1 Comment September 3rd, 2008 by admin
Shooting in a studio is something I’m still very new to. It’s worlds different from shooting on location. The great part about shooting in the studio is that you can control almost everything. It’s awesome for shooting black cars because it’s easier to control reflections. The studio is also good for details and interior shots. In this particular photo I was bouncing light off of a flat above the vehicle using a pair of ARRI hot lights. The benefit of constant lighting is it’s always WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). So if you want highlights to accentuate the fenders you manipulate the lights until you get what you want. Here’s a few other studio shots I took using similar techniques.
3 Comments August 24th, 2008 by admin
When I get a black car to shoot I try to find a nice open space to minimize distracting reflections. A good photographer friend of mine, Ron Perry, suggested a spot that would be perfect. Unfortunately, instead of a colorful sunset I got an overcast marine layer because the location was close to the water. The car looked great but the bland sky made for a bland photo. Luckily, my wife and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and I grabbed a great shot that worked perfectly with the black Dodge Challenger SRT8.
Add a comment August 20th, 2008 by admin
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BJ requested a few rig shots and this one in particular gave me a bit of trouble. First off, because of the angle of the rig, the suction cups blocked a lot of the hood requiring a lot of touch up on the actual vehicle. I usually try to minimize that because too much touch up ends up looking cheesy.
Secondly, the pole itself goes through a relatively detailed section. I usually try to avoid that because it’s harder to retouch than a plain ceiling or wall. It took a little doing, but I managed to clone the pole out.
Lastly, I don’t know what it is about silver, but I was having a hard time blending the cloning and the airbrushing I did. Especially when I was trying to remove the shadow of the rig on the car.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the shot came out. Just goes to show you what a little patience and a few beers will accomplish.
Add a comment August 13th, 2008 by admin
Mel specifically asked to shoot at this location because he liked the way the green contrasted with light colors such as silver. One problem I find with this place is lighting. There are tall street lamps up and down the road, alternating sides. You really have to pick your positioning carefully because if you don’t you get distracting glares and shadows. I fixed this by bringing my own lighting into the equation. By lighting the car with a strobe and then combining it with a shot of the background, I was able to get the car exactly how I wanted it.
I combined these 3 images
to get this image
