Today I did my first studio car shoot. The plan was to get a frontal shot of this Porsche Boxster S.
The setting was 1/250 at F5 ISO100.
For lighting I used 2 strip boxes, one on the left and one on the right. The strip boxes were equipped with a grid to control the light and narrow the beam.
It was essential to set up the lights symmetrical so that the reflections on the car match on both sides. On the floor you can see how the grid is focusing the light. The falloff from light to shadow is very narrow. Because of the narrow beam, it is crucial to set the lights up at the right hight and angle. The goal was to illuminate the entire front from fender to fender. At the right position, the two beam "meet" in the center of the hood. This illuminates the car evenly.
To illuminate the interior, specifically the seats, I placed a small flash inside the car. I attached a flash bender to control the direction of the light and to eliminate overspill.
Setup of one of the lights. For strobes, I used Einstein E640 flash units. The strip boxes are from China.
Behind the car is a black fabric backdrop. It is important to eliminate light reflections. The ceiling in this warehouse is white with red beams. In the beginning, I had a perfect reflection of the ceiling on the hood. By reducing the light spill with the grids, I managed to control this problem. In an ideal environment, all the walls and the ceiling are black.