Cars In The Studio

A typical photo studio gives you the ability to control your lighting and environment. There are some differences between portrait and car photography: you do run out of room really quickly when the subject is a car, as you need space for the car, space to step back for the shot and space to move the lights back from the car. And you probably don’t have enough lights. Lighting for a car is similar to lighting for a portrait, with some significant differences that I’ll mention below. I recently spent some time working out lighting set-ups with a fantastic black Ferrari 348, and learned a lot.

Main and fill lights work the same to provide the illumination on the main surface, and reduce shadows in the opposite ‘side’ such as the car’s nose in a three-quarter view. The major challenge involves watching for the reflections of the lights: a large enough diffuser combined with the light some distance away from the car, will help smooth and spread the light evenly over the whole surface.

Traditionally, separating the subject from the background can be accomplished with either a light shining down onto the top of the subject (hair light), or onto the background (kicker light). For most car colours, this works as expected. With a black car, on a black background, the light is soaked up, so you need to be able to position the light with the reflection seen by the camera. An easier way is to use a kicker light that will silhouette the outline of the car. You may also need several low-power kicker lights under the car to reduce shadow edges, to outline wheels, and to provide additional separation from the backdrop under the car.

Highlights: this is where you need lots of lights. The major difference from portrait photography is in illuminating the characteristics, lines and shapes. You will need to use spot highlights to bring out key aspects of the car: logos, wheels and other features. You wouldn’t shine a light onto a rather large nose: the client may not appreciate the generous nature of their nose. Finally, strip lighting will illuminate curves and provide accents through light reflections. And all of this while ensuring there are no reflections of light stands, you, equipment and surroundings in the car’s paint.

But when you get that all worked out (and you may need to do it in pieces and stitch it all together later), you’ll have re-created those automotive and motorcycle magazine shots we all see and drool over.

In the images here, the car is in a space the size of a two-car garage, and I am using a 45mm lens, positioned as much as 30 feet away. Warehouses make the best indoor automotive photography studio locations.