Photographing a car in a studio - tips
Discussion
Hi all,
i'm after some car studio photography tips.
I'm lucky enough to work for a production company with large studios - largest of which is easily large enough for car photography (in fact, it's often used for car ads), has a 3 way white cyc wall, and we've got more lamps than you could comfortably shake a large stick at (lots of arri fresnel's, from 650's up to 5ks, lots of kino banks, etc)
Thinking of selling my current runabout, so though it would be a good excuse to get the car in the studio and come up with some decent pictures.
I while ago I did attend a PH photography session, but I was there as a documentary maker rather than participating, so not much sunk in!
I do have a fair amount of experience lighting interviews, sets and pack shots, but a big shiny car seems like a completely different kettle of fish.
Can anyone offer any tips, links to online guides, words of wisdom etc? Juicy example photos to give me ideas are also most welcome!
i'm after some car studio photography tips.
I'm lucky enough to work for a production company with large studios - largest of which is easily large enough for car photography (in fact, it's often used for car ads), has a 3 way white cyc wall, and we've got more lamps than you could comfortably shake a large stick at (lots of arri fresnel's, from 650's up to 5ks, lots of kino banks, etc)
Thinking of selling my current runabout, so though it would be a good excuse to get the car in the studio and come up with some decent pictures.
I while ago I did attend a PH photography session, but I was there as a documentary maker rather than participating, so not much sunk in!
I do have a fair amount of experience lighting interviews, sets and pack shots, but a big shiny car seems like a completely different kettle of fish.
Can anyone offer any tips, links to online guides, words of wisdom etc? Juicy example photos to give me ideas are also most welcome!
Simpo Two said:
You could watch a copy of the documentary 
my brief was to capture the friendly atmosphere and excitement, and not give away too many tips, so I didnt record too much of the actual nitty grittyAlso didnt help they were lighting a matte black car most of the day!
I have a feeling my car's paintscheme (technically 'stonechiped' silver i believe it's called...) might be a bit trickier.
Strangely enough a similar thing happened on one of my video shoots years ago - except the client did it by helpfully moving the light until the weight of the cable overbalanced it. By good fortune the light fell into the two-foot gap *between* two cars, one of which was a newly restored E-Type.
GFWilliams said:
Do you know what kind of style you're after?
going to do a bit of research and find a style or certain elements i want to replicate. I'm quite open to suggestions!One thing i'm not overly keen on, is when cars just look almost matte when put in a studio. Makes them look plastic and almost toy like (to my eye anyway, im not passing judgement on that style!)
I want to bring out the lines in the bodywork with how it's lit - the bonnet has a crease down the middle that no-one really notices, so i'd like to try and bring that out. Thinking about it, i'm going to need to rig up a white ceiling to bounce off
Fordo said:
going to do a bit of research and find a style or certain elements i want to replicate. I'm quite open to suggestions!
One thing i'm not overly keen on, is when cars just look almost matte when put in a studio. Makes them look plastic and almost toy like (to my eye anyway, im not passing judgement on that style!)
I want to bring out the lines in the bodywork with how it's lit - the bonnet has a crease down the middle that no-one really notices, so i'd like to try and bring that out. Thinking about it, i'm going to need to rig up a white ceiling to bounce off
To stop a car from looking matte, you need to have clear defined lines of light. Using the barndoors is a way of doing this, or using a fluero tube...One thing i'm not overly keen on, is when cars just look almost matte when put in a studio. Makes them look plastic and almost toy like (to my eye anyway, im not passing judgement on that style!)
I want to bring out the lines in the bodywork with how it's lit - the bonnet has a crease down the middle that no-one really notices, so i'd like to try and bring that out. Thinking about it, i'm going to need to rig up a white ceiling to bounce off
Have a look at the kind of thing that you want to do, post up some pics and we can help reverse engineer the setup
(or suggest a way to do something similar)Fordo said:
One thing i'm not overly keen on, is when cars just look almost matte when put in a studio. Makes them look plastic and almost toy like (to my eye anyway, im not passing judgement on that style!)
Have to say this is something I've noticed, looking at the PH session results. An awful lot (most) of the shots have the look as if the cars have been sprayed with dulling spray.The problem is the studio is not that big and is fully coved and therefor difficult to control the light. Fresnels, even with barn doors just throw feathered edges. To get that liquid metal, high gloss look you need a big studio, floating ceilings, F2 lightbanks or both, to create some hard edged reflections that give the sense of gloss...
