Custom black F77 Porsche 911 Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40th blended with another exposure (for the sky) tripod mounted with cable releaseBen called me up about photographing his custom Porsche 911 in Tampa Florida which I learned was done at Champion Porsche, as you can see by the 911 on the back being replaced by F77. The Porsche 911 has long been my favorite sports car, since I was a kid, and I have not had the opportunity to photograph one for a client yet so I was very excited. This shoot was a little different though as Ben wanted photos for selling the car! Many of the shots I made for him were stylized, but a bit less so than I might normally making them more like the shoots I do for big auctions houses that just want the car show from all angles. Thus, some of the shots you see here were edited just for my portfolio, and not necessarily included with the ones I sent to the client.
Custom F77 Porsche 911 photographed for sale in Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThe above shot was my first time to photograph a car from this above and behind angle, partially to show the vents over the rear engine hood on the Porsche. This shot also features the custom "F77" badge. Oh, and if this location looks familiar to you, this is the fifth car shoot I have done at this Ybor City location! Clients see my previous images from here and want to have it for their own cars also.
Porsche F77 custom black 911 on the streets of Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis shot I made black & white for myself, as I thought it made the 911 look even more agressive and menacing just waiting there in the middle of the street for any challengers.
Porsche 911 custom F77 model on brick street Ybor City Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThis was the first time at this Ybor City location that there were no cars parked on the street, which allowed for just parking the Porsche in the middle of it and getting some new shots I have not made here before in the previous shoots. That said, some dude did just show up and park his car right by our shoot! Now this is a desolate area, and after 5pm everything is shut down for blocks around. So we politely asked the guy if he could move his car, which he did. Then he proceeded to walk way off to who knows where. Why park here then??
Lights on modified Porsche 911 with F77 options Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105 VR micro @ f/8 ISO 200 1/80th tripod mounted with cable releaseHDR is not always needed to shoot in mixed lighting, as seen in the above shot. No sky is featured in the shot, so I just let the shutter speed stay open until I got the exposure I wanted. Shooting with my Nikkor 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens, which of course is a prime lens, resulted in the starburst look coming from the headlights.
Stylized Porsche 911 Carrera S type 997 interior with manual shifter - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/2 power in 43" shoot through umbrella frame rightThis exact interior shot was my first attempt, and the lighting looked cool and dramatic, but not appropriate for the purpose of trying to show the interior for selling the car. I liked the image for myself, though, and made it more stylized by converting it to black & white. For the client, I introduced another speedlight on the driver's side to produce an evenly lit shot.
Yours truly (on left of course) with client Ben after the photo shoot of his Porsche 911 in Ybor City TampaI never remember to get a shot of me at my shoots, but this time the lights were already setup and I asked Ben if he would mind getting in a portrait with me and his Porsche. Good luck selling it Ben!
A black & white headshot on a pure black background revealing only the subject - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly to frame rightI met Eric this afternoon in St. Petersburg Florida to make a few different style of headshots for him to help him promote the publication of his first book! I used my usual strobist setup of two speedlights and brolly & shoot through umbrella light modifiers. I did not intend with the above headshot to have the background be all black, meaning I did not use the fastest shutter speed and try to control light spill as much as possible to create it while shooting. Instead I added it using a black & white conversion filter in Color Efex Pro. Personally, I really like headshots and portraits where the light only reveals some of the subject, making it look like the subject is emerging from the background.
Three-quarter standing business headshot on digital white background St. Petersburg Florida Commercial Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly frame right & SB-600 @ 1/1 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to rear frame leftEric wanted an approximate three-quarters view headshot on a white background. I had my neutral gray collapsible background setup with a white sheet over it. The white sheet does not produce a pure white background, Photoshop editing is still required, but it does make cutting the subject out much easier. For this shot I used more of a backlit setup with the secondary light well behind Eric. 
