A car often looks completely different on glossy magazine pages than in real life. The lines are cleaner, the reflections sit exactly where they should, and the body seems almost to float. You can create exactly this look photographically yourself, using artificial light. Instead of using the existing daylight, you deliberately switch it off and place your own light around the vehicle. In this tutorial, I will guide you step by step through the basic ideas and the two most important techniques: flash light and continuous light.
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Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Artificial light creates a completely different look than the existing daylight (Available Light).
- The model comes from CGI production: There, too, the car is staged with deliberately placed light spots.
- The natural ambient light is eliminated as completely as possible through the camera settings, so that the image is almost black.
- With flashes and light shapers, you place the light deliberately around the vehicle.
- There are two basic methods: flash light, which also works in daytime, and continuous light for so-called Light Painting.
- Good results can also be achieved with a single flash if you combine several individual shots on the computer.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Understanding the Difference from Available Light
Before you touch the camera, it's worth briefly changing your perspective. With Available Light, you work with the light that happens to be present, such as the sun or the lighting in a hall. With artificial light, you turn the tables: You shape the light yourself and decide which surfaces of the car shine and which remain in shadow. This idea is the core of the entire technique.
Step 2: Learning from CGI Production
In large advertising productions today, CGI images (Computer Generated Images) are frequently used. First, a 3D model of the car is created. Materials are assigned to the model, such as a white metallic paint for the sheet metal or rubber for the tires. Then light spots are deliberately placed in the software. You transfer exactly this principle to real photography. The typical glossy look you know from magazines or from the car dealership brochure is therefore not created by chance, but by deliberately placed light.
Step 3: Eliminating the Ambient Light
In the next step, you set the camera so that the natural light, i.e. the Available Light, almost completely disappears. The goal is a black image as a starting point. Only on this dark canvas can you light the car the way you need it. If the ambient light is still visible in the image, it competes with your artificial light and the desired effect is lost.
Step 4: Lighting the Car with Flashes and Light Shapers
Once the image is dark, you use the artificial light. With flashes and light shapers, meaning modifiers such as softboxes or reflectors, you guide the light deliberately around the vehicle. Each light source shapes an edge, a crease, or a surface of the car. Pay attention to which reflections appear, because they largely determine the impact of the image.
Step 5: Choosing the Right Method
There are two basic methods for working with artificial light. The first is flash light, where you work with short, powerful bursts of light. The second is continuous light, which you use for Light Painting. Which method you choose depends on your equipment and the subject. Both follow the same basic idea: The ambient light is switched off, and you paint the car with light.
Step 6: Implementing Light Painting with Continuous Light
With Light Painting, you put the camera on a tripod and choose a long exposure time. And by long, I really mean long. During this time, the image is initially dark. You then walk once around the car with your continuous artificial light, illuminating all the areas you want to make visible. The result is thus created by the movement of the light during the exposure. Plan the route in your head beforehand so that you reach every spot evenly and deliberately.
Step 7: Working with flash on location
Flash photography works in a similar way, but it can also be done in daylight, since flashes are relatively powerful. When you shoot on location, you set the camera so that most of the natural light is no longer visible. So you need an almost completely dark image as a base. Only then do you use your flash with the light shapers. Especially outdoors, this approach is helpful because you deliberately push back the surroundings despite the daylight.
Step 8: Distributing the light with several flashes or one flash
How many flashes you can use depends on your equipment. You can work with several flashes at the same time. But it is also possible with just a single flash. In this case, you take several individual shots, each of which exposes a different area of the car. Make sure that you really cover every corner of the vehicle and that you change the position of the flash cleanly between shots.
Step 9: Combining the individual shots on the computer
You later combine the individual shots, in each of which you lit a different part of the car, in Photoshop. This results in a final image that unites all the illuminated areas, even though you captured them one after another. This post-processing is an integral part of artificial light photography and not a stopgap solution.
Summary – Artificial light in automotive photography: Basics and techniques
Artificial light enables you to achieve a look that you can hardly get with the available light. The key is to block out the ambient light through the camera settings and then shape the car with your own light sources. In doing so, you take your cue from CGI production, which sets light spots deliberately. You can choose between flash, which can also be used during the day, and continuous light in light painting. Impressive results can be achieved even with just one flash if you combine several shots on the computer. The course shows you the practical implementation of the individual techniques in the following videos.
FAQ
Why should the ambient light be blocked out in artificial light shots?Because the ambient light competes with your artificial light. An almost black image gives you full control over which areas of the car are illuminated.
What two methods are there when working with artificial light?There is working with flash and working with continuous light. Continuous light is often used for light painting.
Can I also take artificial light shots in daylight?Yes, it is possible with flash, since flashes are relatively powerful. You set the camera so that the natural light is barely visible in the image.
Do I need several flashes for good results?No. With a single flash, you can take several shots, each exposing a different part of the car. You later combine these individual shots in Photoshop.
How does light painting work with a car?You put the camera on a tripod, choose a long exposure time, and during the exposure you walk once around the car with the continuous light to illuminate all the desired areas.
