Lighting for car pictures
Discussion
With the darker nights heading rapidly towards us I am looking for advice/suggestions on the following
I need to take pictures of cars that i will be selling on autotrader etc.
Not really able to get the pictures done during the day.
I was thinking about whether there was an option for some cordless LED work lights on tripods.
I have been using a Canon D70 but recently bought a Sony ZV-1 and havent picked up the Canon since.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
I need to take pictures of cars that i will be selling on autotrader etc.
Not really able to get the pictures done during the day.
I was thinking about whether there was an option for some cordless LED work lights on tripods.
I have been using a Canon D70 but recently bought a Sony ZV-1 and havent picked up the Canon since.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
poj said:
I was thinking about whether there was an option for some cordless LED work lights on tripods.
If you go that route, you'll need to defuse the light or bounce it off something otherwise you'll end up with ugly bright squares of light reflecting off the body work. The tripod - high-iso solution would be your best bet.
But as you're taking photos for ads to sell cars, surely it would take no longer than a tea-break to grab what you need?
Russet Grange said:
Not sure why people are saying high iso in addition to using a tripod. Stick your camera on a tripod and you should be able to keep ISO pretty low.
That is true to a degree but is dependant upon the amount of light available and where that light is coming from. The risk of low ISO exposure is that you get some of the car nicely exposed but some it underexposed or not exposed at all. This can look very nice in some contexts but probably not what the OP wants. Higher ISO provides a bit more latitude and is simple way to get the shot and denoising in camera or in post is pretty good these days.OP, another option is HDR. Your camera should have a setting that takes a quick series of photos (between 3 and 6) each at different exposure levels. Using Photoshop, Lightroom or similar you then merge these into one shot with the software taking the best of each to create a perfectly exposed shot.
I've lit cars a fair few times for work - mainly in studios
- As others have mentioned, small LED sources wont really help you all that much. Cars as the most difficult things to light, they are shiny, and have multiple surfaces and angles everywhere. Just pointing a small light at it, you'll just see the light reflected in the paintwork. Generally, you want enormous soft light sources, in studios we either bounce powerful lights off white walls, and use giant overhead softboxes, larger than the car. So when you do get the reflections in the paintwork, they are huge even shapes, that dont really look light lights anymore. Really the overhead softbox is to replicate the soft light from a cloudy day, or the soft blue skylight of the real world. So, id suggest:
- Time of day is your friend. This time of year, a cloudy day around midday, is a great time to shoot cars. The entire sky is one big softbox. But bare in mind cars are basically mirrors - so finding a location that'll give you natural reflections in the bodywork, is best. If you park up outside an NCP car park, you'll see their yellow signange in the paintwork.
- Sunny day, position car so it's backlight by the sun, always looks more flattering. Id say avoid midday top down sun, but sun is reasonably low most of the time now. But better light can be had at the beginning and ends of the day. By backlighting the car, it means the side you are shooting from will all be lit by the blue of the sky, which like a cloudy day, is itself, one big softlight, horizon to horizon.
- Need to photograph after dark? - multistory car parks, tend to have rows and rows of florescent tubes. Not ideal, and you will see them reflected in the paintwork. But enough of them and a light coloured grey concrete ceiling too, and they start to become kind of one big lighting source. And when you do get the tubes refelcetd in the bodywork, they dont look too awful as they fit the scene in which the car is in.
As you are selling cars, is there a space you can dedicate to photography of the vehicles? I've seen a few places that have a corner, setup with white walls, and some kind of big overhead softbox with some decent tubes behind.
You could use a couple of the Godox AD series of wireless flashes, but you'll need a camera with some manual controls and a wireless trigger. You've then got to have a number of softboxes and other lighting modifiers to be able to adjust the lighting to a desirable setting.
Done well, you could end up with some striking photographs which could become a signature style - I can recognise a car being sold by KGF just from the photograph.
Done well, you could end up with some striking photographs which could become a signature style - I can recognise a car being sold by KGF just from the photograph.
StevieBee said:
Russet Grange said:
Not sure why people are saying high iso in addition to using a tripod. Stick your camera on a tripod and you should be able to keep ISO pretty low.
That is true to a degree but is dependant upon the amount of light available and where that light is coming from. The risk of low ISO exposure is that you get some of the car nicely exposed but some it underexposed or not exposed at all. This can look very nice in some contexts but probably not what the OP wants. Higher ISO provides a bit more latitude and is simple way to get the shot and denoising in camera or in post is pretty good these days.OP, another option is HDR. Your camera should have a setting that takes a quick series of photos (between 3 and 6) each at different exposure levels. Using Photoshop, Lightroom or similar you then merge these into one shot with the software taking the best of each to create a perfectly exposed shot.
Obviously this assumes no flash is being used.
Russet Grange said:
StevieBee said:
Russet Grange said:
Not sure why people are saying high iso in addition to using a tripod. Stick your camera on a tripod and you should be able to keep ISO pretty low.
That is true to a degree but is dependant upon the amount of light available and where that light is coming from. The risk of low ISO exposure is that you get some of the car nicely exposed but some it underexposed or not exposed at all. This can look very nice in some contexts but probably not what the OP wants. Higher ISO provides a bit more latitude and is simple way to get the shot and denoising in camera or in post is pretty good these days.OP, another option is HDR. Your camera should have a setting that takes a quick series of photos (between 3 and 6) each at different exposure levels. Using Photoshop, Lightroom or similar you then merge these into one shot with the software taking the best of each to create a perfectly exposed shot.
Obviously this assumes no flash is being used.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to trial and error.
Part of the fun is experimenting
These were three flashguns, softened with a roll of backing paper held with bamboo stakes driven in, and the flash guns behind.
This was on the brick paving of the close. I had to pus a black binbag over the yellow street light, then two softened flashguns on a stand.
Or find somewhere lit and work with it
These were three flashguns, softened with a roll of backing paper held with bamboo stakes driven in, and the flash guns behind.
This was on the brick paving of the close. I had to pus a black binbag over the yellow street light, then two softened flashguns on a stand.
Or find somewhere lit and work with it
poj said:
With the darker nights heading rapidly towards us I am looking for advice/suggestions on the following
I need to take pictures of cars that i will be selling on autotrader etc.
Not really able to get the pictures done during the day.
I was thinking about whether there was an option for some cordless LED work lights on tripods.
I have been using a Canon D70 but recently bought a Sony ZV-1 and havent picked up the Canon since.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
Nearest multistorey carpark, almost always pretty well lit and will work well to take the pics you need!I need to take pictures of cars that i will be selling on autotrader etc.
Not really able to get the pictures done during the day.
I was thinking about whether there was an option for some cordless LED work lights on tripods.
I have been using a Canon D70 but recently bought a Sony ZV-1 and havent picked up the Canon since.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
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