Cars

Nissan GT-R 360 Forged Wheels Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - part 2 strobist night shots

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Nikon GT-R with custom wheels in Ybor City Tampa Florida black & white - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th tripod mounted with cable release - strobist: SB-800 in shoot through umbrella to frame right & SB-600 same setup to frame leftIn part 1 of the Nissan GT-R in Ybor City shoot I did for 360|Forged wheels, I featured daylight images.  Here in part 2 are late evening to night car photographs made using strobist techniques.  Thanks to help from the owner of the GT-R and his friend, I was able to make these bonus shots during the shoot with very specific light placement.  Basically, instead of my speedlights just being on light stands, the lights were able to be used upside down pointed at the wheels or areas of the car I thought best highlighted the GT-R. 

Nissan GT-R front quarter panel view Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - strobist: SB-800 in shoot through umbrella to frame right & SB-600 same setup to frame leftFor the above shot I achieved the black background by first aiming the two speedlights only at the car to manage background light spill, and then using Photoshop to turn any visible spill to pure black.  In reality, this shot was made in the same spot as the first photograph in this post.

Nissan GT-R Tampa skyline street strobist image Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/8th - strobist: SB-800 in shoot through umbrella to frame right & SB-600 same setup to frame leftWhere in the first two photographs the lights were both pointed low toward the Nissan GT-R, in this shot one light was held high above the hood of the car (see setup shot below).  Another light was used along the rear quarter panel and driver's side to let shadows be created for showing the different lines of the car's design.  The slow 1/8th shutter speed was used to pull some light out of the Tampa skyline for the background.

Nissan GT-R Ybor City photo shoot strobist setup, not seen is another strobe to frame right

Nissan GT-R in white with 360 Forged Wheels Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - part 1

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Nissan GT-R with custom 360 Forged wheels in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/15th tripod mounted with cable releaseI received a phone call last week from 360|Forged about photographing a Nissan GT-R in Tampa owned by one of their clients.  They make custom wheels and wanted a shoot of the GT-R focused on showing the wheels.  They saw my Lexus IS F shoot and liked that Ybor City location so the whole GT-R shoot came together quickly. (view Part 2 night strobist images)

A white Nissan GT-R custom photographed for 360 Forged wheels in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/3 tripod mounted with cable releaseI had done three previous car shoots at this particular Ybor City location that I found on my own during a scouting trip a few years ago for the IS F client.  I never like to repeat myself when I go out shooting, but having already made close to three dozen car photographs in this spot, I had to really look to find some fresh angles and backgrounds.  Luckily, there were still plenty of new setups to mine from that Ybor City location as the above shot I had never done before.  I utilized the ONE WAY sign in the shot, pointing in the opposite direction of course to create a more rebellious nature to the look of the image.  

White Nissan GT-R supercar photographed in Ybor City Tampa Car Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/20th tripod mounted with cable releaseI knew for the photo above I wanted to make just a front quarter panel composition of the Nissan GT-R in a long shot using an 80-200mm lens.  I shot from downhill to further exaggerate the angle.  Quite a bit of distraction was cleaned up from the backround leaving just the white Nissan GT-R on red brick framed by white clouds.

Nissan GT-R (white) with custom 360 Forged Wheels in Ybor City Tampa Florida Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/13th tripod mounted with cable releaseI often shoot with a lot of extra space around the intended subject.  This was the case in the above photograph.  In the uncropped version the sky was visible as well as the intersection down the street.  I liked that shot as it was, but I decided to crop in and put more of the focus on the car and the red brick background.

Thank you to the GT-R's owner and his friend for assisting in lining up the car for these shots.  This collection of Nissan GT-R photos is just part one, all in daylight.  Part two will feature strobist twilight images.

Photography Tip - replace a busy background with clean sky Corvette Photography

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This Corvette is real, and the sky is real, but they were not really photographed together.

I went to a Corvette car show in South Straub Park this past Saturday mostly to meet the owner of the above customized Corvette.  I first photographed his car back in November.  He was not by his car at the time and only by chance found my photograph of it.  Since then I have been in regular contact with the owner, Bobby, about possibly doing a full shoot of his Corvette.  That still has not happened yet, but at least on Saturday I got a chance to go see him and say hello.  

This is the original image as made on site at a car show in St. Petersburg FloridaI have written several times that shooting cars at car shows often results in less than desirable images, if you want the focus to be on the car itself.  This case was no different as the trees in the background compete for the viewer's eye just as much as the Corvette.  The solution for a busy background?  Replace it with a better one!

