Car Photography Lighting with strobes/flash is a tricky technique; when done right it results in unique car photos that stands out from the ordinary photos. Flash car photography is easier when combined with ambient light or daylight, but what about when it’s pitch black out there, understanding light & shaping it is key to this type of car photography.
In this tutorial I am going to show you how to shoot a car with one Profoto B1 & a stripbox modifier to get that soft light on the car’s surface.
Equipment used in this tutorial
- Sony A7rii
- Canon 24 – 105 F4
- Metabones Adapter
- Profoto B1 Strobe
- Profoto RFi Softbox Strip 1×4
- Profoto Trigger
- Manfrotto light stand
- Manfrotto Tripod, Head & baseplate
- An assistant to take the photos
2 different images/exposures
- An image shot with the light
- The brake light image
How to shoot it?
I mounted the Profoto B1 with the stripbox on the light stand, the idea is to have the light positioned on top of the car without the stand appearing in the photo, You can off course invest in a boomed C-stand but I won’t be using that stand for anything else than this shot, it would be a waste of money so the only way to do it is to lift the stand and try to centre the light on top of the car.
This technique though will require taking multiple images with the strobe to ensure you have the light right as required, your assistant should be able to tell you if the exposure is correct, otherwise send him to do the heavy lifting & you just watch the photos coming in while directing him 😉
Once you are done with lighting the car with the strobe; it’s time to take the other exposure, the brake/tail light image.
If you nail all 2 exposures right then the rest will be done with Photoshop Magic to blend & merge all photos together. Watch my video to see the entire process of car photography lighting technique with Profoto B1