Lighting a Car

rafikiwilliams

rafikiwilliams

Well-known member
What is the best way to light brand cars? Shooting some videos of cars, interior/exterior/engine.

The cars will be inside of garage. (clean, showroom style garage). There are skylights which were my initial concern with natural light leaking in.

Will probably cover those...

The videos are for a car company and will be a video feature list.. There will also be a company spokesperson standing outside the car narrating. And while he's talking cutting to b-roll of the cars features.

So just wondering if anyone has suggestion for lighting particular shots like guage cluster... seats... wheels... engine... ect...
 
This is not an easy thing for sure. Beauty shots for car commercials are often shot in a studio with one huge diffused source above the car. A brand often used for this is Fisher lights. Just a very very large softbox. Its also done sometimes by just spreading a huge silk across the top of the studio to diffuse the individual lights into one big source. I understand you can even see the seams in such a silk though so they have to be very careful.

But that's the key, one big source in order to avoid individual spectral issues on the car which is basically like a mirror.
 
I have handled it by hanging a 20X20 silk from a grid. You want to get this as close to the car as possible. I then light it with 4 to 6 6k space lights.

For side lighting it is best to bounce of as big a white reflective source as possible. I have used two 12X12 ultra bounces side by side... then rigged 3 to 4 5K's.

This solution is not simple, cheap or easy but it is the most beautiful way to light cars.
 
Thanks both of you for the reply. What you've said sounds like exactly what I want to do. Heres the situation. The client has already mentioned that they would be okay with spending money to have the location lit with a permanent light fixture. They mentioned another location they use for crash tests is already lit with huge ceiling mounted lights where a large silk grid can be raised or lowered.

This week I will be scouting the location I will be using for this shoot. If possible I would like to install some ceiling mounted lights, and a retractable grid.

Does anyone know of a company that performs these types of installs? I am not sure how much money the car manufacturer will allow for lighting, in perspective though this is a 6digit shoot so I am sure money will not be too much of an option.

Also another question i have is regarding shooting a person talking in front of the car. For this will i just need to do standard lighting on him, or will i need to use another massive soft box?
 
Here are a few samples for the type of lighting referred to in the previous posts. If you are filming a person in from of the vehicle I would recommend you to Light the subject separately (with a contrast ration of your choice) but make sure to flag of any spill to the car. That way you can play with the luminance difference between the two while not compromising any of your lighting set ups.
 

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emretufekci,

thanks for the pictures. I see you are MD local. Do you know of any custom lighting installers? I am fairly new to the area and dont have contants with rental companys or custom installers.

Any companies you suggest working with when it comes to lighting?
 
thats for those resources, will come in quite handy.

And to update. from the sounds of it the client has chosen to switch shooting locations to their showroom. I'm thinking this showroom should already be set up with some pretty good lighting. I'll be scouting it this afternoon.

Will post some pictures to get your inputs.

Thanks again everyone
 
Take a close look at those pix attached from Emre - you need white-white-white, lots of it, and solid.

A car showroom usually has a lot of "architectural" lights, designed to be cool looking fixtures.

Like any kind of glossy product shoot, once you frame a shot, every little reflection just leaps out - things your brain just "blocks out" in real life. Suddenly every light stand, the camera, the support, seams between light panels - they're all fighting you for a good shot.

There are huge, inflatable softbanks made that are generally rented. Should be all over google.

If I had to DIY this for a lower budget client, I'd look into having some giant panels of white nylon sewn up - and then rigging some way to fly 'em, and getting lights behind them.

I grew up in Detroit - it's amazing how many shots of vehicles outdoors were shot in a studio and pasted in. (I knew a retoucher from the pre-computer days - he said every shot he ever worked on was also stretched slightly to make the cars look sleeker).

If you're near a big city, there should be at least one studio equipped for shooting vehicles. If not, transporting the vehicles (to Dallas, NY, LA, Detroit) may make sense - studios that shoot a lot of cars will have guys on hand that wills save you a full day of testing, moving lights, etc.

Good luck, should be an adventure!
 
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