1980's


See, UGLY!!

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by Redog

Standard personlizied plates were $20, now $76, and this is only a one time fee

They started a "Vintage" plate program now. If you have an expired plate, from the same year as the car, you can pay $75and have that be your plate. Only good for cars upto 1976 though. I guess they don't want to bring up the bad memories of the "You've got a friend" poor English stuff from the mid 1980's


See, UGLY!!

That's not bad.... Your neighbors to the south have to pay yearly for vanity plates.

As far as the vintage tag, that's interesting. In VA and MD, you can only do vintage tags if the car had the year stamped on the license plate. Unfortunately, that stops the year of availability to 72-75. The law is usually written to allow bicentennial plates to be ran again, hence the 76.

I don't think they'll ever allow the sticker renewed tags to be reintroduced.

Too bad you can't get period correct license plate combinations, or in other words, activate a dormant series from a run in the year your car was built. For example, in Virginia, the license plates go backwards and if your car was bought in 96, you would get a license plate that started with a Z (as in Zxx-0000). DC would have been finishing off their 6 digit number plates and MD would have been somewhere in the Pxx-000 area.

And I'd take your classic PA tag over this fruity trash below this sentence any day.

[That01Olds]

Originally Posted by Redog

They just started the presonlization in September 2014. I thik they have been getting pressered by people in the SE part of the state to allow it. New Jersey has what's called a "QQ" plate. All Antique plates in New Jersey start with the letters "QQ" and the car must be 20 years old. Pennsylvania has a two tiered system for this. "C" which is Classic and must be at least 15 years old and only gets saftey inspection every year, and "A" (25 years and older) which is antique does not require inspection at all. However Antique cars can only be driven from sunup to sundown. Both are limited to 5,000 miles a year.

If it wasn't for personalization, I would be transfering my old Delta's Classic Tag to the Alero. Classic Tags used to be a white plate with purple letters, and Antique is a purpule plate with white letters. Now the Antique plates look like regular plates with only 2 letters and 2 numbers and have a picture of an old car on it. The Classic tags are effing retarded. They have the same like regular issue plates but a box on the left side of the plate saids "PA CLASSIC VECH" and start with "C" and have 5 numbers, but at least you can personalize them.

Used to be $97.50, now it's $75, plus $50 title change fee, and an extra $100 for personlization, and it never expires

Standard personlizied plates were $20, now $76, and this is only a one time fee

They started a "Vintage" plate program now. If you have an expired plate, from the same year as the car, you can pay $75and have that be your plate. Only good for cars upto 1976 though. I guess they don't want to bring up the bad memories of the "You've got a friend" poor English stuff from the mid 1980's


See, UGLY!!

Yeah we don't have the classic and antique system like you guys do there. It's just antique auto and our rules are a little more strict here than they are there. The engine and body can't have been modified and you're only allowed to drive the vehicle on Saturday and Sunday or to things like club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, and car shows. The antique plates don't expire here too and we don't have a statewide inspection in Tennessee so we don't have to worry about that either.

If I remember correctly I think I've seen pics of the classic tag you're talking about from the Delta and I'd have to agree that compared to that the new one is ugly. It's not a bad design at all for your standard plates, but I definitely understand why you would want some a little more different than that for a classic vehicle plate.

That's a pretty big change in the price for a standard personalized plate though. Even if it is a one time fee. Granted ours isn't that much better and it's an annual fee as opposed to the one time fee. In Tennessee it's $56.50 a year for a personalized plate. In addition to any other fees your county of residence may have. Plus there is a one time $35 application fee as well.

Ah the old You've got a friend in Pennsylvania license plates. Yeah they probably don't want to bring back the memories from those days lol. Almost as bad as the old Kentucky it's that friendly license plates from the early 2000's. Although those were still worse lol.

Nas I've seen a couple of those new Virginia plates driving around post and I must say I like the old Jamestown anniversary ones they used to issue a lot better.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by That01Olds

Ah the old You've got a friend in Pennsylvania license plates. Yeah they probably don't want to bring back the memories from those days lol. Almost as bad as the old Kentucky it's that friendly license plates from the early 2000's. Although those were still worse lol.

Nas I've seen a couple of those new Virginia plates driving around post and I must say I like the old Jamestown anniversary ones they used to issue a lot better.

Ahh yeah, the one with the sun. The design itself wasn't as bad colorwise, but that sun really killed it. Of course having bright colors like that probably clashes with some cars (EG: murdered out cars).

I liked those too. The funny thing is that now more people are getting the optional plates and the series progression for the new issue is slower than usual... almost makes you wonder why. I'm also noticing they're issuing them out of order. I've seen the series jump from VCS-XXXX to VEG-XXXX. I have only seen one VDx-XXXX issues, towards the start of that run. I really hope they take the message off at the end of the VZZ-XXXX run. Virginia has a weird thing going on with their plates... they're all over the place serial wise. It jumped from the low Xxx to the Jxx series, stopped midway K to go back to X and stopped in the middle of the W series run to start the stupid va is for lovers Vxx run.