Corvette cut out from the background using Photoshop Quick Select ToolIt was pretty straight forward to remove the Corvette from its background using the Quick Select Tool in Photoshop.  I kept the grass foreground as seen above.  I was careful to of course not select the inside of the window so that too could be part of the background replacement.

The replacement background used in the composite image.I went into my photo archives to look for a suitable replacement background.  Using actual objects is rather hard to do as proportions can be very difficult to match (car looks giant, buildings look tiny, etc).  A sky background is usually a good and easy replacement background subject.  I used one I made of Sunset Beach on Treasure Island, Florida.

The new background slipped right behind the Corvette, window included.Then it is just a matter of slipping the sky background layer behind the Corvette layer in Photoshop.  I positioned it taking into consideration cloud placement.  I did not even need to cut out the sandy beach part because that is all hidden behind the Corvette.  The above image is the final composite photograph which allows the viewer to focus on the Corvette as the subject.

Motion blur added to a more advanced edit of the Corvette composite image

After getting a composite image I liked, I experimented with even more Photoshop editing.  I added a motion blur to the grass and a radial blur to the tires to create the illusion that the Corvette is speeding along on the grass.  I darkened the window and put in a silhouette of my own head to show a driver inside to help complete the motion illusion.  What do you think of the motion shot?  Is it convincing or not quite there yet?

1963 Chevrolet Corvette split-window St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography

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A racing 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split-window in Straub Park St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseAt a Corvette car show in South Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg Florida I had the chance to photograph this rare 1963 split-window Corvette.  The owner was not around at the time so I could not learn much about the car or what it is like to drive it.  The only clean angle to photograph it was from this rear three-quarter panel view due to surrounding cars.  In my mind this split-window Corvette is thinking get me the heck off this grass and onto that road in front of me!

Ferrari 458 Spider in yellow on white background St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography

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Selected crop & edit of a Ferrari 458 Spider photographed in St. Petersburg FloridaGoing through my unedited car photography archives, I found this straight on view of a yellow Ferrari 458 Spider.  It was originally photographed at the Grand Prix Gala inside a office building's lobby (see below).  The background was of course busy and full of people.  To put the focus on the car itself I decided to cut it out of its original background and place it on a digital white background.  Below is the digital photo editing process for making the final image.

I cropped the Ferrari above its bumper to give it a kind of peaking up at the viewer look.  

Festivals of Speed 2013 St. Petersburg Florida Vinoy Park Concours d'Elegance

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The car that greeted visitors at the Concours d'Elegance Festivals of Speed 2013 in Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDROn a very sunny day in Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg Florida I strolled into the Concours d'Elegance Festivals of Speed 2013 with a media pass and my Nikon.  I spent as much time talking to people there about cars and their car related products and services as I did making photographs.  I already posted images of an orange Lamborghini and a chrome Nissan GT-R.  The photos below are a few car details that caught my eye.

1930 Cadillac hood ornament emblem at Festivals of Speed 2013 Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/4 ISO 200 1/800thI first thought this was a Rolls Royce hood emblem and had to do some research to identify it since I never made any other photos of the car.  I found out it was actually a 1930 Cadillac.  

Porsche Cayman bokeh look at Festivals of Speed - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/4 ISO 200 1/800thI like the lines of the Porsche Cayman very much.  I used a large aperture to show only the front fender in focus letting everything toward the back of the car start to disappear.

The Maserati logo on a Gran Turismo at Festivals of Speed Vinoy Park Florida 2013 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250The distinctive Maserati logo found on the side of a silver Gran Turismo at the Festivals of Speed.  Using a 105mm prime lens forced me to look for details as getting an entire car into the frame in a crowded car show was impossible.  

Orange Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera HDR St. Petersburg Florida car photography

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An orange Lamborghini Superleggera on digital black background photographed in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRMy favorite Lamborghini is the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera because of why and how it was made (super lightweight to be the best driver's car possible).  At the Festivals of Speed Concours d'Elegance 2013 in St. Petersburg Florida I had the opportunity to photograph this orange Superleggera.  As is often the case with shooting at car shows, the background was less than ideal.

Original HDR image of this Lamborghini Superleggera at the Festivals of Speed St. Petersburg Florida 2013I had this in mind when looking for the best angle to photograph the Lamborghini.  I knew the background did not matter, I would edit it out.  What I looked for was minimal reflections in the car body.  To my surprise there were almost none the entire length of the driver's side, hence I setup my tripod to shoot it from this angle.  Choosing a black background also hid any imperfections in carrying over the shadow under the car.