Car Photography

[NiKonNoob86]

Does anyone know how the lighting on this car was achieved from these photos? How does he get the car lit so evenly and without any reflections? Thanks for any input!

Cars ? Culture ? Lifestyle: If it's proper, it's on Canibeat.com

 

[dsp921]

It was more than likely shot with a circular polarizer, shooting multiple polarizations and layering them in post.

 

[Denon]

He used a circular polarizer to shoot the car without any reflections in the paint.

For the lightning i guess he used three strobes, one high at the front/hood. Another one at the side/front wheel and the last one at the back/back wheel.

 

[molested_cow]

If you look closely at some of the edges between the car and the background, there are features that makes me suspect that the cars were shot in a studio and placed in the background in photoshop. In any case, I don't think using a polarizer alone is enough to achieve zero reflections. The cars are not matte finish in real life, but it seemed that the photographer deliberately makes them look so. There's definitely a lot of photoshop work involved.

To me, reflections are what makes a photo look natural. Some reflections are too messy and photoshop is needed to tidy them up. Even with matte finish, there will still be reflections, just not as defined as cars with gloss finish.

In CG, render artists spend a great deal of time creating HDRI environments so that it can create a realistic looking render that involves the right lighting and reflection simulation. Shots like these look like the days when HDRI technology was still rather crude.

 

[KmH]

A circular polarizer will control reflections in the windows, but is a lot less effective at controlling reflections on a car body.

If you look at the shadow under the front of the car that front light has cast you can see that the light is high and pointing almost straight down.

The angle of the light is what is minimizing reflections in the windows and body of the car. Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

You can get a sense of the size of the front light by looking at the specular highlight on the front wheel.
I would guess the front light is modified with a 4' x 4 ' diffusion panel or softbox on a boom.
From the shadow in front of the rear tire, I would expect the rear light to be further behind the car, about 1/2 as high as the fromnt light, and pointed down at an angle of 45° or so.
Note the rear wheel also has a specular highlight caused by the large diffused light at the front of the car.

I think the car was shot at that location.

 

[gconnoyer]

I'd say the car was definitely shot there.

Its got alot of post processing work to it, and like everyone said, probably 3+ flashes on stands.

Either exposed the sky/background properly and then flashed the car, or just did an HDR type image.

 

[dsp921]

A circular polarizer will control reflections in the windows, but is a lot less effective at controlling reflections on a car body.

A polarizer will take the reflections out of automobile paint just fine. Metallic reflections are another story. But, like I said, you need to use multiple polarizations for the various angles on the body. I bet he did this with natural light and maybe used some fill, especially for the rims. No question it is a multiple exposure. I do this all the time and the resulting look is very similar.

 

[NiKonNoob86]

So i tried to do this with my car only thing is didnt have a polarizer and i only had one sb600 flash to work with. Used the multiple exposure and photoshop in the layers method. Mine doesnt look nearly as well lit and even as his do but is this a step in the right direction?

 

[gconnoyer]

Yeah it takes alot of practice.
Also, like I said, its alot of PP work. Little touches with the adjustment brush to even out the light

 

[dsp921]

So i tried to do this with my car only thing is didnt have a polarizer and i only had one sb600 flash to work with. Used the multiple exposure and photoshop in the layers method. Mine doesnt look nearly as well lit and even as his do but is this a step in the right direction?

That's not too bad. A couple more exposures filling in some of the deeper shadows maybe. A bit too bright on the fender, you want to make sure the light looks reasonably natural for the location. Keep playing with it, you'll get it sorted out pretty quick.
The position of the pipe is distracting, always pay attention to the background and don't have things growing out of the car. Maybe a looser crop at the back of the car, too, it looks a bit cramped.
Overall it's a pretty good shot.