[Redog]

I saw one of those Heart VA plates today to the way to work. Also it was some punk ricer in a Civic Si cruising around trying to look tough, but scared that he's in Philly. HAHA in my neighborhood too. The only thing city about where I live is the ZIP code

They are skipping numbers here as well. I remember when we had 6 numbers/letters on the plates. Then they started crying that they were running out of combos and had to go to the 7 space plates like they have now.

In 1988, the first 3 letters of my parents car was TEK, and it wasn't until 1993 they had to go to AAA. They were 1/4 way thru Cxx and they went right to Dxx with the new plates and reissued everything in PA with the new style plates. It was done by ZIP code. Even number ZIP codes got their plates first, The odds got theirs last. This was in 2000, but that's also when I bought the Alero. I lived in an even ZIP code, but I went personalized anyway.

Right now they are almost done Jxx, Just waiting to see the Kxx plates which should be anyday now because it's a new year.

I have had every plate since the reissue too.

ex's 95 Accent was a D
ex's 02 Cavailer was an E
my 93 cavalier Wagon was an F
My first 85 Delta was a G
My 2nd 85 Delta was an H
My Volvo is a J

There was no I plates issued, and the first wife's cars, yeah I paid for both of them anyway, so...

[That01Olds]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Ahh yeah, the one with the sun. The design itself wasn't as bad colorwise, but that sun really killed it. Of course having bright colors like that probably clashes with some cars (EG: murdered out cars).

I liked those too. The funny thing is that now more people are getting the optional plates and the series progression for the new issue is slower than usual... almost makes you wonder why. I'm also noticing they're issuing them out of order. I've seen the series jump from VCS-XXXX to VEG-XXXX. I have only seen one VDx-XXXX issues, towards the start of that run. I really hope they take the message off at the end of the VZZ-XXXX run. Virginia has a weird thing going on with their plates... they're all over the place serial wise. It jumped from the low Xxx to the Jxx series, stopped midway K to go back to X and stopped in the middle of the W series run to start the stupid va is for lovers Vxx run.

Yeah I agree that the design itself wasn't bad, but like you said the sun really killed it. So much so that I remember seeing on CNN back in 2004 that it was the most hated license plate in the country. A year later Kentucky replaced the "It's that friendly" plates with the current "Unbridled Spirit" ones. We actually had a similar design on the plates here in Tennessee from 2000-2006. However they took a much more simpler approach with ours as you can tell from the pic below. In my opinion this design looked way better than the one Kentucky tried to pull off with theirs.

That is funny that more people are going for the optional plates now instead of the standard ones, but when you look at the new ones you can definitely understand why. I know I would go for an optional plate over those. The numbering system for our license plates has changed twice since I've lived here, but its still always gone in order from where they started issuing a certain format and hasn't jumped around like it has there.

For example with the old plates pictured below they used a AAA-000 format, but when they started issuing the new plates in 2006 they changed to a 000-AAA format. Then when they ran out of the plates with that format they swapped over to the current format, which is A00 00A. The only other thing that changed with this last format swap was the addition of the state tourism website (www.tnvacation.com) at the bottom of our plates right above the county sticker.

[number53alero]

KY used to have emissions inspections about 10 years ago now but thank God they ended that nonsense! They determined it was a HUGE waste of money and didn't make any real difference in preventing pollution.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/678.asp

[Redog]

I don't mind inspection. The emissions are 2nd to California around all major cities in PA, because that's where the most cars are. Makes sense.

When I bought this Delta, it missed the cutoff for no more emssions by 2 years. Cars 1975 and newer need emssions, but back in 2011 cars/trucks 1975-1983 only got a visual emissions inspection. Emissions for anything 1995 and down it a royal PIA too. Car gets the tailpipe sniffer and has to be run on a dyno at 15 MPH for 3 cycles of 45 seconds each. Very few stations have this equipment anymore. 1996 and up (OBDII) just get pluged into the Commonwealth's computer to find any codes. Drive in with an SES light on in any car, Automatic fail.

Classic, Vintage, and Antique, you pay reg only once, however it's 3 times the amount of a regular car. Basicly, have the car more than 3 years with a classic, vintage or Antique tags, it pays for itself. However these cars are limited to 5,000 miles a year. Go over 5,000 miles, full emissions, which older cars will most likely fail.

Any car driven less than 5000 a year is exempt from emissions, however, drive less than 5,000 miles 2 years in a row, the 2nd year, full emissions.

I only put 3,100 miles on the Alero last year. It was exempt, however if I don't go classic tags, it will be full emissions this year. I know the car will pass with flying colors. Thats not why I'm doing the classics on it. The Delta, well the 307 is the 2nd worst emissions engine out there. The SB 305 was the worst. Plus the car had hot inspection stickers on it anyway when I bought it.

