Lexus Photoshoot for SEMA 6 cars

[DonJuanMair]

So I recently went to LA to do a shoot for Lexus and man it was hard work i drove in from Vegas and basically had 2 hours sleep, we got up at 4.45am and drove to the location, the Lexus truck was late and we only had one car so me and the video people were sharing one car, which was kind of hard. luckily the truck turned up with the other cars. So Lexus wanted a griity, water element to the pics. At first i thought the location was great then after 3 cars it was limiting! I had to get 6 pics of each car. this was the hardest and fastest i have ever worked. My hands were black by the end of the day! and then i drove back to Vegas finally at 10pm getting back at 1am after drinking lots of red bull and 5 hour energy!!

Anyway here are the pics

1.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/4064801854_118f1b91dd_o.jpg

2.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/4064053623_e3f73afe3a_o.jpg

3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/4064799950_1afddb73d7_o.jpg

4.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2456/4064802054_97bbf40109_o.jpg

5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2769/4064053405_7a74d0f44f_o.jpg

6.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/4064052469_4e713a00d1_o.jpg

7.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/4064052745_24dddc968c_o.jpg

8.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/4064052593_b7f44d9979_o.jpg

[DonJuanMair]

This is the one right at the end they said this car is the most important! i thought argh why didnt you tell me this earlier!! i shot this one in about 15 mins because our permit was running out

9.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/4064052373_d09515c947_o.jpg

10.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2428/4064053201_b4b944b326_o.jpg

11.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2720/4064052931_06539bb0ff_o.jpg

I was shooting a a lot of these in direct sunlight which was hard managing the reflections....but overall im happy with the pics!

[brandon9585]

I like 2, 5 and 8 the best. Great job as usual. Did you use your new 200mm for most of these?

[DonJuanMair]

Thanks Brandon, as much as I would have likled to, that thing is just too long for some of the shots I wanted. On all oof these I think 5 was the only one I used it with. My 100mm was the most used lens

[jdm.squeek]

Nice!! Excellent pictures! Cant believe you pulled it off! 5 cars in one day! That chameleon IS300 had to be amazing in person! The green on that vert IS is also amazing!

[DonJuanMair]

Thanks a lot man! My body was seriously killing the next day. It was 6 cars but the other one isn't a great shot so I didn't show that one here but it'll be on my site soon :)
Its funny that green one is 415hp and an automatic I was expecting manual when I got in

[imput1234]

As usual Anthony, dope shots! Love #8, locations is cool too.

[kookie]

Nice, i'm lovin them all but #8 is my favourite by far!

[jordanasm]

looks awesome man. what were the settings on the camera you used to pull of those shots? and how were you able to make the car look so bright and vibrant, yet the background looks so dull like almost the cars were placed in the picture after. and how did you have the lights positioned? sorry i'm a COMPLETE noob when it comes to photography and i'm just trying to learn more since photographing cars is something i mainly "try" to do.

[dronsf]

amazing shots as always

[Big C]

Great series!

I'll check out the cars in person when I'm at Sema this week.

[PhotosGuy]

It was 6 cars but the other one isn't a great shot so I didn't show that one here but it'll be on my site soon And, because it would have been against the IMAGE POSTING RULES (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74718)?
the Lexus truck was late... The trucks are always late! :D
This is the one right at the end they said this car is the most important! i thought argh why didnt you tell me this earlier!! Ya gotta' love ADs!

[JhnRX7]

Great shots Anthony! Did you use speedlites on the green car? The lighting overall is very impressive!

[DonJuanMair]

looks awesome man. what were the settings on the camera you used to pull of those shots? and how were you able to make the car look so bright and vibrant, yet the background looks so dull like almost the cars were placed in the picture after. and how did you have the lights positioned? sorry i'm a COMPLETE noob when it comes to photography and i'm just trying to learn more since photographing cars is something i mainly "try" to do.

well mainly i would think the one your referring too is the green one yeah? with my cp turned i got a shutter speed of 1/200 and i was using f5.6. Now i could bring the lighting into play. So i positioned the lights to camera left aiming at the front left headlight and fired my shot. Then I moved my light again to the right of the camera at the front right headlight and shot again. then i took these two images into photoshop, used the polygon lasso tool to select an area of the image that would be easy to paste onto the other image with the other lit section, then put them in place and change your blending mode to lighten........then add a layer mask and get rid of the other parts of the car other than the part you want lit...........hopefully your following me :)

Also i use a lot of layer masks, i really wanted the car to pop in these images so would select different areas in photoshop and work on them too.

