A few Car Lighting Tips

some good tips here...

frank dont think your 37 willys is a 37 as a 37 has droop lights sat on top of the fenders and a pinched nose with grill on the popable bonnet not on the lower bumper

this is a orginal 37

what you have there is a 40/41 willys the lights tell me that its more likly a 41

great tips tho

frank dont think your 37 willys is a 37 as a 37 has droop lights sat on top of the fenders and a pinched nose with grill on the popable bonnet not on the lower bumper

this is a orginal 37

what you have there is a 40/41 willys the lights tell me that its more likly a 41

A lot of guys swapped 40/41 doghouse onto the 37/39 Willys coupes, sedans, and pickups. The bodies were pretty much the same but a lot of guys liked the later front ends better. Besides they could buy fiberglass 40/41 front ends and saved a lot weight off a race car. Now you can buy a complete glass body.

yeh woudnt make sense with it being a glass front end as its split with it being a race spec engine there are a few other bits that are diffrent but i carnt remember off the top for my head

I learned to not guess & just write down what they tell me.

Thanks for the bump, I have volenteered to do a shoot next Sunday for the Evolution Club here is Adelaide. I have qualified myself as a amature but it seems people are still willing to spend the hours cleaning amd prepping so I guess I should learn as much as I can before hand.

Cheers
Andrew

good info! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing Frank!

Some backgrounds we considered after I shot Jim's '68 AMX:

Some shots of Jim's '68 AMX

In the 2nd pic, you can also see some of the retouching I did in the side, hood, windows, and bumper.

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And for those who don't find their way to page 2: A few words on SHARPENING are in post # 57

Again, this is why I like early & late light: Nice sunrise shots from v35skyline: I hate waking up at 5AM for photo shoots.

Almost night: Vegasboy's Corvette shots. Just a nit to pick; I think it would be better if the background were much darker than the car which would have made the 'Vette pop out more. But the light on it & the reflections in it just don't get much better than this.
Red C6 Z06 rolling black wheels

Even later at night, you can pick up some highlights from the sky: Carsofabq's 30sec night shots of a Riviera.

And finally, an interesting look even without the natural highlights: Bentley Continental GT
But if you must shoot under different conditions, here are a few links:

Strobes

From post #1:

Blended individual strobe images in BlackEJ8's Camaro shot.

As a benchmark for comparison, look at turbodude's Miata shoot.
The light defines the contour of the car & the body isn't just a black hole against a background that's more interesting than the car is.

vegasboy's strobed white BMW: https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=12915609#po​st12915609

Brasher posted a set-up pic for some shots of a Toyota MR2 using 3 strobes.

Now some examples from The automotive strobist setup pic thread
There's a nice animation in post #2048 showing the use of one strobe in multiple exposures.

Here's an example of late light + strobe. The body looks pretty good, but I could do without all that light on the ground.

The combination of both types of light work in photogsam's shot, but the ground is still a bit too bright for me.

Aridan did a great job making this shot look natural.
Note: The set-up shot was taken 20 minutes later than the #2 image in that post.

xknowonex has a great thread here showing a subtle use of strobe: Bugatti Veyron @ Cars and Coffee Meet. Experimented with Flash Techniques
Let me temper that with a quote from one of the earlier links: One of my editors, Brad Bowling from Cars and Parts, has made it clear that he has a real pet peeve. “If I can tell you used a flash, the photo goes in the trash.”

O3DigitalBath's GTR & Superleggera shots.

Light painting
Light painting a C5 ZO6 Corvette by //Cory Varcoe using a fluorescent tube: C5 ZO6 Corvette
See the link to his gallery of light painted vehicles in post #12.
Light painting questions...

Blair Bunting: Chimera &/or softbox on a stick near the end of the video.
Scott Dorman on retouching.
How to photograph and light cars in the studio with the Lamborghini

In #2048 of the "The automotive strobist setup pic" thread, O3DigitalBath shows his painting technique. The end result is great, but personally, I think the light he had before he painted it was better.
Post #2048

EricWilliamCurry: Painting With Light : T- Bird

See the link in: Painting with Light, a 'How to Guide' for car photography

Light painting illustrated: https://photography-on-the.net …p=13389131&post​count=1966

What Lights Do You Use for Light Paints?

Painting with Light

Creating A Miracle: The Light Painting Photography Technique


Garage shots: (Something I usually hate because you guys obsess about the cool location & forget about making the car look good, which IMO should be your first consideration!) Some of the better ones:

I like the mood in the Porsche shots in a garage from StE823.

chixwithtrix - "available light for a 2-4 second exposure; no flash or anything."
Subaru love

Light painting a C5 ZO6 Corvette by //Cory Varcoe using a fluorescent tube: C5 ZO6 Corvette

ChrisLUM - "We used the ceiling. There were ledges that had made it someone hard to control some of the lighting, due to blocking light. 1 AB400 and 1 AB800 shooting were used. Shot straight into the 90degree angle of the ledge. Helped being that they were white."
Audi's and a few others...

kyleturbo's Hayabusa shot: https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=9065289&p​ostcount=1

VorteC's BMW 135i - Selective Colouring

MORE INFO ON PAGE #2 --->

Reflections
I took some shots of Van's Cuda in a poor location. Crappy reflections, even in later lighting. You guys do this all the time when you shoot your own car, or a friends car, & then make crappy excuses for a crappy shot.

Solution? MOVE the car to a better location.

WAIT for the light & then shoot it. More on that here: MOVE YOUR FEET! A <rant> of sorts.

<End of rant>

Any questions?

Just posting to bookmark.

Awesome tips!

subsribed......

Thanks for the tips! I'm planning to shoot a bike for a friend, and I was kind of nervous about it.

To recap:
-Soft, indirect lighting is best.
-Bad reflections can ruin a good shot.
-Shoot all sorts of angles, and keep shooting.

Did I miss anything?