Mass Car Photography

[Dradd]

Hi everyone... I'm not sure if this is the place for this but here goes...

I have been tasked by my boss to take about 4 or 5 photos of about 80 Cars. These photo are purely to be used on the Car Yards website and on advertising things.
The quality of the Photos we have at the moment is terrible so I can't do any worse than the status quo.

I have a 400D (and the kitlens ) and 2 SB-26 speedlights with cactus wireless triggers, basically the current photos tend to be bright on one side of the car and too dark on the others

A Flash filling the shadows would be the go here right?


Also the interior shots at present always seem to be blown out by the reflection of the dash

What can I do here?


I will proablly be looking at taking photos of the front angle, side profile, back angle, interior and engine bay.

Basically I'm looking for a few tips on lighting cars outdoor, quickly and at least, half-decently (with minimal need for PP).
Things like...
-Should i be taking the pics in the shade (of which there is very little and for only a few hours at the end of the day, on the yard)
-Is using flash actually a good idea, or should I just do my best with natural light?
-Is the kitlens going to suffice? (the only other lens I have is the 50mm f1.8) etc..

Maybe someone out there has had previous knowledge doing something similar and can guide me away from a few common pitfalls (me being quite the newbie and all ) and i'll be everso grateful :mrgreen:

(both those the sample photos are at the worse end of the scale, most aren't that bad, but I was just trying to explain things better )


Hopefully my ramblings make sense.

 

[Showngo]

Use the flash to fill the shadows, you want to try and avoid direct sun, try for cloudy days or some area where the light is softer (sunset and sunrise). You may also want to buy a Circular Polarizer so that you can get the glare down in the paint and glass. This will be problematic with the Kit lens as the front rotates when it focuses, perhaps getting and using the filter for the 50 1.8 would be a better option.

You may also want to look at a Diffuser / Reflector (take a look at amvona.com) they are cheap and can help a lot with lighting.

As for the interior use low powered flashes, expose for the windows and then fill with the flash so that you do not get that nasty glare.

Most of all experiment, good luck! Hope this helps.

 

[Atropine]

You might also want to use a wide angle lens as well. Presenting the interior in a couple of wide shots is a lot nicer than several choppy ones.