cranium opened this issue on Apr 07, 2009 ยท 9 posts
thundering1 posted Tue, 07 April 2009 at 8:52 PM
This is also assuming you are planning to do this all in a single shot/exposure. Typically, cars are a several exposure composite. Set up lighting for "just the tires" then take a shot. re-set lights up for a certain reflection of the hood, take a shot, another setup for a different reflection of the hood, then the windshield, doors, etc.
You get every aspect of the car exposed or reflected the way you want it, then composite ALL the shots together into a final, massaging here and there when and where necessary. This is all for a true "hero shot" of a car - otherwise you can do it with available light, or simple lighting - just don't expect it to be too dynamic.
The attached image has a main "overall" exposure, then all the shots listed in blue, and some massaging with masked Levels Adjustment Layers all over everything to accentuate what I want in the end. Some exposures for parts were too hot, or not hot enough (note 3 and 4 - so I used only portions, get it?), the background did NOT go to black, etc.
Again, hope this helps-
-Lew