How to shoot cars in a studio?
Baldy
Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 2,853 moderator
:scratch Yikes, some car collectors asked me to shoot their cars and the more thought I give it the harder it seems to get right.
The cars are incredibly big (think Deusenberg) and shiny. They reflect everything.
So I'm thinking of setting up a temporary studio that I can roll them into that's essentially 4-sided to suppress reflections. And I'm thinking of making a light source that's like a huge soft box that's bigger than the Deusenbergs are by using 4 flash heads through a huge sheet or collection of them.
I'm thinking black. Some of the cars are black.
Your thoughts.
The cars are incredibly big (think Deusenberg) and shiny. They reflect everything.
So I'm thinking of setting up a temporary studio that I can roll them into that's essentially 4-sided to suppress reflections. And I'm thinking of making a light source that's like a huge soft box that's bigger than the Deusenbergs are by using 4 flash heads through a huge sheet or collection of them.
I'm thinking black. Some of the cars are black.
Your thoughts.
0
Comments
I think my imagination has been posoned by car ads in magazines.
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Notice this guy also avoids perpendicular angles and keeps himself out of the reflections.
Tilt&Shift lenses might be useful too
More info is available here http://www.usa.canon.com/html/eflenses/images/lens_button_sm/ts_e-45-f28.gif
and here
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/movements.shtml
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
I dunno Fish, those are pretty weak... I think Baldy's looking for something that will raise the bar. Right Baldy?
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
are those reflections of clouds in the lower edge of the body? or damage?
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
as much as I admire your photography, you might be biting too much here - car photography is a real PITA in a studio, and a completely different sport than shooting outside. You'll need major lighting gear and either a light bank as that Chimera or a tiltable ceiling panel to use as a giant reflector. That means renting a specialized studio, and once you're there, the fun is probably gone from the whole exercise. I don't shoot cars in my studio, but I've shot motorcycles and that is a challenge in itself if you go for the "liquid" look.
I'd strongly advise location photography instead, with additional lighting. You'll feel more confident and will probably get better results.
Here's a website to get you all jittery: Chris Bayley's site
If you get to photograph a Bugatti Atlantic, I want a copy of the pic!
I shot a couple of Bugatti Atlantics at Concours last year, which is what led up to the current project:
What amazing cars they are.
The current project is for Jay Leno, who was showing a Bugatti at the show and whom I met while shooting his car. We'd like to create a really nice online display of his cars and motorcycles at smugmug.
The problem is he has over 100 cars and 83 motorcycles and taking each one to a good location with the right light would be a huge project. The good thing is he has them together in big hangars at the Burbank airport, so there is room for a temp studio to roll them into.
I have a friend with a car collection locally and a big building, where I can practice. Since Jay's in Burbank, I figure I can rent anything I want down there.
A lot of collectors use Ron Kimball to shoot their cars. He's got a studio locally and I think you can tell a lot about his lighting by looking at the shots:
This one looks like he used small light sources:
This one looks like a big source with a highlight for the model's hair:
Big source, nothing fancy. This is kinda what I had in mind:
I don't think Jay is into it being too artsy. He has a very fine eye for cars and wants to see the cars clearly and have them — not the setting — take center stage.
EDIT: Odd, dead links when I cut and paste them.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
A long time ago and in a land far away, I worked for Hogan Racing, which was a CART Team based in St. Louis. In '99 Helio Castro-Neves was driving for Carl (Hogan). We were a owner financed team, with a mid range budget of around 7 million dollars. Because we did not have a huge coporate sponser, we tried to get by on somewhat less money than other teams did. And because of this, we were one of only 2 teams (I think) that year to run Lolas. Helio as you know if you follow open wheel racing went on to win the last 2 out of 3 Indy 500s for Penske.
Because we were very successful with the Lola that year, we were invited to take the car to Rick Graves in Santa Monica for a full color 6 page shoot for the centerfold in Racer Magazine. We arrived early in the AM for the shoot and unloaded the car. It had been detailed following the last race at Laguna Seca, but still took about 5 hours to bring it up the Graves' standards. He spent several hours setting up the shoot and finally started around 3 pm. Alot of this time was spent getting rid of glare from shiny parts. The last shot was an overhead in the parking lot with natural light from the sunset.
Your point about shiny stuff was interesting. I was the team tire technician and took some pride in keeping our polished magnesium wheels as shiny as possible. They were so good that day, he had to put something on them (I can't remember what he used) to dull them up.
Getting to the point. His studio was all flat black and was freshly painted the morning we started. No one walked on the black paint - paper was put down any place we stepped. After the car was rolled into place the floor was painted again. The studio was as close to perfect as it could get.
Enough of this rambling, but the website is :
http://www.rickgraves.com/index.html
I you are interested, the car was the centerfold in the November 1999 issue of Racer Magazine.
Hutch
The question is where can you park on the grass that has a great
background.
Strangely, I saw him at the voting booth yesterday. He must live within 2 miles of me. I've been a big fan of his for awhile.
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
Plus, I don't think that bluntly telling Baldy how he can be satisfied or not is gonna win you many friends... you should know what I'm talking about.
need anyone to like hold flashes, get coffee, or somethin????
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
Operating System Design, Drivers, Software
Villa Del Rio II, Talamban, Pit-os, Cebu, Ph
:lol
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Nice story, Hutch. I was in St. Louis at the time, I remember where Hogan is located, right near my GF's TV station. I can't believe the team budget was only $7 million. Unbelievable.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Aside from the action shots from Pebble Beach and car shows in general, we never -- NEVER -- accept photography of cars on grass, and most of your good car mags won't either.
So much photography has been taken of cars on grass that it seems kind of natural now, but the fundamental question is, how often do you see a car driving across a golf course?
When location shooting, we use one of those gold reflector things to cast a bit of warm light into the interior, especially on black cars. The inside of a black car is like looking into a freakin' mineshaft.
We also use a white sheet to block direct sunlight when shooting under the hood. We might also use the gold reflector thing to put a bit of warm light on the engine parts.
Detail shots require that the steering wheel be absolutely straight, the wheels and center caps be completely straight, and that the keys be out of the ignition. Aftermarket floormats, hang tags, visor cards (all that crap that car collectors covet and pay a lot of money for) are all removed.
But what do I know? I'm a writer.
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson