Pre Shoot Q&A

[BananaRepublic]

Hi,

There an image in my head that I would like to capture and seeing as it probably been done, to death, before I'd like to get a few tips.

Essentially the image consists of a person, me, standing in front of a car at night. The cars headlights would be on and I would be standing between them, the idea being an image of a silhouette there would also be some other accessories included but what I,d like is a few tips to help me prepare, settings etc.

I would rather not be in a car park at night not having some notion what I,m doing.

Thanks

 

[Buckster]

Someone else may be able to help you better than I, but here are some thoughts that come to mind:

On "settings" (ISO, Aperture and Shutter), I can't imagine that can be pre-determined because there are simply too many factors involved. How bright are the headllights, just as a starting point? How far away will the camera be from them (think about the inverse square law and light falloff)? In order to get the silhouette you want, you'll either be standing far enough in front of them that they light you up well, or you have to simulate it by bringing in another light behind you. Assuming it's the headlights doing all the work, you'll need to figure out the distance balance between the camera, you and the headlights in order to get everything in the shot the way you want it. Do you want your whole body in the shot from head to toe? If you do, that's going to require more distance between the camera and the car. Do you want this to be portrait or landscape oriented? How much silhouette do you want? The brighter those edges that define you, the more of a chance there is that the headlights themselves will be blown out, and perhaps even some of the car surrounding them with it. Is that okay?

Etc., etc., etc.

Me? I'd set up during the day just to play with compositional aspects to determine the camera (on tripod), subject and car positions ahead of time, and get that out of the way. Put some marks on the ground.

Then for the actual settings to use to get the right light, I'd just chimp and bracket my way through like crazy after dark during the actual shoot, and choose later, maybe even composite from more than one frame, depending.

I'd probably also wait for a still night (not breezy) and incorporate my fog machine to help give more drama to the light.

 

[Designer]

The car headlights probably will not do what you are trying to achieve just by themselves.
Got a flash?
Got some way to fire it remotely?
I would place the flash on the hood of the car so your body hides it, and when it fires, your figure would be in silhouette.
Turn on the car's lights, and stand well in front of it, probably ten feet or so.
Camera out there about 30 or 40 feet from you, but framed from your feet to a few feet above your head.
Try square format or horizontal.
It would be great if there were some other lights way in the background, or at least skyglow.
Try for some figure in the sky, like clouds or sunset or (?).