Motorcylce lighting question

Trever1t

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I'm shooting a friend on her Harley tomorrow at a location she's picked that has a brick-walled backdrop. I can shoot either side, 5pm sun in her face or (and most likely) the opposite side of the wall with the sun behind and the wall in shadow. My subject is too large for a single reflector and was thinking of bringing two stands and SB-800's.

Anyone have experience shooting highly reflective uneven surfaces like a Motorcycle and rider that can offer some tips?
 
All I have to do is post a really bad image and reject your advice to get 25 pages of responses?


Come on, surely somebody has a tip on how to light a large reflective subject?
 
2wheelphoto. I wish I can give more but I would choose the wall in the shade. Are you going to use modifiers?
 
Hi and thanks for responding! Yeah, 2Wheel probably has expertise in this realm.

For modifiers I have umbrellas and a Lumiquest SoftboxIII.
 
Typically under ideal conditions. I would use a large scrim, bigger than the bike and model. But you can get good results with multiple large modifiers (I prefer to overlap them a bit)!

I was going to suggest 2wheel also... I apologize for not responding earlier. (hey.. my posts often get ignored too! ;o) )

I have two 84" parabolics that I would use for this... hopefully you have something similar. http://www.adorama.com/WEUWBP7.html
 
I have a few 43" umbrellas and a total of 4 flash but am thinking simple is better. What if I use one white shoot-through on or close to camera axis and one bare or snooted/flagged to backlight?
 
I have a few 43" umbrellas and a total of 4 flash but am thinking simple is better. What if I use one white shoot-through on or close to camera axis and one bare or snooted/flagged to backlight?

You will have a umbrella reflecting off of every reflective surface, sort of like the highlights you see in eyes... Which is fine... depends on what you are going for!
 
Yeah, I could run 2 umbrellas and 1 backlight. I would like to be somewhat setup before she rolls in and only fine tune and shoot. I don't have anything larger than 43"
 
Yeah, I could run 2 umbrellas and 1 backlight. I would like to be somewhat setup before she rolls in and only fine tune and shoot. I don't have anything larger than 43"

Not usually that noticeable on a bike, too many small reflecting surfaces! Not like a car or truck! I can't wait to see them! :) Is she Cute?
 
Some motorcycles are easier to shoot than others. Harleys are on the hard side because of all the nooks and crannies that cause heavily shadowed areas. Bikes with a full fairing are a lot easier.

If your main subject is the girl that simplifies things but if the subject is the bike it's more difficult. I guess I'd try to put a reflector or something down low to try and get some light around the engine area, but then my experience with lighting of that type is virtually zero to.
 
Now how can I answer that? She's a really nice lady, works at a church and is around my age. This isn't a model shoot if that's what you meant but I do want to make her look as good as I can. ;)
 
Long weekend....

What color is the paint? When you're shooting anything automotive that's not a flat paint you're basically shooting the mirror, so you have to properly setup to picture around the object you're shooting to reflect what you want to see, which is nice speculars and a whole lot of nothing else. Google professional car shoots and you'll get an idea of what some people go through to get a perfect picture.

Now, you're not just shooting a bike, you're shooting a person on their bike and you're shooting outside where controlling the environment is going to be though, especially with your lack of gear to do a specialized job. If I were you, I'd concentrate on shooting the women and the bike should follow. Expose her correctly and try and angle yourself so you're not in the reflection of the bike and you'll do well.
 
Yeah, I could run 2 umbrellas and 1 backlight. I would like to be somewhat setup before she rolls in and only fine tune and shoot. I don't have anything larger than 43"

^^^^^That will work if you work it. Also you can play with ambient mixed in considering your equipment, just be mindful of WB. For example, use a 1/2 CTO at sunset. And angle the lights in a manner to avoid nasty glare, flat lighting is OK for detail. Some glare is expected on chrome, both to appear natural plus light all the details of the bike. You'd expect some natural glare on a bike with the sun.

Also if your subjects upper body is going to be above the bike you may want non-flat light 1/2 stop or so brighter light focused on the subject with barn doors/snoot/anything home made, etc. This is to counter the flat light that allowed full detail and lack of shadows covering detail on the bike (your two umbrellas).

Backlight frosting on the edges/tread of the flat black wheels is a nice touch..

I'm still new and not experienced as some, so I like to play with the subjects and their bikes while tethered on the computer with LR4. And I'll shoot for a while with subject and bike in the same pose while trying different lighting scenarios with 3, 4, or 5 lights. Once you get "the shot", you'll know it and its off to the next pose.

Most important thing is to have fun if its just a fun shoot too, nice pics for the gear you have is a plus =)
 

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