Here’s an Audi S3 I spotted in Liverpool. I love the Audi S3s – of which I think there are two. The hatchback and then the saloon version, which is this one. Both with Audi Quattro and always very sporty looking. This part of Liverpool, just off Chapel Street, is a real mix of the old and the new – the very confluence of Union Street, Rumford Place and Fazakerley Street with the Mersey Tunnel directly beneath your feet – it is like the joining of some Liverpudlian Ley Line.

On the one hand, you’ve got a few old offices (to the side of me and behind) and the Liverpool Tunnel maintenance area. Then you’ve got the new looking 20 Chapel Street (though it’s still got a lot of scaffolding on it). This place brings back memories of visiting Roy Kenny and Felix Clarke in their new office for Secret Squirrel in 2004 underground, which is now Bold as Brass Tattoo Company.

Here’s the original image of the Blue Audi S3. I’ve struggled to get the right angle when taking car photos, but it would appear from much research that the best angle is about three quarters around at just above the height of the bonnet angled down a little. The lens is critical, too; avoid wide-angle. A lot of work was needed to correct several points in the photo, but these need to be fixed on almost all images. The best way to approach this is to have a workflow.

I’ve found that a good rule of thumb is to have a workflow.

1. Lens Correction
2. Geometric Correction
3. Create Mask
4. Dodge / Burn / bring out detail
5. Lens Blur Background
6. Remove unwanted artefacts (e.g. lamposts)
7. Colour correction
8. Colour addition
9. Any other tweaks

It’s essential to do these in a particular order for two reasons. First off, it means you don’t miss any out, and secondly, some of the changes naturally flow better in order. For example, you can spend a lot of time removing an artefact from the background, only to blur the background, so accurate work wasn’t needed. The example here is the lampost. Removing it before blurring to any degree of accuracy would have been difficult, given its proximity to the Unity Building. But, when the background was blurred, I didn’t need to spend more than 30 seconds removing it.

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