GREAT COBRA PHOTOS
[3/4-REARVIEW SHOTS]

Critical tips for shooting 3/4-rearview photos of your Cobra roadster:

  • Camera settings: flash must be forced on (as usual); adjust your zoom for each shot;
     
  • Distance is VERY critical (for 3/4-rear Cobra shots): you must measure off approximately 25 feet (or pace off roughly 8 full paces); this is to reduce the tendency (when you're too close) of those steroid-enhanced rear fenders to "bulge out" and make for an ugly photo.
     
  • Note the "angle of attack" of each of these photos below, and try to reproduce them with your camera:


photograph by Tom Hauseur of Palm Springs, California
Shot from ±25 feet (±7 to 8 meters) away to reduce distortion, camera at about the height of the wheel hub.


another photograph by Tom Hauseur
Shot from ±25 feet (±7 to 8 meters) away to reduce distortion, camera at about the height of the top of the rollbar.


photograph by Harold Gumm of Lompoc, California
Shot from ±25 feet (±7 to 8 meters) away to reduce distortion, camera at about the height of the top of the steering wheel.


photograph by Irwin Rawet of Boca Raton, Florida

Shot [with all doors & decks open] perhaps 15 to 18 feet—4 to 5 meters—away, camera fairly high, above the height of the windshield. With all the doors & decks open, you can move in a little closer with your camera (as Irwin did), since the open doors/decks serve to disguise (your coachwork's) distortion as you move nearer.

This is a GREAT all-in-one shot to show folks how everything looks opened up!

There are several things for you to note in this photo:

  • the shade [and thus the ambient illumination] is relatively BRIGHT, ensuring that the paint will be rich blue all over;
     
  • steering wheel is STRAIGHT;
     
  • pavement—see how the (light, clean) concrete surface helps to accentuate the shape and color of the car;
     
  • flash illumination—because the flash was engaged, there is almost no trace of a shadow beneath the car, and thus Irwin's serpent's profile is much 'cleaner' and more distinct;
     
  • note that the door is almost directly inline with the photographer, so that it interferes little with either the front fender or the cockpit.

 And here's the wrong way to capture a 3/4-rearview shot of a Cobra.
I call it 'THE BIG BUTT EFFECT," and it's what you'll wind up with every
 time you get your camera too close to that fat-fendered rear end.


These (closeup/big-butt) shots demonstrate why I advise you to back off (to ±22–25 ft./7–8 meters from your car)
when you're shooting 3/4-REARview shots of a Cobra roadster. Any questions?

Santa Clarita, California
661-251-0806 Pacific Time Zone

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