Hey guys, I've been wanting to post some pictures of my little tank of a daily driver and was finally able to snap a few shots. Any comments on the car or photography is welcome - I'm always trying to improve my ability.
This was shot on an old Panasonic Lumix point and shoot with no tripod.
Wow! That thing is in amazing shape!
Wow, that car is clean!
Thanks guys, it has been a great car aside from a few deferred maintenance-related issues.
An underappreciated design IMO. It has a lot of small details and complexity in the surfaces but still manages to look uncluttered.
That is a great looking car. Easily the second best clock I've ever seen in a car too (not sure why but it is almost always the first thing I look for in any car's interior). I think the pictures are great too, though I have to admit zero knowledge or training on the subject. Good work.
I love the car. Very clean. And nice angles in the shots as well.
If you needed any advice on this particular shoot, I’d say try to find a background that wasn’t so close in color to the subject.
Im sure that’s easier said than done though.
Love the cassette storage in the center console. this is also the first time I've ever noticed that the driver and passenger mirrors are different sizes.
As for the photography, contrasting the color of the background to the car helps. Also, with the second picture as an example, if you can avoid having something growing out of the subject like that vertical drain pipe, it lets the eye travel more smoothly along the picture. With a complex background it is less important, but it makes a difference when the background is largely uniform.
For interior shots from the back seat, close the front doors and lean the seats back as far as you can. That allows you to really grab all of the detail of the interior, and seeing the door cards, seat bottoms, and console without the seats blocking the view adds depth to the photo.
gearheadE30 said:this is also the first time I've ever noticed that the driver and passenger mirrors are different sizes.
Can't unsee. Now if I ever do buy one of these (really want to) I'll have to name it Nemo.
Agreed that all you really need is a different background. May I suggest an old brick building? The dusty red will set off the car nicely.
Agreed--- most of the background shots are too cluttered. When shooting a car have the sun at your back, be sure to get the entire car in the frame (unless you are taking a detail shot) and have the background free of random lines and distractions. After all, you want the car to be the star---- not the water-pipe!
Amazingly clean car! Good detail shots too----- just the background in the full-car shots needs to be better. A brick wall (as was stated), or a natual scene without too many distractions would be ideal.
Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
As for the photography, I'll admit it did cross my mind while taking the photos that a contrasting background color would have been better. Gonna keep my eyes peeled for a red brick building or natural scene as suggested. Also a long straight road during sunset to capture the silhouette of the car would be nice.
As for the car (my true motivation for the photos), it's hard for me to imagine a better commuter/traffic eater than this. It even gets 27 MPG, which isn't too bad for a 6 cylinder. It's not a car that begs you to drive it aggressively, but it is a car that makes you feel good just to sit in and admire the engineering. Regarding the asymmetrical mirrors, yep, Mercedes' research found that the ideal shape for each of the respective mirrors was different, so that's how the car was designed - with a rectangular driver's mirror and a square passenger mirror. Just one of many details that typify Mercedes' engineering-first design philosophy of the era. The ergonomic shift lever with no shift lock is the easiest automatic gear selector I've ever used, the gas pedal is stiff but ideally weighted, the mono wiper covers a panoramic windscreen area, etc. etc. The car exemplifies what the world's best German engineers in the early 1980s thought were the best choices in user experience, comfort, visibility, etc., with very little concession to inane consumer preference, marketing department, or budgetary constraint - it's pure.
I'm also a big fan of the exterior design, but that's another subject. Hoping I captured some of that in the photos. That rear 3/4 view though. And the two-tone... how could I forget the two tone. Two good.
Cool shots and thanks for sharing them. Love the details. Just 2 more cents (since we're about to eat dinner). Film is cheap (you know what I mean) so don't be bashful. Take a ton of photos. For exterior shots, try a long lens from low and far away. And, yeah, watch those backgrounds. A "busy" background can work provided it's not distracting. If it's distracting, yeah, it's distracting. Try putting some space between the car and th background, too. See if that helps.
By the way, a friend of mine has a 2.3-16. A new Camry once parked next to it. Suddenly the Benz looked oh so tiny.
Nice car, AND you didn't photograph it with the parking lights on, in front of graffiti. Which makes you awesome.
I know next to nothing about photography other than to tell you that you take way better pictures than I will ever be able to.
I am just here to tell you to let me know when you are ready to sell the car 
Is that smoke silver?
Yep, Smoke Silver.
The name is somewhat of a misnomer since the color is actually a light beige. So I guess that makes it light light brown.
For reasons I don't fully comprehend USDM Mercedes came in a lot of colors you might see in the band-aid section of a drug store - various browns, whites, and questionable yellows.
In my perfect world it would be colored like a classic Mercedes, which means silver with gray cladding, but Smoke Beige is good enough.
barefootskater said:Easily the second best clock I've ever seen in a car too
That begs the obvious question. I'm curious to know what a clock connoisseur such as yourself thinks is #1.
In reply to c0rbin9 :
I had a euro w126 in the same color. Depending on the light it would change colors. I hated it at first but it grew on me. The only problem is that it fades easily in the south Florida sun.
In reply to Slippery :
No fading but there is "checking" of the clear coat on the trunk and roof. Deep cracks in the clear coat, all over. Kind of at 90 degree angles. Not sure what caused it, but I believe 1993 was the first year Mercedes used water-based eco paint, so it could be a manufacturing defect related to that.
On mirrors: After years of driving my Fairmont, I never noticed that the mirrors were different on all Fox chassis cars until I got spare mirrors from a baby LTD. The right mirror is a short, stubby little thing.
Man I wish the paint on my 190 looked like that good. But I'm never sorry that mine's an '85 with a manual!
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