2009 SolaraGuy Calendar! (Camry owners, check this out too)

[Gangis]

Hello, everybody! We're nearing the middle of 2008 which means it's once again time for the photo drive for the 2009 SolaraGuy Calendar! Here are the requirements for the photos:

* Images must be 3 megapixels or larger (minimum resolution of 2288× 1712)
* Images must be in JPEG or JPEG2000 formats with the highest quality setting. Or, for best results, .TIFF, 24-bit .PNG or RAW. The last three formats are ideal as they are lossless. The higher the quality, the better! I will not accept .BMP, .GIF or any of their derivatives.
* Do NOT attempt to obfuscate the license plate. I will be changing each plate to "SOLARAGUY", it will look better on the calendar than blurring it out. Here's an example, from Tacti's picture.



* When you submit your pictures, please include your FULL NAME, SolaraGuy username and a short 3-4 line description of your car including the year, mods, etc. Please look at the .pdf of the 2008 calendar (link below) for examples!
* Be creative! Make your Solara stand out! Use smart angles, choose an unique scenery, etc. Can't wait to see your submissions!

Submit the calendar pictures to sgcalpics@gmail.com. Submissions will end on September 30th and the voting process will commence on October 1st or 2nd, depending on how much time it takes to sift through the pictures. Good luck, everyone!

And as a bonus, here is the 2008 calendar in .pdf format.

For Camry Owners
I can make a calendar for Camrys but I would need 13 Camry owners to submit pictures and information. Please go ahead and do so, if I don't get 13 submissions I will have to cancel the Camry calendar. Hopefully it'll work out, though! Looking forward to producing both calendars for the community!

[PhreakdOut]

^^ Done.

Just a couple requests.

1) This is your project. Please make quick decisions and act. We are not drafting a Constitution thus requiring the vote of the people.

2) Stick to your guns. If you get photo submissions that are crap, please don't worry about offending the owner. Just don't use it. Offer up suggestions on how to shoot a better picture. (Use a polarizer filter, shoot at dusk with the sun behind you, select an interesting yet contrasting background, etc...)

Good examples that come to mind are the photos taken by Damon on a country road, the ones by NVDIS1 (Reggie) of his car parked in front of a wall of graffitti or the ones by Milt of Posh's ride on the overpass in LA. (Just to name a few as there are a ton more.) Avoid the boring stockie Solara pics of one street parked in front of the house. Someone is going to have to look at a bad photo for a whole month. (Just an example, not calling out any photo.)

I really would like to see you guys push yourselves to take a good picture of the beautiful rides you have. Summer is coming. Get out there and be creative. (Without relying on Photoshop.)

[Gangis]

Thanks!

I've never been afraid of giving feedback on photos. When we were doing the photo drive last year, I always gave feedback on pictures that didn't make the cut. Always gave them a chance to try again.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make the photo selection as impartial as possible. That's why I suggested voting like we did last year. Any bias would be pretty much "diluted", if you catch my drift. Having everyone choose 13 of their favorite photos... what do you think? Got a better idea?

I have to echo the last two paragraphs of Phreak's post... exactly what I was trying to say. Thanks, man.

[CamryOnBronze]

geez, time flies! Ive got a couple new pics to submit, but I might wait it out through the summer to see if I get any new goodies first

[PXLpainter]

Hmmm - may be worth one last photo shoot for a submission as this will probably be my last year with the Solara.

[LostSoul]

Hmmm - may be worth one last photo shoot for a submission as this will probably be my last year with the Solara.

what do you mean last year???

[DrLove]

FOr 2009 Im sure the pics will be amazing, I saw many pics here recently with amazing quality!

"HDR" pictures are very popular this year, many guys here are good to make them, that's cool !!

[Gangis]

HDR images are tough to pull off when it comes to white cars, in my experience. Usually, the darker the color of the car, the more effective the HDR imagery is. That's been my experience. That's why a lot of the HDR images out there were shot in overcast conditions or at night.

[DrLove]

Do you guys make HDR pics with a special cam?
You put a stand and take pics with different exposure time and use phooshop HDR fonction? Or you do a simulation of HDR with a single pic? ...

btw the calendar will be great with all theses HDR pics.

[QuickSEV6]

Extra points for a hot chick with the Solara?

[Gangis]

There are two ways to take HDR pics. First, the easy way.

If your camera can save pictures in RAW format, you can take one picture and then, with Photoshop, save multiple exposures (-4, -2, 0, +2, +4) and then use Photomatix Pro to merge the five exposures into one HDR image then adjust the tone for best results.

The second, and slower way, is to take multiple photos (a tripod is a must!) at the exposure levels and then use Photomatix Pro to make a HDR out of it. However, a problem with that is things (especially in nature) tends to move, so each of the five images will be different, runing the HDR experience. That's why I prefer the RAW method that my camera supports. You get every exposure level out of one shot which is great!

[woa_its_j3ff]

as far as size. some of my shots, its off by like 120-150 mp is that alright? shouldnt be a problem but figure id ask first.

[DrLove]

There are two ways to take HDR pics. First, the easy way.

If your camera can save pictures in RAW format, you can take one picture and then, with Photoshop, save multiple exposures (-4, -2, 0, +2, +4) and then use Photomatix Pro to merge the five exposures into one HDR image then adjust the tone for best results.

The second, and slower way, is to take multiple photos (a tripod is a must!) at the exposure levels and then use Photomatix Pro to make a HDR out of it. However, a problem with that is things (especially in nature) tends to move, so each of the five images will be different, runing the HDR experience. That's why I prefer the RAW method that my camera supports. You get every exposure level out of one shot which is great!

Thanks for the infos!
Im gonna look for a cam with RAW options when Im gonna buy a new cam,for now Im using the gf's cheap cam.

[Gangis]

Question... do you guys ever use the final page in the calendar (the one with the year 2009 all on one page)? If nobody uses it, I'm thinking of repurposing it for something else for the 2009 calendar (ie: no 2010 on it). What do you think?

[Jakecallun20]

Alright so would we post pictures here or message them to you?