When I was contacted by my good friend Adam and told there was a warehouse attached to the office that he would be leasing, I could sense the excitement in his voice at the chance that I might be interested in utilizing it as a studio to shoot cars and whatever else I felt appropriate.
After a good couple of weeks transforming the space into something usable, it was time to shoot the first car. Adam was holding something special in reserves for this inaugural event. I could hardly contain myself as he said there would be a 2007 Porsche 997 Carrera 4S with every conceivable factory option on it (minus the chrono and nav) available in his list of consignment vehicles. He and I were nearly giddy as we rolled it into the new studio to begin work.
This 2007 Porsche 997 Carrera 4S sold new at $121,000.00 and is still as perfect as it was the day it rolled out of the factory |
Working in a new environment always has its issues. This new space would be no different. I spent the majority of the first hour of the shoot experimenting with how the light would work with the walls that I had so painstakingly smoothed out and painted in a flat white. After taking nearly two weeks to get them right, I was at a loss as to how to shoot with them to create the high key look I was after in the photos. After a bit of frustration it came to me: 'Point your studio lights at the walls and use them as big bounces, ya ding-dong!' Brilliant idea! All of you experienced studio photo-magicians out there are probably rolling your eyes right about now. Forgive my naiveté. I aimed the lights toward the walls and I was off and running.
A conversation that occurs on a regular basis between Adam and I is one regarding the quality of the images I produce for his marketing purposes. He regularly asks me if I would please not make them look like brochure images so that he doesn't have to keep explaining that 'Yes... It's the real car I have for sale'. It's hard for me to build what I would consider flaws into my images so that they appear more "realistic" to his clients. I would argue in return that if he would stop supplying me with so many incredible vehicles I might lay my standards aside for a moment. But when faced with such magnificent works of pure art it's hard not to give them the due respect I feel each one of them deserves.
In the end, it's going to be an adventure pursuing the perfect lighting scenarios for this new space. As long as I have such fabulous subjects, it's sure to be an enjoyable one!
The white walls of the studio create a perfect reflection in the bodywork of the car, highlighting any imperfections or door-dings. As you can clearly see, there are NONE! |
The light balance in this picture is as close to perfect as anything I have shot. Even the instrument cluster is properly exposed. |
In the end, it's going to be an adventure pursuing the perfect lighting scenarios for this new space. As long as I have such fabulous subjects, it's sure to be an enjoyable one!
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