Shooting a Motorbike

Phenomenological

Someone has asked me to take some photos of their bike - Apparently it's circa 1960's, and they want the photo taken in an old run-down industrial estate nearby. Can't say I've ever done anything like this before, so Running it past the people here who may have more experience!

I've got one flash with a remote trigger, along with stand and umbrella. I'm thinking something along the lines of put the bike in front of and between a couple of the best looking buildings, so there's some sky showing above/between them, maybe with the gap between buildings along an Ro3 line. Then expose for the sky, and use the flash to light the bike. That should hopefully allow me to get the exposure of sky, buildings, and bike reasonably even in post processing.

Alternatively I could put the camera on a tripod and expose for the sky and buildings separately, then merge them into an HDR shot afterwards to get the expose correct.

Any comments, suggestions, tips, example shots etc would be greatly appreciated.

kres

Your take on it sounds pretty good, just a couple points of opinion:

I'd suggest using reflectors and or soft boxes if you can figure out how. Flashes and the metallic surfaces of a bike can lead to complications in processing.

Low ISO, and slow-ish (50-60) shutter speeds will help keep the grain down and make the pretty parts seem slippery smooth. Same train of thinking says bring a tripod or have faith in your VR. Defiantly try to play with DOF

Subject wise, take a few minute to learn what is special about this bike - what makes it desirable, tricky bits to restore, and/or why the owner loves it. Translate that into your shots and crops. People tend to humanize their bikes, so take some time to learn what kind of girl she is (unless it's a German, Russian, or MotoGuzzi, then it's okay to think of them in a more manly way... ) and try to convey it in the shot and mood.

Essentially, try to treat this as a mix between portrait and macro photography.

My .02

Phenomenological

Thanks very much for the tips, I'll bear them in mind - I've posted this on a couple of forums and people don't seem too forthcoming about it.

Grainbelt

I'm an avid rider.

Be very careful with flash, and flash placement, to avoid lighting up the reflectors and turn signals. A 60's bike will have plenty of polished metal and chrome, which will also be a challenge if you use a flash. To that end, reflectors and such are a great idea. I'd plan on a tripod and fairly long exposures.

Also, some of the most compelling shots I've seen are near-macro closeups with the tank badge, engine case cover, etc and then opening up to show the rest of the bike. See this thread at Adventure Rider: Macro your shiny thing for inspiration.

Also, get low. Bikes are about 3 feet tall. A good perspective will be nearly on the ground.

Happy shooting! Please post the results, some of us will want to drool over them, I'm sure.

BradfordBenn

I have found that a long exposure from a low angle can be quite striking, depending on the chrome level etc. It is the challenge of the reflectors and chrome versus the iris. If you can do natural light it could work out better.

This is probably my best one yet, and it was with a P&S... sometimes simple is good.