How do I set up this shot (skateboarder, car, nighttime)?

I was asked to photograph a car and I have an idea but unsure what I need to do to produce what my mind's eye is seeing. I also don't know if it would be too cluttered of a picture.

The main focus is the car. I want to have a shot at night in front of this bar: (the only thing that would be in the background would be the neon lights, the other items aren't there).

No need for multiple exposure, but you'll need the flash in second-curtain sync. If you get your shutter speed around 1/80th you'll probably get enough motion blur, and the flash will freeze the subject at the last moment. If you can keep the flash at close to minimum power it will help it freeze the scene.

The subject is the stationary car, would that matter for the flash?

Well, you may need a second (or third, fourth) flash to light the car. You can try to do it all at once, or merging together in multiple exposures. If you want to really light the car well, you'll probably want to use "light painting" and merge in post.

So I should take three photos? One without flash of the car, background, one of the skateboard, and one of the car light painted? and then merge all together?

The things I don't care for in night shots with strobe are (1) the strobe usually puts reflections I don't want into the car & (2) it overpowers the natural highlights from the sky in the body. I prefer shooting at twilight to get those natural highlights & just use the strobe for a little bit of fill.

While you could probably get it in one shot, it would be a LOT easier to shoot multiple exposures so that you'd have more control in PP.
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?p=4255577

There wouldn't be any sky in this shot at all.

hang your cross wrote in post #17507973
There wouldn't be any sky in this shot at all.

You don't need the sky in the shot. You need it to reflect in the body to show the shape of the car.

The color of the car may be a factor too. I'm not an expert on automotive photography, but I've watched enough KelbyOne videos to know it's an art unto itself. You can use flash / strobe with large strip boxes for a single car exposure or use a single flash for multiple exposures that get blended, just the car...

I think you would have more control shooting the neon, the car and the skateboarder in individual shots. Trying to get them all in a single exposure will be difficult at best.

i'm going to go agains the grain here, but also say that waiting until dark is probably not the best idea.

stopping down when the sun is still up will get you to dark, a long shutter speed will allow the sky to illuminate the car and will also allow some motion from the skateboarder. Second curtain sync will freeze the rider and board and add a little umph to the shot.

you will want the flash either up high or out to the side, or some combination of the two to keep the reflections off the car from being too much to deal with in post.

timing between you and the rider has to be perfect. it will probably take a lot of attempts, make sure he is riding down hill rather than up.

So I went out tonight to just mess around. I was having difficulty with my remote trigger and also I've never done this type of photography before. This was from many flash exposures and this was a very quick edit (still learning). But, this is basically what I want to do sans skateboarder and the subject car.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rYtz​LU