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I thought I'd try creating some reflections with a puddle from the recent rain in Melbourne last night...









C & C welcome as always.

looking damn fine there Adam!

I really dig the reflections, great idea on using teh recent rain for some good use. The second and third images look a bit hot on teh car, almost to the point of losing some detail, however on the flip side, the reflections are perfectly exposed, I would look at locally protection the highlights on the car to see if that helps..

The last image is great, not sure how you did that but it works nicely - also not sure if I want to know, I like the mystery top stuff, you would be making some car nuts very proud owners with your shots.

These look great

The only thing that comes to mind - and it is minor - is that I found the curved white reflections in the windows a tad distracting (have no idea how you'd shoot to remove them however).

biggerry wrote:looking damn fine there Adam!

I really dig the reflections, great idea on using teh recent rain for some good use.

Thanks!

The second and third images look a bit hot on teh car, almost to the point of losing some detail, however on the flip side, the reflections are perfectly exposed, I would look at locally protection the highlights on the car to see if that helps.

The white cars really get quite bright really quickly! I use the recovery slider in LR, which according to the warning gets rid of most of it, but it does still look hot. I lower the exposure or brightness as much as I dare using the adjustments brush before things start to look odd... I'm not sure what else to try.

The last image is great, not sure how you did that but it works nicely - also not sure if I want to know, I like the mystery top stuff, you would be making some car nuts very proud owners with your shots.

Fair enough.
The owners are quite pleased.

Remorhaz wrote:The only thing that comes to mind - and it is minor - is that I found the curved white reflections in the windows a tad distracting (have no idea how you'd shoot to remove them however).

Totally agree with you.
I've thought about trying it with my CPL on, but I'm not sure that would work.
Different technique might be the best approach.

Really impressed by these, its difficult to control the lighting for this car shots, when you don't had even further reflective surfaces to cause issues.

I do like the last of these. The bridge adds extra interest to the image.

Dealing with the reflections is easy ... to a point. Roll down the windows! Obviously that won't help with the front or back glass, but it should help with the side glass.

gstark wrote:Roll down the windows!

You will probably find these have electric windows.

Seriously, I like these shots and agree with all the critique offered thus far. Now it's time to shoot a real car....like a 1999 Daiwoo Lanos!

The windows trick would work, but I think it would then light up some of the interior.
It's something worth experimenting with though.

I was thinking that if I held my light lower than the window line and shone the light upwards then there wouldn't be a reflection in the window that the camera could see... I think.

The hard part about the reflections was staying out of the water to keep it still while still lighting the whole car. That's why there's those 2 half loops rather than the straight line across the glass you would've seen in my previous shots.

The lastone has great perspective. All are really well done. One problem of new cars is the back windows dont always roll down flush..

That was well captured. I can sense the mysterious effect,with rain pouring down! Just amazing!!

#4 is brilliant! I see that you lit the background as well? In any case the compo is quite nice.

Is the exposure issue with a white car the same as a black car? [I thought it would be similar exposure?? , Can someone clarify?]

Wink wrote:I was thinking that if I held my light lower than the window line and shone the light upwards then there wouldn't be a reflection in the window that the camera could see... I think.

Maybe it would work but I quite like the reflections which increase the 3D effect. The other option is to use a monopod or boom arm with your softbox. BTW do you have any with a rippling shadow on the water?

surenj wrote:#4 is brilliant! I see that you lit the background as well? In any case the compo is quite nice.

Actually I didn't. The light in the background is from the lights on the bridge.

Is the exposure issue with a white car the same as a black car? I thought it would be similar exposure?

White cars light up really quickly. Black cars can be a real pain to cover with light this way.

BTW do you have any with a rippling shadow on the water?

No I don't sorry.
There are other shots though. You can see them HERE.

The photos of the VW Polo have been featured on the UK based website PoloDriver.com

I'm happy...

Wow, excellent news and they look a treat! congrats Adam! Very very happy for you!

Wink wrote:The photos of the VW Polo have been featured on the UK based website PoloDriver.com

I'm happy...

Great stuff Adam! It certainly is a nice set of images they used - all thumbs up and add them to your list of clients

There are certainly great images