Lightpainted Car... First Attempt

[Wink]

Hi guys,

For ages now i've been wanting to give lightpainting cars a try after seeing the meet you guys did on this forum.
A mate at work has just had his car resprayed etc etc and wanted photos so i jumped at the chance to finally give this a go.

C&C greatly appreciated...







Thanks to everyone who posted in the other threads and answered questions about tips and the equipment needed for lightpainting.

[surenj]

Adam, These are beautifully done.

My favourite is the last one for it's composition. I quite like the turned wheel.

The first two could be improved but having a backlight of the sorts to define the back edge of the car. This could be a bare flash popped a couple of times or something. I am not sure because we didn't experiment with this technique. What we did was to take the softbox to the otherside (so it's facing the camera) and remove it in post.

The next frontier is to light the inside as well...

What equipment did you end up using?

[Wink]

Thanks!

I brought this softbox which was linked to in one of the other lightpainting threads and a 128 LED torch.

We tried lighting up the other side but both decided that the lurking out of the shadows look was a better fit. I guess it depends on the car as well. Some cars might have detail that needs to be captured like that. Convertibles would be an example i guess, where you want to show all the roof line or lack of.

The first photo is more of a brand (Holden/Chev) focused shot rather than a car focused shot. People get quite passionate about these things. I'm a little guilty of that at times myself.

[Glen]

Nice work Adam, like Surenj I like the 3rd best as well

[aim54x]

Great stuff!! I have to agree that the 3rd image is the best for me as well.

[LaurieE]

great stuff - especially more so if it is your first go!

where do you find somewhere so dark? a warehouse or is that a really big garage?

[biggerry]

Nice work Adam, they look pretty damn fine for a first crack..

I think a bit more light on the bonnet would have helped, however it all depends on teh look you were trying to achieve.

Thats a nice set of rims for the photo too! The last image looks a bit on the bright side to me but the composition is a winner, good aspect with the wheel etc..

Also toning down the brightness on that concrete would also help i think, being a light colour it has picked up alot of the light and is competing with the car. Just for kicks and giggles i had a play with your image - i hope you dont mind and let me know if ya don't want it up. (nice hiding of that shed and truck in the BG too)

[surenj]

The first photo is more of a brand (Holden/Chev) focused shot rather than a car focused shot.

In that case, what if you made the logo the brightest area of the image but still retained the shape of the car including the other side?

[surenj]

Gerry, I really like your edit! The reds really help define and contrast the colour of this car.

[biggerry]

The reds really help define and contrast the colour of this car

yeah there is quite a bit of light available up the back there - i imagine with the raw file you could really get some good love...

my main reason for the edit was to see the effect of the concrete, but bringing that bit of light outta the back helped too.

[surenj]

Gerry, what was your technique to darken the concrete? Burn or curves?

[Wink]

It's outside. I live in the country so finding dark places isn't all that hard.

I've got no problems with you guys editing my images. Showing me is probably the easiest way to understand your point rather than just words.

I probably could've put less light on the ground. I purposely lit it up a little.

Other than removing the spots from a few street lights and pulling a bit more detail from the highlights the images are as shot. Except for the first one where i removed the ugly number plate from the shot.

Gerry, could you please explain what you've done to that photo?

Thanks.

[biggerry]

It's outside. I live in the country so finding dark places isn't all that hard.

Gerry, could you please explain what you've done to that photo?

what was your technique to darken the concrete?

using NX2, area selection using the gradient tool (bottom left and bottom right) and merely adjusted the brightness level to suit. Colour control point (ctr+shift+A from memory) to get that bit of light around the cabin area.

hth

[Wink]

Thanks for the explanation.

[Wink]

Well...
I was using this torch... http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1205 for the above photos to use with the softbox i linked in an above post and the torch has died after less than an hours use.

My question to you guys is what other alternatives are out there?
Something without a focused beam would be the best bet i'd think. That was the advantage with the above torch. It was just a big flood of bright white light.

[zafra52]

I prefer the last one of the set, meely for composition. I cannot comment further because I never tried this technique and therefore I better leave it for others with more knowledge and experience.

[biggerry]

My question to you guys is what other alternatives are out there?

I think the torch you have is quite good, but unfortunately is just a cheapy hence its piss-poor battery performance, the ones with the wide throw, ie floodlight style ones are better suited, even one that has a variable throw would be great.

