[HB Bench]

after weeks of practice...finally a photo of which I can say...this is starting to look like it...you all know my great role model in this. Doug Johnson...that man makes beautiful photos truly art.
Since I don't have gear like a professional and don't have expensive subscriptions to expensive Adobe software, I had to rely on many hours of YouTube, learning how Gimp works and other tricks.
a lot led to frustration... Gimp has a very difficult learning curve, and light can become your biggest enemy with photography.
However, you learn how to take photographs from every session.step by step.

[KensRedZed]

Nice pics HB, 

Doug Johnson has inspired many people to come out of the dark dungeons and take better pics. He's absolutely amazing and super talented.

I had a crappy background, no proper base, dim lighting, and no camera stand. After a blunt whack on the head with a little common sense. I took Doug's advice.

Mind you, I've also raced on Doug's track (nice track too). I peeked at his photo booth/setup.   Just don't tell him.

[JasonB]

Very nice indeed HB. Really well done.

Doug does indeed take beautiful photos, and it's great to see that several people have been inspired to make an extra effort with their photography. This is a hobby that I believe benefits greatly from that extra effort, so keep up the good work.

I've also been struggling to learn GIMP, so I wholeheartedly sympathise.

[fotodoug2]

Well HB, thank you for the compliments!  I don't know Gimp, and I intentionally don't use professional equipment.  Ken of KensRedZed has been to my place, and has seen what I use to light...one desk lamp!  The one thing I always tell anyone who wants to take photos of these cars is to get down to their level.  If you were to photograph a real car, chances are, you wouldn't get on some scaffolding, and shoot down on the car.  I have seen shots of real cars done that way, but not very often.  One other piece of advice is don't shine the light directly on the car, or if you do, diffuse it.  A white garbage bag stretched over a sheet of foamcore works really well.  It's cheap (get it at the dollar store), and cut a 1'x1' hole in it, stretch the garbage bag over it, and put it between the car and your light source.  That will get rid of any hot spots, and you can put reflectors made from the piece of foamcore you cut out, around the car to make it look the way you want.  If you want a cheap, but good processing program, Affinity Photo is as good as Photoshop!  When I bought that program it was new, and it came with 10 licenses...PM me and I will provide you with one of them for free...I've got 7 spares that aren't used!
Keep up the good work!

[HB Bench]

Very nice indeed HB. Really well done.

Doug does indeed take beautiful photos, and it's great to see that several people have been inspired to make an extra effort with their photography. This is a hobby that I believe benefits greatly from that extra effort, so keep up the good work.

I've also been struggling to learn GIMP, so I wholeheartedly sympathise.

Thanx ,for the compliments and encouragement, I also see beautiful photos with the articles...nice, Jason.
It would be nice if we had an interview, or maybe a workshop by Doug.

[HB Bench]

Well HB, thank you for the compliments!  I don't know Gimp, and I intentionally don't use professional equipment.  Ken of KensRedZed has been to my place, and has seen what I use to light...one desk lamp!  The one thing I always tell anyone who wants to take photos of these cars is to get down to their level.  If you were to photograph a real car, chances are, you wouldn't get on some scaffolding, and shoot down on the car.  I have seen shots of real cars done that way, but not very often.  One other piece of advice is don't shine the light directly on the car, or if you do, diffuse it.  A white garbage bag stretched over a sheet of foamcore works really well.  It's cheap (get it at the dollar store), and cut a 1'x1' hole in it, stretch the garbage bag over it, and put it between the car and your light source.  That will get rid of any hot spots, and you can put reflectors made from the piece of foamcore you cut out, around the car to make it look the way you want.  If you want a cheap, but good processing program, Affinity Photo is as good as Photoshop!  When I bought that program it was new, and it came with 10 licenses...PM me and I will provide you with one of them for free...I've got 7 spares that aren't used!
Keep up the good work!

ooh wow, I'm silent about it for a moment, my great role model!! Thank you for taking the time to respond, that inspires me even more. Thank you for the tips and your beautiful work that I enjoy looking at.

I'll look into affinity...and send an email. Thank you for your support

[fotodoug2]

HB, I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and went to the dollar store today, bought some foamcore (or foam board as they called it in the dollar store), and built a softbox (that's what they call them in a studio)!  The opening is 20" square, and covered with a white garbage bag that was large enough to have both sides between the car and the light.  My light here in Vancouver is an old led light for video's that I never used for video's.

Here is a slightly closer look at it...

...and you can see, off to the side, a small styrofoam reflector to bounce light into the front of the car.  The foamcore cost me $4.00 CDN, and I used packing tape to assemble it!  It might be a little heavy for a desk lamp, but halogen construction lamps are really cheap these days because everyone has gone to led's....and they usually come with their own stand!  Give it a try, you will be surprised by the results!