Cars

Cadillac CTS with Model Tampa Commercial Car Photography Part 2

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Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS setup: f/11 ISO 200 1/100th strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame center-right

This second set of photographs featuring model Amber and a Cadillac CTS photographed in front of the Tampa Convention Center feature some of the images chosen by the client (part 1 featured my initial favorites from the shoot).  It is always interesting to me to see which photographs the client chooses as compared to the ones I chose.  This time, only one photograph of the client's ten purchased images overlapped with one of my top three.  We were close on a second, with the client choosing just a slightly different pose than the one I did.  Too bad about that too because I had already done the major edit (removing several background buildings) on the pose I chose!

Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS Setup: f/10 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame center-rightAll that said, the three featured client choices in this post are now also in my favorites as well.  I believe it is really important to get one or more sets of eyes on all the photographs from a shoot in order to really discover all the best ones.  If the client had not chosen these, I may never have bothered to give any of them a full edit and thus they would have never made it onto my site or into my portfolio.  

The idea to have Amber look at her watch as if she were bored or waiting impatiently on someone was my own.  The client had told me at the beginning of the shoot that he wanted an element of the unattainable, of something hard to maintain, hard to keep.  So I thought if you want to have a beautiful woman and a cool car, you better arrive on time, at the very least!

Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS Setup: f/11 ISO 200 1/100th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame center-rightThis was a great project to work on as the client provided me with a clear vision for the photographs while at the same time letting me put my own creative touch on the setup of the shots.  Plus, add in a model who can pose gracefully on the hood of a car (not easy!).  That equals pretty much the ideal situation.  

Cadillac CTS with Model Tampa Commercial Car Photography

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Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS setup: f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left, SB-600 @ 1/2 power to frame center-right

I returned to the Tampa Convention Center for another commercial car photography shoot, this time though, with the added bonus of having a great model, Amber (her website).  I was really excited about this project when contacted by the client and am very pleased with the resulting photographs.  I have photographed cars before, and models too, but never a car & model together, thus the extra enthusiasm for this particular Tampa shoot.

I used my typical two speedlight strobist setup for all the shots.  I mostly used the setting sun as a third, backlight source (see highlights on Amber's hair).  To setup the shots I first directed the client where and how to park his Cadillac CTS.  Then I showed Amber what type of pose I would like for the shot.  Next I setup my speedlights around her.  After this much setup the shooting part is easy, especially since Amber did her job very well.  All this allowed me to put into a photograph what I first envisioned in my mind.  

Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS setup: f/9 ISO 200 1/200th strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power to frame left SB-600 at 1/2 power to frame back-rightI do not normally use my speedlights at 1/2 power, which is a lot, but the sun was really strong so using 1/2 power created the amount of fill light I wanted.  I also purposefully tried to create some lens flare in shots, as seen in the above photo.  I also wanted to make sure to leave some color in the sky and not have it just washed out white.  The Tampa Convention Center can be seen in the background.

Model: Amber Car: Cadillac CTS setup: f/8 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power to frame left SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame rightI really like Amber's pose in the above shot.  It was not easy for her to do so either while balancing on the front fender of the Cadillac CTS.  I set my speedlights to only 1/4 power this time because I did not have to over power the sun to light Amber how I wanted to.  Thanks again to the client and Amber for a very smooth, very effortless car & model shoot.  

Ferrari 458 Italia Photographs in Detail

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Ferrari 458 Italia front left fender and wheel arch - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyAt a recent car show in St. Petersburg I had a chance to see and photograph my current favorite car in the world, the Ferrari 458 Italia.  As I described in this other photography tip post on the Ferrari it is very hard to get good full car photographs at a car show.  Therefore, I focused on detail shots more than showing the 458 Italia in full.  

Ferrari 458 Italia designed by Pininfarina logo - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe few badges that decorate the 458 Italia are all classy, like the above Pininfarina logo, whose meaning is not obvious unless you are a fan of Italian sports cars and supercars.  

front grill air spoilers bookend the Prancing Pony logo on Ferrari 458 Italia - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThese flexible spoilers on the front facia of the Ferrari 458 Italia are designed to change shape at speed to improve downforce.  In the middle of the rest of the matte black spoiler resides the Ferrari Prancing Pony logo.  

Ferrari 458 Italia LED headlight - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyOne of the most striking design features of the 458 Italia is its elongated LED headlights.  These are a new design element being featured on all new Ferraris (California, FF) and ad a distinctive look that to me signals a new generation of Ferrari.  They are radical, but I like them even though the remind me of the head of an Alien from the Alien series of movies.  