The above is from James Haefner's site, one of my favourite automotive snappers. Check out: http://www.haefnerphoto.com then under Automotive > Vintage for some exquisite samples of cars which look nice and shiny, which I'm guessing is the feel you world like, but difficult to achieve without the right studio, equipment and years of experience...
GFWilliams said:
To stop a car from looking matte, you need to have clear defined lines of light. Using the barndoors is a way of doing this, or using a fluero tube...
Have a look at the kind of thing that you want to do, post up some pics and we can help reverse engineer the setup (or suggest a way to do something similar)
Thanks, i'd appreciate that Have a look at the kind of thing that you want to do, post up some pics and we can help reverse engineer the setup
(or suggest a way to do something similar)
I'll have a look around internet for some ideas and i'll post them up
we've got some really nice kino's I can use - they've got very long tubes, and the ballast has independent switches for each bulbs. should come in quite useful.
Bacardi said:
Have to say this is something I've noticed, looking at the PH session results. An awful lot (most) of the shots have the look as if the cars have been sprayed with dulling spray.
The problem is the studio is not that big and is fully coved and therefor difficult to control the light. Fresnels, even with barn doors just throw feathered edges. To get that liquid metal, high gloss look you need a big studio, floating ceilings, lightbanks or both, to create some hard edged reflections that give the sense of gloss...
Studio should be big enough - 2,100 ft² - Wish we had a lite bank light that F2! Might be able to position a kino wall-o'lite above- thats fairly large.The problem is the studio is not that big and is fully coved and therefor difficult to control the light. Fresnels, even with barn doors just throw feathered edges. To get that liquid metal, high gloss look you need a big studio, floating ceilings, lightbanks or both, to create some hard edged reflections that give the sense of gloss...
- floating ceiling. I might be able to rig up something with some plulleys and some large bits of polyboard on a frame, but it wont be ideal!
- I think the u shaped cyc wall will be a bit of a hinderance. Light bouncing everywhere, so it might be a bit of a trick controlling the light. Lighting other setups, i've always used lots of black sided poly to add shade.
- me and my lack of experience lighting cars will be a big problem! i know enough to know when it's not right, but probably not enough to know what to change. Might be a long day of trial and error!
How does one use a floating ceiling? I assume its to control how the light falls on the bonnet / ceiling
Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 4th October 19:46
Bacardi said:
Check out: http://www.haefnerphoto.com then under Automotive > Vintage for some exquisite samples of cars which look nice and shiny, which I'm guessing is the feel you world like, but difficult to achieve without the right studio, equipment and years of experience...
Thanks for posting that link - his vintage auto stuff is simply stunning. Without a doubt some of the best studio car stuff i've come across. What a talented guy.these three are my favourites:
Not sure what to do with regards to the background- My car's silver, and I don't want it to blend with the white cyc. We do have black drapes that can cover the cyc.- but the cyc wall is massive, and would take forever. With a lot of flags etc, I might be able to 'light it black' if you know what i mean.
I'd pondered about throwing a red spot on the back, to form a nice grad (car interior is half red leather), but somehow im not feeling it. I like simple, elegant lighting.
Fordo said:
How does one use a floating ceiling? I assume its to control how the light falls on the bonnet / ceiling
Yes, you can angle it and target your reflections. You can also feather the light across the surface for affect and gradation of tone. But you have a nice clean hard edge as well which gives you the feeling of gloss. Cobbling something together may work, to a degree, plus a little help from PS. Here's some examples from Park Royal studios for an ideal staring point...
WALL-O-LITE Kino's are only 4'? Mega only 8'. Pointing directly at the car will give you short stripy highlights, which might be fun for affect. Haefner's pics are taken with large light sources. The banks or ceilings are more like 20' long. The distance of the light source to subject is also relevant to size of highlight. You don't light a car, you light what it reflects.
You're not working with the easiest colour, silver, darker colours work best for shine. If you keep the light off the background it will be stronger. What car is it? Last silver car I shot in a studio was a DB6, it was a pig and reflected everything.
Re studio, does it have a ceiling? Do you have any projection spot lights with shutter blades? Dedos with lenses?
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