Poster Cars: Stance Edition..?

Every once in a while I'll get a wild hair and want to get my hands on something completely out of my wheelhouse to photograph. I wouldn't say any type of vehicle is more my type than anything else but, for sure, stanced cars are a breed I have very little knowledge or familiarity with. So.. a couple months back, when I was missing shooting the local nightlife, I dropped a post on Facebook looking for someone to donate some time for some content. Enter Parker..

We linked up at a local gas station, I told him I couldn't believe his car could actually move around town at the static height it was sitting at, he laughed, and we hit the road. The first goal was to get some rolling shots of his car sweeping streets.. because, why wouldn't you? When something is that low, that's kind of the magic behind it doing its thing. We took it out onto the highway and under one of the new overpasses, just because I knew there'd be some lighting there that could help push the image over the top. And, according to the number of likes that image gathered on Instagram, we succeeded.

From there, we found an empty parking lot (the middle of nowhere doesn't have much else to offer), and snapped a few more images. I didn't think much of it beyond just a night to hang out, meet a fellow enthusiast, and create some content.. and then the next day I get a message from the editor of Fast Car Magazine. He wanted more info, more photos and contact details for Parker. They were seriously considering it for a feature in their publication. To say Parker was thrilled might be an understatement.

A couple months passed and the feature is now out in the July 2021 issue of Fast Car Magazine. And, as if that isn't cool enough, his car landed the pull-out poster feature. Remember the car posters you'd pull out of your magazines as a kid and hang them on the walls in your room? Parker's car is now one of those cars.. Which also means I created one of those posters.. Somebody, pinch me. (Update - So I totally jumped the gun on this, based on the design work on the cover, and assumed the rig shot we put together of his car was the pull-out poster. After finally getting my hands on the publication, it turns out I was incorrect! Big bummer.. But I guess I can add this goal to my list for future projects!)

Night Shooting

For a variety of reasons, I've recently become obsessed with shooting at night. While I've been terrified of dealing with artificial lighting in the past, educational opportunities and experimentation have pushed me out of my comfort zone and into a completely new realm of photography. So far, I'm over the moon about the possibilities. The tones you can control when working entirely with artificial lighting is probably my favorite part of this whole experience.

Making use of a Yongnuo YN-360 and an Einstein E640, I've been pretty content with the results so far. Mixing in techniques like shooting the car at a higher aperture (to ensure it's entirely in focus) and then blending a background from the same angle but shot at a shallower aperture setting, has helped give me more control over the final image. This is by no means a new technique but it's definitely one that has helped me in isolating my subject, holding onto sharpness across the entire vehicle, and gives me a long enough exposure time to paint the vehicle.

If it's possible, I've been opting to leave filters off of my camera when shooting at night. Sure, cutting reflections is valuable when working with glossy vehicles but, for me, battling the more pronounced refraction issues of that extra glass filter just isn't worth the hassle. Honestly, if you're shooting with a strobe, you can typically shoot at a higher shutter speed to cut the ambient reflections completely out. If you're working with a wand and light painting, that's a different story.

When deciding which method I'll use to light a car, light painting or strobing, it typically boils down to a couple of factors:

What color is the vehicle? If the vehicle is any color aside from black, I'm pretty game for strobing it. To me, strobing it produces some nice gradients in the color and light, which feels more natural. Since black vehicles don't have any color to help carry the light across the body lines, they typically react better to light painting (or strobing with large modifiers) to show contour and shape. That said, even when light painting a black vehicle you will find better results if you make use of a softbox to help make the light source larger and softer. (The two black vehicles in this post are great examples of what happens if you don’t use a large light source for painting - they basically look like outlines.)
Where will I be shooting the vehicle? If I'm working with a location that has a lot of ambient light, I'm more likely to strobe my subject vehicle. It's harder to leave the shutter open longer to paint a vehicle with light if I'm battling overexposure from various local light sources. (I know, I know.. Couldn't you use ND filters or stop the aperture down more? Sure - but that means you'll need to increase light output from your light painting device to compensate.) But, if I'm working in an area that has little ambient light to worry about, I may opt to light paint the vehicle. Once you get the hang of light painting and how to position the light to hide it in the body lines, it can be faster than messing with strobes, battery packs, light stands, modifiers, etc.

Keep in mind - these are not rules. I won't only light paint vehicles with color on them, or not strobe a black vehicle (though I've yet to do this). They're just some things I've run across when shooting that have helped me create a baseline when deciding how to approach lighting a vehicle.

Gear: Canon 6D, Canon 17-40 4L, Canon 24-70 2.8L, Canon 70-200 2.8L I, Canon 85 1.8, Tiffen CPL, Yongnuo YN360, Einstein E640, Sunpak Tripod

Post Processing: Adobe Camera Raw & Adobe Photoshop

Todd Grant's incredibly clean Hondas (TBC)

A few years back, when I was fully devoted to building Cinemauto and figuring out automotive videography, I was in search of more local builds that were unique and clean. Let's face it.. Wichita doesn't exactly have the most booming car scene. Outside of race cars and classic restorations, the culture in these parts is fairly milk toast. In a moment of sheer desperation, I took the advice of a couple friends that suggested I meet with a guy (Todd) who had two uber clean Honda builds. (It's not that I dislike Hondas or their fan base - but Fast & Furious didn't really do any favors for the community and our local Honda scene was already knee deep in clapped out sedans with stainless fart cannons, aluminum wings and neon gauges. Still can't imagine it? Pep Boys was our equivalent to The Racer's Edge.)

As luck would have it, Todd and I both ended up reaching out to one another simultaneously. He had seen some of the previous video work we'd done and I decided to live dangerously and gamble our future on the most common place cars around. Or so I thought. Upon actually meeting with Todd, I was swept away by some of the simplest, cleanest, most tastefully modified cars I'd ever laid eyes on.

The cars were gently lowered to a position that enhanced the existing body lines. They just looked like they were already on the move, and they were sitting perfectly still. The subtle addition of air dams, splitters, and rear lips ushered away all notions that these were the same daily driver your dad drove to work. And while I'd love to talk up his choice of wheels, Todd runs wheels on his cars like Sneakerheads run Jordan Ones. They're the best of the best and they're only on until he gets bored, when another set, even better than the last, tags them out for a brief intermission.

Anyway - for the folks interested in some backstory on his cars, here's a link to the video we did a couple years back. You'll notice that the Civic has already seen a few changes compared to my photos, and the Integra will likely look different once I'm done with that set!

Gear: Canon 6D, Canon 24-70 2.8L, Canon 85 1.8, Tiffen CPL, Yongnuo YN360, Einstein E640, Sunpak Tripod

Post Processing: Adobe Camera Raw & Adobe Photoshop