Need advice: Indoor, overhead lights...

raceMpower95

Ok, so I've been hired by an online automotive publication to cover the 2007 Philadelphia Auto show. The setting for the show is very high overhead lighting. While it provides for good light (meaning bright enough), it is very tough to eliminate glare and lens flare when photographing the relective surfaces of cars.

The following were taken with my 4MP Canon P&S a few years back, but you can see the type of lighting im referring to.








I am now shooting with a Canon 350D with an assortment of lenses and a 430EX Speedlite mounted on top. The lenses I have are the Canon 18-55 F3.5 kit lens, a Sigma 28-90 F2.8, and a Tamron 11-18 F4.5. I will have a monopod, and I'm not sure right now whether they will allow tripods.

This being said, does anyone know of any tricks for shooting in this kind of light? I have a Circular Polarizer, which I know will help a little bit with the reflections, but is there anything else I can try? Do certain angles or camera settings work better than others? Any advice would be appreciated...

Thanks in advance,
-Dave W.

LiquidAir

My guess is you will be best off if you can manage long exposure times get the shots without the flash because it will likely be the source of your worst glare. If you can, use a tripod and experiment with the polarizer. If you can't bring a tripod, you may have to forgo the polarizer because it will cost you a stop of light.

raceMpower95

LiquidAir wrote:

My guess is you will be best off if you can manage long exposure times get the shots without the flash because it will likely be the source of your worst glare. If you can, use a tripod and experiment with the polarizer. If you can't bring a tripod, you may have to forgo the polarizer because it will cost you a stop of light.

Yeah, I think I'll be ok with the tripod, so the CPL will be fine. If I use the flash at all, it would be a bounce off of something, not a direct fire.

dlphotography

Cool Lighting
I think the pictues seem a bit fuzzy; maybe it's my monitor. haha it's total crap.

Anyway, if you have good lighting, make use of the ambient. If possible, I would suggest using a tripod. This is a technique I use for import cars - mount it on a tripod and have a long exposure (about 10 sec) and under expose it. Afterwards, use a flashlight to paint the car with light. You'll have more control over glares and etc.

raceMpower95

That shot of the 350 in motion is awesome! Thanks for the replay, but I actually already went and got some decent shots. Heres a link to some of the shots:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=53243