I would consider looking at better quality ones, maybe wolfeyes or fenix. I think it is worthwhile spending the bigger bucks, at the end of teh day you get wat you pay for!

A couple of sites wothwhile checking out

http://www.ledtorches.com.au/
http://wolfeyes.com.au/
http://www.torchworld.com.au/

[Wink]

Thanks!

It's not the battery performance that's the problem. The light itself is actually dead. The batteries were fully charged when it died. So i agree, i need to get something better. I just don't want to spend heaps on a light to find out it's not suitable for the job.

[gstark]

Adam,

Have a chat to Glen from this forum.

He imports the Wolfeyes products (there's a link on the Portal page), and apart from the facts that he's a mod here and a great guy, the products he sells are actually bloody good.

[Wink]

Thanks Gary.

I've Pm'd Glen.
I'm going to trial a 240v setup but i still need a good torch for focusing etc.

[aim54x]

Adam,

Have a chat to Glen from this forum.

He imports the Wolfeyes products (there's a link on the Portal page), and apart from the facts that he's a mod here and a great guy, the products he sells are actually bloody good.

I'll vouch to Glen, great guy, and the wolfeyes are a great product! Love my Defender 260...and I am sure quite a few other members here are happy wolfeyes owners as well.

[hellman]

Very impressive results, so much so I had to have a crack at it myself and failed dismally - did it with a mag light, and I think the light was too focused on one point and it came out quite streaky - will have another crack at it this weekend.

Some thoughts; I'd probably remove that truck alltogether, just seems a little distracting.

Maybe, if anything, the glossy lighting could be kept a little bit more even across the grill and the end of the bonnet in the first image. Looks as though it seems to stop 3/4's the was along. But just nit picking really.

Keen to see some more...

[Wink]

Thanks.

Glen suggested the Wolfeyes wouldn't be ideal for my needs so i've just finished wiring up a new light rig to try out so i'll probably take my car out tonight for a few tests shots. Overall the car will look crap because it's filthy from this rain but the test is to see how the light performs so it will do.

[Wink]

Ok, so i gave the light setup i'm working on a try lastnight. Here's a few of the results...







i think i've achieved my first goal of getting a more even light on the car compared to the earlier attempts.
My next step is to try some other diffusion material in an attempt to cut the light back a bit and change it's color slightly. With my new light it's very easy to put to much light on the car.

C&C greatly appreciated!

[surenj]

Adam, you are improving each time. I am really liking these. For the first it may look better if you held the light more evenly rather than bobbing up and down.

What's the new light setup that you are using? Could you post a picture ? [if it's DIY, it may be useful in our DIY thread as well]

[Wink]

Thanks!

The current setup is the same softbox but with a 240v globe mounted inside it. I'm going to try a couple of different diffusers over the next few days.

[biggerry]

Here's a few of the results...

Lookign very good Adam, you have got the technique pretty well sorted out, compositions are also quite good - do you have any front 3/4 shots?

The first one might be improved with some cloning of the bitumen to make it all nice and even, any kind of inconsistency in the road stands out like dog-balls and draws the eye away very easily.

240v globe mounted inside it.

this appears to work very well, the issue I have always had in the couple of times I have done it is trying to get enough light evenly spread over the subject. Top stuff.

[surenj]

240v globe mounted inside it

how do you power it?

[Wink]

Lookign very good Adam, you have got the technique pretty well sorted out, compositions are also quite good - do you have any front 3/4 shots?

Not on this trip. I'll be doing more soon so i'll take some then.

The first one might be improved with some cloning of the bitumen to make it all nice and even, any kind of inconsistency in the road stands out like dog-balls and draws the eye away very easily.

Totally agree. I just nicked out to a dark spot on a road to try these out. The next lot of keepers i have to do will be taken at the same location as the first lot of shots.

[Wink]

Here's some from last nights session...









I'm quite pleased. I think i'm making good progress.

[biggerry]

I'm quite pleased. I think i'm making good progress.

shite - they are looking very very nice - top stuff adam. now, i wanna see that semi trailer truck lightpainted now, with that kit it would almost be possible

[Willy wombat]

Looking very good!

How long are those exposures?

[Wink]

Thanks!

Most of them are around 20-30 seconds.