Ferrari 458 Italia LED taillight - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe taillights also contain LEDs but maintain the traditional circular Ferrari design, although they are in a single cluster, while the previous F430 model featured dual clusters.  I prefer the dual design as a single cluster seems a bit small and in the middle of no where looking.

Ferrari 458 Italia rear view - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe rear of the 458 Italia is Spartan with just another Prancing Pony logo and the Ferrari nameplate on top of the engine cover.  Not pictured is a triple, centered tailpipe cluster.  For some reason I did not think to photograph those!

Ferrari 458 Italia engine block detail - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyThe engine cover is transparent showing off the massive V8 that looks more like something that would power a spacecraft rather than a mere automobile.  Obviously the engine sounds even better than it looks.

Ferrari 458 Italia Brembo carbon ceramic brakes with red calipers - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyAny supercar nowadays has to come with carbon ceramic brakes and usually brightly color brake calipers.  The 458 Italia is no exception.  The wheels themselves are a kind of generic pentastar looking design that seem conservative in comparison to the styling of the rest of the exterior.

Ferrari 458 Italia 2011 model right side view - St. Petersburg Car PhotographyHere again is the full side view photograph I made by cloning out many distractions.  I may someday have a chance to properly photograph this particular 458 Italia as the owner did express interest at having photographs.  I of course gave him my business card.  Hopefully he will call soon!

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Blue St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography

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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber at St. Petersburg Florida car showThe current fastest car in the world is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.  There are no challengers.  It is so dominant that just saying the word Veyron ends any discussion.  Seeing the Veyron at speed makes me feel like I am looking at something supernatural.  The sound it makes, the unblinking performance, the methodical cornering, it all happens in absolute dominant fashion . . . yet with no hard edge.  It is like a benign apex predator.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber - view from above with crowd in St. PetersburgThe crowd at the car show in downtown St. Petersburg either were all very aware of the mystique of this car, or the crowd itself around it kept drawing an ever new crowd.  I believe it was mostly the latter.  Therefore, it was impossible to get any clean shots of it without someone getting in to pose with it as if it were some celebrity.  Using the cloning techniques on this Ferrari photo to clean up the shots was not really possible even.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber rear view - St. Petersburg FloridaWhat struck me about seeing the Veyron in person for the first time was how small it was.  It has a 16-cyclinder engine in the back after all.  Yet it looks no bigger than a Porsche 911.  You could easily park it or drive it down any road (without speedbumps).  It is really compact.  There was a guard making sure this $2.8 million hypercar was too fawned over.  I spoke with him at length about this particular Veyron.  Since it was the Super Sport version and had special blue carbon fiber body work, it demanded that higher than the usual $1.5 million or so price tag.  The car was actually just purchased that morning.  I was told that a buyer had been interested in it for awhile and finally pulled the trigger on it.  

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport gas cap with blue carbon fiber detailIn blue, the carbon fiber body really stands out and looks striking.  Underneath the lightweight exoskeleton, the engineering behind the car is mind boggling.  It is extremely hard to create a car with air conditioning and blinkers that can also go over 260 mph.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport wheel and brake caliperAfter watching many videos of the Veryon, to see it in person gave me a new appreciation for it.  It is kind of like seeing the Eiffel Tower or any other engineering marvel.  The difference with the Veyron though, is you can take it home.  

Photography Tip - selecting and cloning a clean Ferrari 458 Italia

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2011 Ferrari 458 Italia at a car show in St. Petersburg Florida

  • Learn this digital photograph editing technique from Jason in a 1-on-1 lesson, reserve today!

Car shows are great places to see a large number of awesome cars in a small space.  However, that small space and numerous other car fans walking around create a nearly impossible situation for photographing the cars in full.  Detail shots are usually what I focus on, but still I want to have at least a few full car shots as well.  Some of you may know that the Ferrari 458 Italia is my current favorite car in the world.  At a recent St. Petersburg, Florida car show I had a chance to talk with the owners of the above 458 Italia who were very nice people.  I photographed their Ferrari at length.

I could not get a shot like I wanted to while there due to other cars being parked so close to the 458 Italia and of course because of many other people coming to peek at Ferrari's latest mid-engine super car.  So I had to settle for the best angle I could get taking into account the sun's position and just the space I had to shoot in.  Photoshop CS5 helped with the rest.

Too clone out things from complex surroundings, quick select them then clone stamp in safetyIn the above screen shot you can see how I first used the Quick Select Tool (W) to put a protective fence around the objects I wanted to remove (silver car, people, etc).  I do this because the Clone Stamp Tool (S) is very temperamental and very hard to use along a distinct edge like the front fender of the red Ferrari and the silver Ferrari.  Basically, containing the unwanted object in a quick select field allows me to not worry about coloring outside the lines, so to speak.  You can see I selected some grass from the foreground and already started stamping it onto the silver Ferrari.  The sharp edge of the red Ferrari fender will remain perfectly intact.

