How to shoot cars?

[Kelvin Craver]

So I just got a call from a client that wants me to shoot a calendar for his car club.... Cars, girls, locations. Ok I got that. But I really do not have much experience with shooting cars the right way. When it comes to lighting and diffusions what advice on techniques could you all give me.

I will never say No to anything but I want it to be Hot if my name is on it. JoRoFoto, I know your the man on this.

[clintdavis]

I've been shooting cars for ~7 years, I learned a few things.

Location Location Location, same goes for any subject really. But try to avoid parking structures, loading docks, and grass. Parking lot lines are an eyesore, and besides you see cars in parking lots every day, provide something unique.

If you're using strobes, then half of your worries are gone.
The weak-point I see in a lot of car photography are unwanted reflections in the paint. (Black cars are the worst at this). Flashes can many times nuke out unwanted reflections, and making a once. Be very aware of what's being reflected in the paint, and watch out for objects "growing" out of the car from the background. (ie, lighting poles, trees, etc).

Not sure what kind of equipment you have, or the type of photos the client are expecting, but a carefully planned location with a simple reflector on the girl can work very well too.

Also find out if the client wants full-frame shots or partial-frame shots. They may want to put the calendar over the image and leaving some white space would be better.

I'm beginning to draw more questions than answers for you.

[Corey Jenkins]

Follow that advice, Clints the man for cars. If you can get good with it, I found that shooting certain parts of the car separately and putting it together in photo shop can help. For tires/interiors/rims/ and if you don't have enough lights to light the whole car this can help. Just make sure you camera doesn't move!! Hope this helps, I haven't really shot many cars. Pick up an import tuner magazine, or one of the many other magazines where they have models and cars. If your lucky you might find one that Clint and Nick did together.. haha Good luck!

[Kelvin Craver]

Thanks Clint and Corey I will most likely be doing this shoot in the desert area... I have not heard back from them yet... But I am ready to go when they call.

thanks.