Have you ever wondered how they take jaw-dropping photos of cars that yell elegance? Looking at the images, it’s not hard to make out that the lighting used to take those photos is very much controlled. You may again ask if the kind of lighting and the camera settings used to shoot a car in a studio is any different from what’s used in photographing a portrait.
To clear any doubts that you might have, today we have photographer Mark McGee who shares his secrets to shooting cars like a pro. He talks about the best studio lighting, and what camera settings you can see to shoot cars:
As you can watch in the video, shooting a car is indeed way different from shooting a portrait. The fact that cars have a reflective surface and that they don’t move around opens up an entirely different dimension to play around with light and creativity.
When McGee is setting up the lights to photograph the cars, there are a few important considerations that he makes:
- ensure that the light is as soft as possible
- get rid of any specular highlights
- set the lights in a way that accentuates the curves and the wheel arches
Photo captured by Luca David
Further to the lighting setups, you can also see in the video how he cleverly makes use of smoke/fog. It adds a sense of atmosphere and depth to the image. He also takes the creative liberty of using an RGB light wand to light paint around the car. And as you can see in the video, the result is absolutely spectacular.
In the video, you’ll also get to see how he edits and composites his images to get the final result. If you’re looking to get into automotive photography, make sure that you watch this short yet informative video. You’ll definitely get to learn a lot.
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