Photo: Jonathan B Harper
In a safe and secure vehicle storage area in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, it’s dark and primarily silent. There’s a shuffle of feet, an arc of light gently working its method through the darkness, and the click of a camera shutter. The video camera’s screen shines with the result of a 10-second direct exposure. A quick evaluation of the image, then the process repeats, once again and once again.
This is vehicle light painting.The topic of my light-painting efforts that night was a jaw-dropping Jaguar XJ220 recently obtained by Phil Toledano, a.k.a. Mister Enthusiast. The place was Hudson Stables, a high-end storage facility for vehicle lovers, run by buddies patient enough to endure my late-night photo projects. The fridge filled with cold beer was a nice welcoming touch.What is light painting, and how can you use it to develop beautiful automobile images?Let’s start with the essentials. An electronic camera catches light. If you take away all the
light, no image. But if you selectively illuminate your picture topic in near-blackout darkness, you can move beyond a basic photo to something moody and creative. Done effectively, you can use a light to “paint”the features you wish to highlight. In automobile photography, that usually implies framing the automobile’s shape, then walking the light from one end of the vehicle to the other, brightening the highlights of the car’s bodywork. However this strategy can also develop gorgeous close-up images of one part of a vehicle. The opportunities are endless.Photo: Jonathan B Harper Things you’ll require for light painting: A camera with handbook control of the shutter/aperture A tripod Some light(s) An excellent little patience.And that’s essentially it! I utilize Photoshop to combine the individual pictures together into one composite image, but you can use light painting
- to create a gorgeous single-exposure photo, no need
- for modifying software.G/ O Media may get a commission 41%Off LG Oled 55 “Smart television Pretty Aside from being 55″in size, this OLED television has more than 8 million pixels for really sensational images, exceptionally depth of blacks, and vibrant colors, utilizes an a7 Gen 4 AI Processor for 4K imaging, has low latency if you seek a good video gaming television, and even has incorporated Google Assistant and Alexa.Photo: Dave Tormey Picture: Dave Tormey< span data-id =" 67c1656e2afc5f6c5ef328a85f41f2ee" data-recommend-id ="image:// 67c1656e2afc5f6c5ef328a85f41f2ee"data-format ="jpg"data-width="5504"data-height="8256"data-lightbox= "real"data-recommended= “false”data-hide=”false”
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Picture: Jonathan B Harper
There are no guidelines to this method. Different professional photographers use different approaches and
equipment, most of which comes down to individual choice. Anybody can utilize the basic building blocks to produce something unique and expressive. For these XJ220 photos, I used a Sony A7R3 camera with a 24-70mm lens, sitting on a Manfrotto tripod. For light, I utilized a YN360 LED wand, but any intense LED flashlight will operate in a pinch. In fact, when I shot the light-painted photos for this article on the Bridan brothers’ rally-built Alfa Romeo, I forgot to load my professional-photographer LED light wand. We made do with a cheap LED store light. All this is to say, you can try this technique with just about any level of gear. Perseverance, and a discerning eye, are most important.The finest areas for automobile light painting are dark and lonely. You’ll require to leave your tripod in one area for several direct exposures, and you’ll need space to walk your light source backward and forward along the length of the cars and truck. Hudson Stables supplied a perfect location, especially considering that a car like the XJ220 would undoubtedly draw a large crowd parked someplace in public. You do not desire strangers roaming into your shot, messing with your equipment, or disruptive you.With the vehicle positioned and the garage lights shut off, I got to work. I constantly begin with a couple of ambient
direct exposures, no added light. These generally act as backups, in case I mess something up later and require a tidy referral image. I keep the ISO at 100 to prevent extra noise or grain. Depending on the size and shape of the automobile, an excellent starting point is aperture at f/8 and an exposure length of 10 to 15 seconds. The goal is to have sufficient time to move efficiently along the vehicle with your light, producing an even highlight.Time to light paint. Hit the shutter button and walk your light source along the vehicle. Keeping the light parallel to the ground will make tidy,
thin reflections on the body panels. Get the shot, evaluate, repeat.Ambient light only.Photo: Dave Tormey The white streak in this image is me carrying the LED light throughout the frame. You can see how I start and end with the light near to the automobile and pull it away in the middle.Photo: Dave Tormey This is where the persistence comes in. Even amongst professional photographers, it’s unusual to nail the lighting on the first shot. A lot depends upon the shape of the vehicle. This XJ220 is among those unusual automobiles that lights extremely quickly, with long flowing lines ranging from nose to tail. An automobile with a more chaotic design, like the new BMW 4-Series, provides a larger difficulty, with character lines and angles that push the light in numerous various directions.It takes a few search for the proper way to light the car you’re shooting. My finest results generally originate from holding the light as high as I can and keeping it steady as I move along the car. Sometimes you’ll require to change the height of the light, or the distance between you and the vehicle, as you walk the light. Ensure your movements are smooth. Photo: Dave Tormey Yes, I eliminated the red EXIT indication from the final image.Photo: Jonathan B Harper
AfterI captured the
ambient (no light painting )layer, and one layer of the car lit
with the LED wand , I moved on to the XJ220’s headlights. I like to shoot a couple of variations of low, mid and high for the headlights, which offers me choices in Photoshop later. I like to have some”spill”from the headlight onto the floor, but objective to have the headlight itself effectively exposed.Sometimes you need a little directional light to help the realism. For
the XJ220, I included an off-camera light, holding the LED wand fixed for a long sufficient exposure to expose the ground and provide the car a long shadow.The results might not look like much at first, however this is where your chosen picture modifying program enters into play. I utilize Adobe Photoshop, however there are totally free post-production platforms that will provide you the majority of the functions we’ll go over here.Note the light on top left corner to assist highlight the wheels.Photo: Dave Tormey That ghost on the left is me.Photo: Dave Tormey Image: Jonathan B Harper Once I’m done shooting, I integrate my selected images as layers in Photoshop. The last image is comprised of small pieces of each layer, all combined into one. The technique is
getting it all to work together without looking completely unrealistic. That stated, part of the magic of light painting is having an unnaturally illuminated automobile on a naturally dark background. Done correctly, the audience goes wow, take a look at that vehicle, instead of wow, take a look at that lighting. It takes practice, however the result can be fantastic.Photo: Jonathan B Harper I generally build my finished structure out of 3 to 5 photos, however it’s totally possible to attain terrific outcomes with a single exposure. If you’re checking out light painting for the first time, start with one image. The deep rabbit hole of Photoshop layering and retouching will open itself up from there
. One last point : You do not require a supercar. One of my favorite light painting shots I have actually ever recorded featured my daddy’s old Volvo 850 wagon, missing out on trim and all. That cars and truck has because been donated, but a poster-size light-painted print commemorates it in my father’s office.If you utilize these steps, or have your own methods for light painting, let us understand
in the comments!Jonathan B Harper is an expert vehicle professional photographer operating in NYC and LA. You can see his work on his website or Instagram. Thanks to Dave Tormey of Enthusiast Spec for the behind-the-scenes images, and a huge thank-you to Hudson Stables for the area and Mister Enthusiast for the car.
Source: https://jalopnik.com/how-to-use-light-painting-to-create-gorgeous-car-photog-1849315368