How Do You Shoot a Black Car

How do you shoot a black shinny car? I'm getting too many reflections.

It's a common problem. See the "Move your feet" link in my sig? Then find a location that doesn't compete with the car for our attention. Even a lowly Cruzecan look pretty good. ; )

You need to consider everything around the car that will reflect in the panels. You can't just make the reflections disappear, except with Photoshop, and using a polarising filter can help but it has it's disadvantages too. Some times the best option is to shoot in very open locations, ie where there is little to reflect in the panels.

What, you don't have a studio to shoot cars!

From my experience (a black car owner & automotive photography enthusiast) black cars don't respond well to strobes or flashes. You really need some sunrise/sunset, hazy goodness type of light or light paint it. CPL should always help too.

Personally I have found that shooting a Black Shiny car works best on an overcast day.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dav3design/8354​967698/

Shooting on an overcast day is probably a good idea, however, there are different levels of overcast. If you have an overcast day where the sky is even that is probably the best and will act as a huge softbox. Overcast with clouds that are darker and lighter in some areas will especially make the top of the car look horrible. One method that also goes a long way is to polarize the top and the side of the car and then combine exposures. The other option is as mentioned above, to use early morning or late afternoon light in an area that is wide open and doesn't cast any harsh reflections. A clean horizon line on the side of the car is perhaps the best option when shooting in low light.