Troysterr wrote:
Sorry for beating the dead horse, but...
I don't disagree with you--a different color would be better. But here are some shots that I got of Marty's bumper (sorry, Jason

) in broad daylight at Moab a couple of years ago. The bumper is black (but dusty

), but you can still see all of the angles and features.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/ ... -17_58.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/ ... -22_57.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/ ... -48_60.jpg(I inserted links instead of the images on purpose, so as not to hijack this thread any more than I already have.

)
Hey, Marty, maybe we should paint my bumper Stone White to match my KJ, just so that pictures come out better.

Why is it that some of you guys would argue with GOD himself about the sky being blue. This is what I do for a living. Of course the black bumper in Moab being DUSTY and in daylight looks okay. Look at the backgrounds.
There is not room here for basic photography 101.
The human eye can see a HUGE range of tones. The camera (film or digital) can not. IF there is a HUGE difference between the lightness or darkness of the subject and the background then the film or digital wants to AVERAGE those light values and it will always want to expose for the lighter. You can compensate for that but your background (if that is light) will over expose and become blown out.
It looks great in person but on film it doesn't
Now back to the bumper. A shinny clean black bumper in a poorly lighted garage will photograph crappy compared to a DUSTY bumper in nice even daylight with the background being closer to the actual lightness of the subject.
That is why I get paid so much to produce the images that sell the stuff you want when you see it.
One other small detail that proves you don't have a clue is look at the bumpers in the pics in Moab. where is your light source? BEHIND the camera The sun is in the face of the bumper and there by blasting it with the best light possible. Crashes garage is the worst light possible. Marlin's bumper is a MATTE finish, as I sais in the earlier post "Even a Matte Finish would be better" Crashes bumper is about as glossy as it can get.
Matte finishes dispurse the light actually swallow it up. glossy finishes reflect it.
I may not know much about wheeling and other car crap but don't even try to argue with me bout photography.