What kind of lighting for automobile photography!

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2 Jun 2008 - 4:18 PM

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Mike Otley (e2 Member)

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2 Jun 2008 - 4:30 PM

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Seems like a complete waste of money to me - all the dealers I know use a particular spot on their respective lots and use a compact. Or get a pro in for the odd one where something larger than a brochure shot is needed...

Best o' luck!

Chris_L

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2 Jun 2008 - 5:10 PM

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That's you told Mike!

Henchard

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2 Jun 2008 - 5:25 PM

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Quote: If you have nothing constructive to talk about then please don't reply to posts ... you are wasting others time!

How to win friends and influence people. A quick browse of Mike's portfolio would have shown you he is one of the best around at photographing cars and a polite enquiry might have yielded some very useful help.

answersonapostcard (Site Moderator)

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2 Jun 2008 - 5:49 PM

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Quote: Still don't know who he is ... his intro is so crap that wouldn't give him this thousands of dollars worth job!

before you start abusing regular members might be an idea to check people out first, as has been said before Mike could have been one of the best people to help you but given your response and your attitude I wouldn't blame him or others for not bothering.

Garry_Edwards

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2 Jun 2008 - 6:08 PM

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Continuous lighting is a possibility - cars don't move and so long shutter speeds are theoretically OK, although digital noise can be a real problem if the exposures are too long (I'm assuming that you're shooting on digital).
But continuous lighting lacks power even at short distances, unless you spend an absolute fortune on lighting designed for film sets, and when it has to travel to a reflector, some is absorbed by the reflector and the rest is dispersed over a wide area and has to travel back down anyway, you'll find yourself ending up with very, very little lighting power. Apart from long exposures you'll probably end up unable to overwhelm the ambient (existing) light.

So I strongly recommend flash. I would think a minimum of 4 x Elinchrom or equivalent 2,400J generators, each powering 1 head fitted with their high intensity reflector, which will control the spread of light and maximise its power. You may in fact need 6.

Car photography isn't just about a large diffused overhead light source, you'll need other lights too, to put light where it's needed on wheels etc and to create specular highlights when required, so say another 3 generators for that, although they could be less powerful than the ones needed for the bounce it makes sense to get them all the same, which increases versatility. The probably a spotlight attachment and certainly some narrow angle honeycombs, 5 deg ones are usually OK but you may need a 3 deg one too.

Obviously this won't be cheap and it won't guarantee professional results, you'll have a very steep learning curve to photograph cars well

An obvious alternative is the one that Mike Otley suggested, hire a pro - but not all pro commercial photographers have either the necessary skills or equipment for this type of photography.

I'm not an expert on video but I would have thought that the modelling lights from the flash would do the job - with the caveat that you can't use the modelling lamps when the flash heads are used with spotlights and narrow angle honeycombs, the loud bangs that result from overheating are expensive and a bit final...
Hope this helps

mad-dogs

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2 Jun 2008 - 6:46 PM

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Judging by the use of the word 'automobiles' I guess you are in the US.
Whether a professional studio is worth setting up for used cars probably depends on the makes / models and the local market for them.

If you are photographing quality cars, then it may be necessary to produce professional studio images.

One photographer featured on the Strobist blog manages to produce stunning car photography using Nikon or Canon speedlights.

Studio images of cars were often done in the UK by bouncing continuous light off coves, flats ( large reflectors ) and floating ceilings in the days of 5x4 and 10x8 film.

Studios I worked in used flash bounced off reflectors as they did not possess continuous lighting - and we only shot very few cars.

csurry

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2 Jun 2008 - 7:04 PM

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Mike has valuable advice - I must have blinked