Luxury/rare cars

Thanks as ever for the kind words, really appreciate it! :)
 
Cant add anything other than echo what's been said, stunning work.

I love the 4x4 in the rain best, has a lovely mood to it.
 
excellent set there Graham - the Range Rover (No's 4&6) are my personal faves. Brilliant!!!
 
Thanks again folks!

Set out last night to do some quick comparison shots - the car isn't quite a Ferrari, but...thought it might be interesting anyway.

Ambient light, no CPL, no edit:
2mgr3sz.jpg


Ambient light, 2 image composite with CPL (one for top reflections, one for side) - 2min edit:
11abq7a.jpg


Finally, the same as above but using two portable studio lights as well, allowing me to underexpose the sky - 2min edit:
13zogi8.jpg
 
Excellent processing, could grace any magazine or advert. How long does it take you in Photoshop to do the Ferrari one?
 
Brilliant as normal Graham. What portable lights do you use, they are next on my shopping list. :)
 
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Thanks guys, appreciate the kind words as always! :)

Excellent processing, could grace any magazine or advert. How long does it take you in Photoshop to do the Ferrari one?

Not long at all, maybe 20-30mins at a push. It's a composite of two images, allowing me to move the CPL across two planes and get a nice, deep colour tone across the whole car. Once the images are blended which is maybe a 5 minute process, the rest of the image is then cleaned up as normal before any further editing is undertaken - usually just levels, dodge/burn. Sometimes it will inevitably mean brushing areas of the bodywork in from scratch which does take a little longer to make it look accurate. I shoot a lot of old cars so they're not always as pristine an example as you might hope for!

Very nice comparison, for some reason....I've no idea why I prefer the ambient light composite and not the strobes. Totally the opposite of what I'm normally like! :)

I agree with you to be honest. Natural light, when it's as good as that, is better than any supplementary lighting with a little bit of tweaking!

Brilliant as normal Graham. What portable lights do you use, they are next on my shopping list. :)

I use Godox RS600s. They've been good so far, decent and consisten power output and the transmitters/receivers they come with are excellent. The modelling lamps aren't brilliant in the day (LEDs) but are good for usual footwork. Battery life isnt bad either. For the money I think you'll struggle to find a better portable light!

Here's another recent one.
jkygrs.jpg
 
Thanks guys! I'm getting to the stage (finally) Thomas where I'm regularly being approached for this kind of thing - some private and some commercial. It's been a slow process but things are falling in to place!
Is that more of an advertising purpose, or a "here, im a multi millionaire, come and take a picture of my car"?
 
The commercial stuff is advertising - magazines, brochures, catalogues, websites etc. The private stuff is generally either for keepsakes/prints or for people trying to sell their car. I prefer the commercial stuff to be honest as it generally allows a bit more creativity, although usually also comes with bigger headaches!
 
Stunning sets of images. All of these would take pride of place on any advertising product.
 
Excellent work Graham, works really nicely with that background.

Just a couple of teeny things that stand out for me: the odd red/grey bits bottom left (only notice these on a huge monitor!) and also is the red light overflowing from the left brake light added in post?

Well done for a great image as we have come to expect from you!

Jeff.
 
Thaks guys - Top Miata have been sharing it on FB so you might have seen it pop up :)

The brake light isn't added in post (headlight isnt either even though I know it looks like it!). The red/grey bits are actually in-camera also - think it's an odd product of slight lens aborration and being lit from two sides with different wavelength light!
 
Wow! That first one is flawless. Love the atmosphere of the red light in the background in the penultimate photo too!
 
You are certainly at the top of your game, wonderful images. Kudos!
 
I've just been to test drive one of the MX5's today and the salesman commented that the billboard pictures of the MX5 don't do it justice to which I agreed - the actual lines of the car are stunning.

Why on earth aren't they using your pictures -the first one is imply stunning - no other words for it I am in awe of them!

I also love the full front one although the headlights in the last one are too bright for me.

Can I ask, when you say composite does this mean you leave the camera in the same spot but take 2 or more pictures with different shutter/aperture settings to bring out different areas of the car? I really want to get some good pics of my E36 but haven't succeeded yet.
 
Stunning photographs. Car manufacturers should definitely be using your photos if they aren't already
 
Thanks folks, really appreciate the kind words! I have spoken with Mazda UK but they currently have all the press they need for the MX5 - hopefully Ill be working on something else with them in the future all being well.

With regards the composite - yes its exactly that; light the areas you want and then combine the frames you want to use in post. Means you can do some really directional lighting and also means you can revisit the shot at a later date and create something entirely different!
 
These are all stunning, you have some great backgrounds to go with the cars too... it was also great to see the before and after shot up there... good work i shall i can keep watching:D
 
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