GUIDE: How to get your car to calendar..., seems there are really rules good to follow :) Options

[malpaso]

It's interesting to see results of voting for last calendar don't you think? There are huge differences between numbers so it seems there are rules how to have popular picture and be in calendar...

- Do not make picture from rear or top view!
No one cares to see you car from behind. Car from behind is boring... and from the top looks weird. Make only pictures of front!
- Play with picture in photoshop.
This is a must. More colors, more contrast! If you have some good idea how tune picture with some idea the better. Remember it must be obvious picture is nor realistic. It must look better than reality.
- No one cares if you have OEM look.
OEM look is not an issue at all! Car must look good. No matter what mods are on...
- No one cares in front of what is your car standing
Finding interesting scene for picture is waste of time. No one cares if you car is behind jet plane or some statue or anything. Cool background is not important at all. It's not wrong just needless.
- Make sure car is covering whole picture.
Small car in the middle of nowhere is not "true blue" (BTW. is there any US slang phrase for the same meaning as OZ English has???). So car should not be past of scenery and should cover whole picture (or at least from 2/3).
- When picture made by professional even better!
Professional photographer is not professional for fun. He/She knows! And knows better than you do...
- Nothing mentioned above works when you do not have friends to vote for you

anything forgotten? What you think?

EDIT:
(thanks to Fastbird)
- Don't shoot in the grass.
Cars belong on pavement, not in the grass.
- DO NOT cut out part of the car.
no comment... no question about this


This post has been edited by malpaso: Oct 18, 2009 - 1:03 AM

[GriffGirl]

I love this thread! There's a LOT of really good points in here that you guys have made, and a lot of great info for people to use for future calendar shots. (I wish this thread was up 3 months ago!)

I think one really good debate in here is the point of "quality vs. quantity" in terms of picture quality vs. actual car quality. Personally and professionally, it's my vision to be able to strike a balance between both in the cases where they can't both be had at once. I saw some shots, one which will be in the calendar, that were really great looking, dynamic photos of stock (looking?) 6GCs. I really appreciate this, personally, because in person most of what I see is stock, and it's what initially attracted me to 6GCs in the first place. I also appreciate the "classic" quality of a well-kept, well photographed stock ride. I wouldn't want to see the calendar all stock or even predominantly stock, but it's nice to see one or two in there.

And yes, as for the "popularity contest" - it's there, to a degree, and I'm sure most of us can see it. It's why I kept the photos small-ish and as unidentifiable as possible in terms of who they belong to. I wanted people to respond to what jumped out at them first - before thinking about whose car it was, or how modded it was, or whatever. Of course it's impossible to completely do that, but I tried. The ultimate goal here is to produce the highest quality calendar that represents us as a whole.

That said, I think it's going to be a great looking calendar this year, with better resolution photos than some from last year. I've also dedicated 100% of the photo pages to the photos, and have moved the member info and stats down to the top of the calendar grid page. I've freshened up the fonts, and included a month-ahead and month-behind grid on each page too, so you don't have to flip pages if you need to see those months.

Expect to see the FS thread with a front and back cover sample in the next day or two. And thanks to all of you for your contributions, whether through photos, voicing your opinions, or just quietly voting. It's what makes this a 6GC community calendar, and not just a celica calendar.