PA31-350 'Chieftain' Cockpit Lighting and Processing

[biggerry]

Its been a while since I have done a few interior jobs, however I am looking to improve on the technique. There are alot of variables in this kinda stuff however I am trying to nail out a consistent method to achieve decent results since I feel I have not yet reached a happy medium.

So, I am by no means a strobist expert nor is off camera flash a strong point in my skillset, so I am interested to know how you would go about capturing images from this kind of scene?

Would you use multiple speedlites? HDR it? Do it during daylight hours?

Critique on the following images is welcome.

These are often quite tricky scenes to capture and process, there is often not ideal lighting and the dynamic range between the ambient (cockpit) and the displays and instruments can be quite high, there is also no guarantee that I have control over the hangar floodlighting and to make things even more interesting, I have quite limited time with the A/C powered up due to the fact its running on battery...

fyi, this is Piper PA31-350 'Chieftain' twin engine charter aircraft, these things are typically pretty clapped out (30 years old), however this one has a new lease on life due to the avionics upgrade (all those pretty displays!)









a free beer for anyone who can correctly reverse engineer the lighting and processing the above images

[surenj]

Free beer?? So here we go

#1 HDR bounced flash but in close quaters causing hardish shadow, second shadow by mild ambient on the yellow ceiling light
#2 HDR similar but MORE ambient than flash
#3 flash only, directly bounced off the roof, no ambient.
#4 HDR ambient through skylight on ya hangar + some sodium vapour goodness causing green

#3 looks most 3D and therefore most appealing. I reckon you need to combine that look with the dials lit + collage with a suitable scene for the outside. Use a polariser and avoid reflections on the glass and tape the glass (from outside with a unique color (like a green screen) to create a screen so you can one click select in PS (sorry I don't think CX or whatever is going to cut it) to make the basic mask.

Looks extremely challenging as you don't have control over your ambient much or your backdrop.

What does the client think?

[Ant]

I used to dream of avionics like that but that is probably because I am a gadget freak.

I like the first image from a "wow, look at the avionics" point of view, shame the gear lights are really blown.

The third image is the best view, shame you cant have the instruments lit up on it.

[aim54x]

Dammit...I think Suren is on the money, or pretty close, in terms of the lighting!

As for other methods, can I suggest....light paint? then you can flash the electronics for a bit and get all your lights without blowout....I have done that with the headlights and indicators on cars

[Matt. K]

Hi Gerry
These are pretty good. I would try bouncing flash off a white foam board at rear of plane...just 1 thing...did you notice there's no one flying the plane?

[surenj]

you will need to replace the background ....

[biggerry]

#1 HDR bounced flash but in close quaters causing hardish shadow, second shadow by mild ambient on the yellow ceiling light

I reckon thats close enough to qualify for a free beer - my shout next time

Thats actually quite a good reverse engineer - the only slightly incorrect item is the flash, it was direct flash fired multiple times during each exposure from different angles.

I like the idea of replacing the outside with another view, unfortunately all those pilot nuts out there would jump up and down about the location showing on the sat weather and gps.

I would try bouncing flash off a white foam board at rear of plane.

hmm, thats a good idea, maybe a bit tight to get a decent sized one in there, maybe bouncing off a mini diffuser or two might work.

As for other methods, can I suggest....light paint? then you can flash the electronics for a bit and get all your lights without blowout....I have done that with the headlights and indicators on cars

yeah good idea, I did have a torch with me and that would certainly give a nice even light, better alternatively to the flash.

I used to dream of avionics like that but that is probably because I am a gadget freak.
I like the first image from a "wow, look at the avionics" point of view, shame the gear lights are really blown.
The third image is the best view, shame you cant have the instruments lit up on it.

The avionics are pretty cheap nowadays, with the boom of aviation grade GPS units the mass production has really brought the cost of these down. Wait until you see the next generation of conehead equipment come thru, touch screens and the like!

I guess the whole cost of this install is around the 100k mark and includes the Primary flight display (removes the old school dials on the left with funky screens), Garmin GNS430 and 530 (GPS and navigational controls) and the multifunction display which gives you satellite weather and whatever else ya want to display. There plenty of other black boxes behind the scenes to make all those pretty christmas tree lights, buts thats all boring sh$t.

Regarding the gear lights, I am sure you can appreciate that no aircraft has dim or hard to see landing gear lights - I geez.. how many times have peeps landed aircraft with the gear up!! The classic one being the B1 Bomber...check this out!

http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bombers4.html

A B-1B Lancer made a wheels-up belly landing at Diego Garcia Monday, skidding down the runway for 7,500 feet, according to Air Force reports. The four-person aircrew escaped from the plane. The B-1B was home based with the 7th Bomb Wing, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.

wow, yep I am off topic now..

[surenj]

it was direct flash fired multiple times during each exposure from different angles.

Ouch. Of course now I can see there are many shadows not just two! I would say the multi shadow look doesn't go well in this case.

Camerons lightpaint idea may be a goer though. It would be so hard to replicate shots in such cramped quarters.

Let us know how you go with it. Also make sure you let me know if you need an assistant.

I like the idea of replacing the outside with another view

The dark windows make the shots very gloomy so you need to do something about it. A nice backdrop could be an airport runaway at twilight (from the side) which might not distract too much from the inside which is the main subject.

[biggerry]

Ouch. Of course now I can see there are many shadows not just two! I would say the multi shadow look doesn't go well in this case.

yeah I was hoping they would be a bit more diffused - I think the light painting would be better.

Camerons lightpaint idea may be a goer though. It would be so hard to replicate shots in such cramped quarters.

I did it once before just using the diffuser material from my softbox and the flash and from memory this worked out OK...

Let us know how you go with it. Also make sure you let me know if you need an assistant.

I'll send ya txt next time, the biggest problem is that it is usually only for 15-20 minutes after work around 6:30... I do want to try and organise a session the weekend soon..