As for settings, just set your camera to AV and set it to f5.6 and your good for now if your just getting into it :)

It was 6 cars And, because it would have been against the IMAGE POSTING RULES (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74718)?
The trucks are always late! :D
Ya gotta' love ADs!

lol i knew about the rules just wanted to give you something to do Frank!

Great shots Anthony! Did you use speedlites on the green car? The lighting overall is very impressive!

thanks and yeah 580exII for this shoot, i took my Vivitars and they just werent cutting it

Great series!

I'll check out the cars in person when I'm at Sema this week.

cool i might see you there!!

thanks everyone else!!

[Ichiban]

is there a tut on the steps you mentioned? I'm not quite getting the polygon lasso part, and i'm pretty noob at merging pictures, unless it's photomatix or pano shots. And did you use color range for selecting different parts? Thanks in advance.

[DonJuanMair]

Imagine it like this, you want to cut and paste the lighter parts of each image onto one image, the polygon lasso tool is just my took i use to select each area i want to cut.........do you see?

[cb1]

#5 is bangin dude, what the exif?

[DonJuanMair]

thanks man 100mm f2.8 1/320 iso 50

[inthedeck]

Good stuff here, Anthony. Nice shots. ;)

[zoom_zoom]

Excellent as usual Anthony! You're great with the camera! Always enjoy viewing your work!

[DonJuanMair]

thanks a lot guys!

[boy53]

Just one word - WOW. Impressive shots DonJuanMair. Nicely done :D

[DonJuanMair]

thanks!

here is one more

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/4070045856_eef69b3a9d_o.jpg

[benesotor]

Wow, amazing cars!



Oh and amazing pictures too :p:

Just had a look at your site, I like your work... a lot! Mind If i talk about it as artist work in my photography A level?

[disboifan]

You've definitely stepped up your game man. Will comment more if you have a thread on DS lol.

[CombatCamera13]

I like 3 and 5 the best. The color is stunning.

[drewr]

Awesome set mate! What lighting setup did you use for the majority?

The cars, on the other hand, aren't quite as desireable for me, but hey, still fantastic!

[DonJuanMair]

Wow, amazing cars!



Oh and amazing pictures too :p:

Just had a look at your site, I like your work... a lot! Mind If i talk about it as artist work in my photography A level?

no problem, id be flattered!

You've definitely stepped up your game man. Will comment more if you have a thread on DS lol.

i have one ;) thanks dude!

Awesome set mate! What lighting setup did you use for the majority?

The cars, on the other hand, aren't quite as desireable for me, but hey, still fantastic!

580exII for pretty much the whole set! thank too eveyrone for the comments

[MLphoto]

very nice shots and location

[drewr]

Wow, very impressive results for a single strobe, too. Goes to show!

[Mastamarek]

Anthony, I ve been following your pics around here for a while and I must say, this is your best set ever. Not that the older pics were bad but its really hard to pick any faults in the new ones. Location - spot on perfect, creativity - spot on bad ass!! every shots feels like you put a lot of thought and effort into it!! I hope so, otherwise your one of the most naturally talented photographers here. lol. the only shot that I can find something to complain about is #1, where the hangar doors splits the frame into two but there isnt actually o lot going on both sides. other than that, its your best set so far!! I think you set the bar high for yourself and its gonna be hard to beat it but hey ... its going to be fun to try!! lol. keep up the good work.

[DonJuanMair]

^^ thanks a lot!

i really really felt the pressure on this one and i had to deliver so really thought about each shot
hopefully ill get the chance again!

[PhotosGuy]

is there a tut on the steps you mentioned? I'm not quite getting the polygon lasso part, and i'm pretty noob at merging pictures, unless it's photomatix or pano shots. And did you use color range for selecting different parts? Thanks in advance. Selecting areas in PS. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39994)

[Seasentinel]

Very nice as always. You do excellent work on lighting.

[DonJuanMair]

Very nice as always. You do excellent work on lighting.

thanks! this is actually only my 3rd time using lighting, on cars anyway

[Cole_Schmitt]

I want that IS300!!!

[sheik*yerbouti]

i shot this one in about 15 mins because our permit was running out

permit? for what?

[DonJuanMair]

permit for the location, Lexus paid for the space

[SamHunter]

Love them. Did you ask about rigging any of them?

[DonJuanMair]

i wish! no moving shots were allowed sam, just in case they were to get damaged

[SamHunter]

Laaaaame

[brandon9585]

I found some new desktop wallpaper! :)

http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2009/top-2009-Lexus-IS-300-by-David-Huang.htm
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2009/top-2009-Lexus-IS-350C-by-0-60-Magazine-and-Design-Craft-Fabrication.htm
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2009/top-2009-Lexus-IS-350C-by-Fox-Marketing.htm
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2009/top-2009-Lexus-IS-350C-by-VIP-Auto-Salon-and-Jtuned.com.htm
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/2009/top-2009-Lexus-IS-350C-F-Sport-by-TRD.htm

I like some of your edits you posted in here better.

