Car photography

I suspect this thread has been hijacked.:shrug:

I'm afraid I can't offer any advice the op as flash photography is a dark art to me, well photography is a dark art to me actually;), but I'm sure that there are plenty on here who may be able to help.
 
gemma1.jpg


Shoot through brolly and Sunpak 383 on car left.
Jessops 280ABZ with slave & Stofen 5m away from side of car.
Nikon SB800 slaved to rear of car to pick up specular highlights from stainless edge on wheels.

Best bet is to muck about and have fun.
 
I know that with car styling, it's each to their own, but being a massive VW fan I actually feel like crying.
 
Check out some of the Automotive Photoshoot groups on Flickr. Often people on there will take setup photos or mention what they have used as regards lighting, and where.
 
Rikki said:
Best bet is to muck about and have fun.
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Probably the best post in this thread.


I'd just like to add, that there is a PM facility for those that wish to argue, I prefer you use that than cock up somebody else's thread...

MarkLP, apologies for the thread deviation....

Steve
 
No worries :)

I'm willing to muck about but don't have an unlimited amount of money, very little infact. So just wanted to know the 'cheap' way of doing it.

So I gather 500w is the minimum to overpower sunlight?

But I could use normal Flash um (guns??) with wireless transmiters?

EDIT/ Ouch Still £400 for a 600w mono flash (I had to search for 'Strobe' in Japan, if that alters your arguement?!?!?) From our supplier in Japan :(
 
You can over power sunlight with fast shutter speeds too. If you have a flash already go and try it out.
 
Rikki said:
You can over power sunlight with fast shutter speeds too. If you have a flash already go and try it out.
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:agree: although it can be tricky unless you have something that will sync past 1/250, or one that can be fooled into doing so like a Canon G9 (1/2500) or a Nikon D70/s (1/8000), but it does work :)
 
You can use flash guns in bright sunshine but you'd have to put them very close to the car which would not let you put much space around the car forcomposion. 500w is probably the lowest you should go but you can use 250w models. The alternative is to buy a battery pack and th buy a cheap head unit but even then you are still looking around £700 for two heads and you really need 3. Even if you go down the flash gun route its not cheap.

MarkLP said:
No worries :)

I'm willing to muck about but don't have an unlimited amount of money, very little infact. So just wanted to know the 'cheap' way of doing it.

So I gather 500w is the minimum to overpower sunlight?

But I could use normal Flash um (guns??) with wireless transmiters?

EDIT/ Ouch Still £400 for a 600w mono flash (I had to search for 'Strobe' in Japan, if that alters your arguement?!?!?) From our supplier in Japan :(
Click to expand...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
:agree: although it can be tricky unless you have something that will sync past 1/250, or one that can be fooled into doing so like a Canon G9 (1/2500) or a Nikon D70/s (1/8000), but it does work :)
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high speed flash function although you loose flash out put using it or use a leaf shutter lol
 
POAH said:
high speed flash function although you loose flash out put using it or use a leaf shutter lol
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No, I don't use high-speed flash function , as that, as you say, limits the output of the gun. I do it by connecting the flashgun to the camera using modded cord (with the ttl function disabled) to "fool" the camera into thinking there isn't a flash attached. The result is that it can sync right the way up to the max shutter speed of the camera, without any loss in output....
 
having to mod things because I get a greater output of light from my flashes than from little flash guns so I don't have to raise the shutter speed.
 
True, but mentioning the mod was for the benefit of those who perhaps already have something like an SB-600, not you. ;) In their case it would be more cost effective (assuming the have one of the aforementioned cameras or something similar) to spend the £18 on a cable than rushing straight out and spending thousands on a set of studio lights etc .

Anyway,try lugging your set up about in areas where you can't take your car (not germaine to car photography I know, but my post was in response to Rikki's post about using "little flash guns" to overpower sunlight) and the benefit of spending a few of minutes snipping a couple of wires becomes apparent :)
 
This can be done on a much more modest budget than most of you are suggesting.

PT-04 Transmitter and 2 x receivers - less than £20.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Phottix-PT-04...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

then take your pick of old flashes. Vivitar, Canon, Nikon, doesn't matter.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANON-430EZ-S...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vivitar-285HV...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nikon-SB-24-T...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Couple of cheapo tripods or light stands and you are good to go. No need to spend £1500 or something ridiculous just to mess around lighting some cars.

http://strobist.blogspot.com is full of loads of really useful advice for getting started on the cheap :)
 
olv said:
This can be done on a much more modest budget than most of you are suggesting.

PT-04 Transmitter and 2 x receivers - less than £20.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Phottix-PT-04...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

then take your pick of old flashes. Vivitar, Canon, Nikon, doesn't matter.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANON-430EZ-S...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vivitar-285HV...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nikon-SB-24-T...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Couple of cheapo tripods or light stands and you are good to go. No need to spend £1500 or something ridiculous just to mess around lighting some cars.

http://strobist.blogspot.com is full of loads of really useful advice for getting started on the cheap :)
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You're wasting your time, POAH is always right, if he says you need the gear he has, then that is what you need. There are no alternatives :LOL:
 
Kinda what I said. *** the PT-04's are utter ****. I ditched mine and got some D8P (i think) which the guys on Flickr have been having great results with.
 
Rikki said:
Kinda what I said. *** the PT-04's are utter ****. I ditched mine and got some D8P (i think) which the guys on Flickr have been having great results with.
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The PT04s are okay if you are just messing about, but you spend more time trying to get them working than actually shooting. There are plenty of good mods you can do to improve their performance, but in the long run Pocket Wizards or Skyports are a much better option.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The result is that it can sync right the way up to the max shutter speed of the camera, without any loss in output....
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How do you deal with the banding as a result of the sensor only being partly exposed once you exceed x-sync speed?
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The PT04s are okay if you are just messing about, but you spend more time trying to get them working than actually shooting. There are plenty of good mods you can do to improve their performance, but in the long run Pocket Wizards or Skyports are a much better option.
Click to expand...

I tried the mod, made it worse.

Saving said that the new ones I got seem to be VERY good in testing, will be using them on my next mag shoot next week so we'll see how they fare.

Pocket Wizards are a joke money wise, they need to get their heads out of the clouds with that one :(
 
Rikki said:
I tried the mod, made it worse.

Saving said that the new ones I got seem to be VERY good in testing, will be using them on my next mag shoot next week so we'll see how they fare.

Pocket Wizards are a joke money wise, they need to get their heads out of the clouds with that one :(
Click to expand...

I agree about the cost of PWs, but they are good :) What are the ones you got?
 
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