New Jersey is totally different. No saftey inspection, no emissions. Their inspection is: all lights work, and does the car stop between point A and point B. Weight isn't even a factor in there either. Car could be metal to metal brakes, but if it stops within so many feet, pass. My gf's car will now pass a PA inspection with flying colors, before I worked on it, it would squeak by.

IDK what NY laws are, but my first Delta came from Long Island. Needed $800 in repairs and still failed emissions.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by Redog

I don't mind inspection. The emissions are 2nd to California around all major cities in PA, because that's where the most cars are. Makes sense.

Yeah, I more or less feel the same. Inspection is whatever, usually they never check anything past basic functions. MD is more rigorous, but they only check it once so it's fair game. However the emissions crap is annoying to me. The way VA does it is stupid. Virginia has 3 metro areas... DC metro (shared with MD), Hampton Roads Metro area, and Richmond Metro area. Only the DC metro area has to do emissions testing. I guess it can be argued that it's because it's close to DC but Hampton Roads is the other economic base in VA, similar to how MD has Baltimore.

Originally Posted by Redog

When I bought this Delta, it missed the cutoff for no more emssions by 2 years. Cars 1975 and newer need emssions, but back in 2011 cars/trucks 1975-1983 only got a visual emissions inspection. Emissions for anything 1995 and down it a royal PIA too. Car gets the tailpipe sniffer and has to be run on a dyno at 15 MPH for 3 cycles of 45 seconds each. Very few stations have this equipment anymore. 1996 and up (OBDII) just get pluged into the Commonwealth's computer to find any codes. Drive in with an SES light on in any car, Automatic fail.

Does PA do permanent emissions or are they stopped at a certain age?

I agree that dyno is annoying. We don't have it as bad though, we just get one dyno at 15mph and 25mph for readings. 96 gets plugged in, which they probably don't check much if anything. SES light is automatic fail, and they will check it to see if it has been cleared beforehand.

Originally Posted by Redog

Any car driven less than 5000 a year is exempt from emissions, however, drive less than 5,000 miles 2 years in a row, the 2nd year, full emissions.

Here, it's a monetary exception, but we do it bianually in the whole area. MD is $500 to be exempt, VA is $750 to be exempt and I forget what DC does with that. It's a pretty dime though, DC has pretty high car fees, but VA taxes cars like they do houses. MD doesn't tax cars other than when they are registered.

Originally Posted by Redog

I only put 3,100 miles on the Alero last year. It was exempt, however if I don't go classic tags, it will be full emissions this year. I know the car will pass with flying colors. Thats not why I'm doing the classics on it. The Delta, well the 307 is the 2nd worst emissions engine out there. The SB 305 was the worst. Plus the car had hot inspection stickers on it anyway when I bought it.

Nice! How did you end up fixing that issue? Or were the stickers "purchased" for the car?

Oh and why are you tagging the Alero as classic?

Originally Posted by Redog

New Jersey is totally different. No saftey inspection, no emissions. Their inspection is: all lights work, and does the car stop between point A and point B. Weight isn't even a factor in there either. Car could be metal to metal brakes, but if it stops within so many feet, pass. My gf's car will now pass a PA inspection with flying colors, before I worked on it, it would squeak by.

Really? I knew they didn't do safety since 2010 because of the recession and all, but I thought they still do emissions.

Originally Posted by Redog

IDK what NY laws are, but my first Delta came from Long Island. Needed $800 in repairs and still failed emissions.

NY does inspect, how strict, IDK. I know they do the 25 year thing for emissions, OBD2 check for1996 and newer, and they check diesels for emissions as well.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Does PA do permanent emissions or are they stopped at a certain age?

Seems they are phasing out the older cars because there isn't too many of them left. Like I said in 2011, it was 75-83 only got a visual inspection to see if the emissions are still there

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Nice! How did you end up fixing that issue? Or were the stickers "purchased" for the car?

I bought the car like that. You have to know somebody to buy inspection stickers out the back door. I don't have that kind of connection

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Oh and why are you tagging the Alero as classic?

because it's 15 years old and I don't drive it that much anymore. I want to preserve it

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Really? I knew they didn't do safety since 2010 because of the recession and all, but I thought they still do emissions.

Yeah Jersey is bad. Most cars that are bought in NJ and brought over to PA, fail inspection, and fail really bad too

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

NY does inspect, how strict, IDK. I know they do the 25 year thing for emissions, OBD2 check for1996 and newer, and they check diesels for emissions as well.

Yeah IDK, but I know my first Delta cost $800 to get thru inspection

[tw0123]

Your emissions sound similar to ours in Ontario... need it to license a vehicle obdII scanners hooked up... lights on or any cleared codes in the last 2 weeks is automatic fail.. a friend had a sunfire that needed an oil pressure sensor... nothing to do with emissions yet cuz the light wad on she failed... they'll give you a temp pass 24hrs & 30km later but you have to have everything fixed for the next test... right now it's mandatory every 2 years on all cars 5 years and older...