This past week has been loaded up with photography classes here in Phoenix. There were several introduction classes, a fine art nudes workshop and some private lessons. Next week is just as busy with more intro classes and another fine art nude workshop.
In between I had a chance to shoot some motorcycles featuring some cool new lighting.
Motorcycle
Automotive or motorcycle photography in the studio presents some interesting challenges. This week I will take a look at some of the options for dealing with these details.
First of all they are big and don’t move easily to “adjust their pose”. Motorcycles are a bit easier to photograph as they can move easier, but cars or trucks are just a lot of work. Careful planning is required.
The first thing you need is a studio with enough space to hold the car and allow the photographer to get far enough away to shoot it. If you are too close you will need to use your wide angle lens leading to shots where the vehicle will have a huge front end for example. Sometimes this look can be desired, but more often than not, it is problematic. I prefer to be a good 20 or more feet to keep proportions correct.
For moving the car around, car wheel dollies are great. One goes under each tire and you can jack it up then basically push the car in any direction you want, even spin it in a circle. They are not a cheap tool, but if you shoot a lot of cars, they are well worth the investment.
The other most difficult thing to deal with is reflections. The whole automobile is one great big mirror. Chrome on motorcycles can be even worse. And of course the classic black hot rod looks great, but shows everything. A very clean studio area is critical. Anything that must remain should be pushed as far away as possible from the car. This includes yourself and your assistants.
I actually have my assistants step off set behind a wall in my studio. I wear black to help hide my reflection. Another reason for keeping the photographer to automobile distance large during the shoot, is that it makes the reflections much smaller and easier to deal with in post.
Lighting is another key. You need a large soft light from above for most automotive work. Since I shoot on white, I have painted my light stands and cords white to hide them in reflections. Nothing more annoying than a beautiful white highlight on a car with a light stand jumping out at you.
Feel free to contact me with any questions. And if you are in the Phoenix area, I do rent my studio to other photographers.
This week presented a challenge, off to the beach for to photograph a motorcycle. Shooting a motorcycle or car at a beach is typically very difficult. The biggest challenge is the motorcycle will sink into the soft sand of the beach. On a soft sandy beach I would need bury a layer or two of plywood just below the surface of the beach and then smooth it out after placing the bike.
Next challenge is timing as the tide will be moving either in or out, and depending on the location this can be a foot or two, to hundreds of feet if the slope of the beach is very gradual. One of my favorite beaches the low and high tide lines are tyically 200-300 feet apart. The smallest tide swings on at the half moon phases.
And of course waves will also present a challenge as they roll in and out. Salt water is very bad for vehicles, so keeping them dry is a priority.
In this case the beach had a hard area that was not sandy at all in this area. Being hard and dry the bike could stand on its own. The area was sheltered enough and the sea was very calm, usually mornings are the best time to find this calmness.
In the end, everything came together. When things were set-up, I liked where the sun was, creating a good shadow, the tide was moving in slowly to position and the sea was calm. With the addition of some supplemental lighting to fill in and create some sparkle, it came together as I had imagined.
