How-To capture swirls, scratches, etchings and other surface defects with your camera

The finger technique used to capture tiny pinhole pits in a glass windshield

Tiny tiny tiny pinhole pits in the glass
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...sinGlass01.jpg



:)

any tricks to capture defects in white paint? i know direct sun is useless it just blinds the camera, however i have parked under a tree and that puts some light on the paint and can see some defects but not like you can with darker paints...

Figured this one out a while back... the thread didn't gain much attention however.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ite-paint.html

DO you think you can capture a real live look of the briliance of a car in the sun or in the garage better?

In you opinion/experience, can you tell me whether or not swirls manifest themselves usually brighter than RIDS in your pictures? This is particularly interesting to me because I'm researching the probabilities that swirls may be enhanced by some optical phenomena (I started some other thread on this, and I'm still researching about it). Thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sparklingwater

DO you think you can capture a real live look of the briliance of a car in the sun or in the garage better?

---

Yes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andres

In you opinion/experience, can you tell me whether or not swirls manifest themselves usually brighter than RIDS in your pictures?

---

Yes. Swirls show up in bright light like overhead sunlight.

RIDS show up under fluorescent lights AFTER you buff out the car and remove all the shallow swirls and scratches. Then they stand out like a sore thumb.


:)

You can use the sticky tabs meant for marking signature lines in documents too. They stick to vertical surfaces, but leave no residue. Some are even shaped like an arrow. I found some at the dollar store and will use them going forward.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Coyote33

You can use the sticky tabs meant for marking signature lines in documents too. They stick to vertical surfaces, but leave no residue. Some are even shaped like an arrow. I found some at the dollar store and will use them going forward.

---

Good tip...

Sometims I just take a piecie of masking tape, draw an arrow on it and the place the tape on the thing I'm trying to bring attention to either for a picture or to avoid buffing on it like this,


Tips on Taping Off Thin Paint and Chipped Paint


From this article years ago....



Here's a thin spot along the hood edge...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...hinSpots20.jpg


You can place some tape on the adjacent panel as a marker so you don't forget about it as you buff this area...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...hinSpots21.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...hinSpots22.jpg


:xyxthumbs:

***Bump***


Saw someone asking how to get pictures of swirls this week somewhere on this forum....


Check out this thread.



:)