[DonJuanMair]

yeah thats what sucked about this shoot, as you can see in the images on that site theyre edited totally different. They had a team to re touch my pics, i edited mine anyway for my portfolio (thats my edits on the first page) but when i saw the pics on Lexus's press site i was :(

[haquocdung]

How can you get all these 6 cars in one place?

[DonJuanMair]

The Lexus truck brought them to me :)

[JEmerson]

yeah thats what sucked about this shoot, as you can see in the images on that site theyre edited totally different. They had a team to re touch my pics, i edited mine anyway for my portfolio (thats my edits on the first page) but when i saw the pics on Lexus's press site i was :(

Great images, but the edit they have used are so soft, wonky, lack the gritty colours and so on. I think Lexus made the wrong choice there. Your PP is MILES better.

Nice one...

[DonJuanMair]

thanks! im re - editing all the pics for them as we speak. We had to shoot the cars and edit all the pics in 36 hours, so it was a tough turnaround. Next time were going to have me edit the pics :)

[SamHunter]

Dude, contact them and tell them their edits suck

[DonJuanMair]

Lol its not Lexus who edited them it was another team. But we've learnt our lesson from this one

[John Photography]

DJM - love this set! from angels, to lighting to the post process! i can't believe you only used a 580ex2 to light this up, impressive!

i have a 580ex2 and was lookin' for a alienbee set up to shoot cars, but i may get creative with my 580.

can you tell me where that location was?

[DonJuanMair]

I wouldn't eliminate the alieinbees all together, I def would like to get one of those pretty soon. There was a lot of ambient lighting in most of these. The white car was the easiest to light of course. The rest apart from the green one were lit just for the wheels and tires etc.
I'm def going to get a B800 sometime soon. But just one, its a lot of effor setting up three when your in a rush, I think its easier to just move one twice or three times and combine it all in photoshop.

This was in san pedro, the LA docks
Thanks for the comments!

[John Photography]

I wouldn't eliminate the alieinbees all together, I def would like to get one of those pretty soon. There was a lot of ambient lighting in most of these. The white car was the easiest to light of course. The rest apart from the green one were lit just for the wheels and tires etc.
I'm def going to get a B800 sometime soon. But just one, its a lot of effor setting up three when your in a rush, I think its easier to just move one twice or three times and combine it all in photoshop.

This was in san pedro, the LA docks
Thanks for the comments!

unfortunately, i'm not as talented as you on PP to be able to combine in PS. do you suggest one or two b800's to light up a whole car completely?

[DonJuanMair]

I'm going to do a tutorial on it when I have chance you'd be surprised how easy it is.
I have no idea dude on how many B800s to get as I've never worked with them.....

[John Photography]

thanks again dude, lookin' forward to your tut.

[Mastamarek]

yep, looking forward to that PP tutorial. your pp skillz are sick!!

[mlav]

Lexus and SEMA. Seems like an oxymoron. Times have changed!

#3 rocks. Great lighting to catch the metallic in the paint on the passenger side shadow.

[thepepperman]

I'll just add again that your edits are far superior to the ones from the other team. I'd use your photos on my desktop but not one of the ones they did really stands out to me.

[Prototype]

Very impressive set. I like them all except #9. The reflections in the paint are killing me.

You'll enjoy having an Alienbee!

[DonJuanMair]

I'll just add again that your edits are far superior to the ones from the other team. I'd use your photos on my desktop but not one of the ones they did really stands out to me.

Thank you, well this should be fixed soon, I'm sending over my edits by the end of this week.

Lexus and SEMA. Seems like an oxymoron. Times have changed!

#3 rocks. Great lighting to catch the metallic in the paint on the passenger side shadow.

Yeah that's what they're trying to show, they they can do the modded side of things also

[P1et]

These are stunning!

Would you be able to post a before (straight ouf the camera) and an after (after your PP)?

Thank you!

[DonJuanMair]

Thanks, i have this

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/4091399539_406b823061_b.jpg

[P1et]

Thanks for posting, beautiful even without any PP!

[DonJuanMair]

No worries!
This one I didn't need to do too much. I will post the other one, the purpleish car that had a lot more pp involved

[Kentaro]

Ken Block - Gymkhana v2 location?

[DonJuanMair]

Yep!