Likewise for the people above the red Ferrari.  I will clone some of the trees and stamp them on top of the people to complete the illusion that the Ferrari 458 Italia is alone in a field.  To close the quick select areas hit CMD-M (on a Mac).

Using this quick select and cloning method will allow you to cleanly and easily remove objects from complex surroundings.

St Petersburg Florida Commercial Photography - Suncoast Electric Vehicles Richard Nimphie

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Suncoast Electric Vehicles Personal EV electric car - St. Petersburg Florida commercial photographyI was excited this week to get a commercial photography job photographing Suncoast Electric Vehicles and its personal EV car and green van, as well as to meet the dealership owner, Richard Nimphie.  My supercar passion is well known, but for my about town car I would definitely also have an EV car of some kind.  I am surprised with all the people of means that live in my neighborhood, I have only seen one Chevy Volt driving around and no totally EVs at all.  I guess EVs are still pretty rare and hard to get no matter what car budget one has.

Richard Nimphie of Suncoast Electric Vehicles St. Petersburg Florida inside the Personal EVI have unknowingly driven by the Suncoast Electric Dealership on 4th Street North I estimate at least 180 times since it opened earlier this year and never noticed it, and I am a very observant person, especially for cars!  The signage is small and low and the building is surrounded by trees.  I might suggest to them to somehow making the dealership much more visible to passing cars.

Personal EV plug with body graphic leaving no doubt where to put it!Mr. Nimphie and his staff were very friendly answering my questions about their EVs and helping me setup photographs highlighting the features of EV cars, which of course are their lack of a need for gas and electrical outlet for a gas cap.  Thinking now I guess in the future there will be something like sold laptop docking station built into the walls of garages that everyone will just connect to when they return home in order to recharge.  Maybe that will not even be necessary as some sudden, burst recharging technology could be invented along just a few seconds of plugin time to be back on the road.

The GREENVAN EVC1000 at Suncoast Electric Vehicles at 2401 4th Street North St. Petersburg FloridaIf you drive less than 40 miles a day and stay on roads with speed limits 40mph and under, which would be nearly all roads in St. Petersburg, then the Personal EV would make a great way to start the future in your garage today.

SUNCOAST ELECTRIC VEHICLES official site

2401 4th Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33704

Lexus IS F - Tampa Commercial Car Photography

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2008 Lexus IS F in black - 7-bracket HDR in Ybor City, TampaWhen I was contacted by ISG (In Sixth Gear) to photograph a black 2008 Lexus IS F, my third favorite car in the world, it was rather easy to say yes to that job!  In fact it would be harder to have a more fun commercial car photography job in Tampa.  A few days earlier I went to Ybor City to scout locations (photos without car) and found the above brick road by rail road tracks spot, which was what the client had requested.  

2008 Lexus IS F black showing custom carbon fiber front spoiler - Ybor City, TampaThis was the client's own daily driver car.  He had a number of customizations added to it including a very low profile front carbon fiber spoiler, special 20" black wheels and perhaps most noticeable was the throaty prototype exhaust system.  The V8's could be heard rumbling loudly even at idle.  When revved you can hear it two blocks away.

2008 Lexus IS F black - 7-bracket HDR in Ybor City, TampaAll the locations I found in Ybor City were within a few blocks of each other in the same old brick warehouse district.  The client mainly wanted shots composed in a way so they could be used on his website, which meant leaving space on the left side for a vertical menu and space on the bottom of the image for text overlay, as can be seen in the above shot.

2008 Lexus IS F black - single exposure processed in Topaz Adjust 3 - Ybor City, TampaWhile waiting for the sun to go down a bit more, I took a few tight shots of the IS F for the client's own personal use, as well as to use as wallpaper on my own desktops!  The IS F has a unique, angled quad-exhaust system that is at an even sharper angle with this prototype exhaust system than the stock tailpipes.  

2008 Lexus IS F with custom carbon fiber front spoiler - Ybor City, TampaThe client's customized IS F looked especially menacing from the front.  The car overall was lowered with an even lower profile front carbon fiber spoiler.  Needless to say one has to be quite careful going over speedbumps!  

2008 Lexus IS F - 7-bracket HDR - Ybor City, Tampa warehouse districtThe client is actually selling this car and replacing it with a BMW M3.  I hope the photographs help him remember his time with his IS F.