I’m presently doing some automobile photography. I’ve begun with some pictures of our vehicle, an ancient (12 yrs old) Lincoln Aviator. Despite it’s age, it still looks pretty good. It’s been in Arizona for 8 years now and since we don’t spend a lot of our time here, it’s accumulating miles/kilometres very slowly. So, for these shots, all I had to do was get it washed and as you’ll see it scrubs up pretty well.
The ideal way to photograph cars is in a studio with controlled lighting. Since I don’t have such a place, I chose the next best choice: outside during the periods of 1/2 hour before sunrise or 1/2 hour after sunset. The light is very uniform and soft at this time of day. No harsh glare and no dark shadows. I also found it helpful to use a circular polarizing filter to control reflections of the sky, outdoor lighting and surrounding trees.
Here’s the first one, a wider angle shot showing the car in the driveway.
This next image is a little tighter shot, focused on the front right quarter of the vehicle. I applied a little softening to the final image to give it a “magazine ad” look. It also does a good job of hiding any small nicks in the paint.
Closeups are always popular so I’m included this last shot, displaying some of the Aviator’s distinctive features, a wheel, a headlight and a glimpse of the grill. Ford stopped production of the Aviator in 2005 and no longer produces an SUV in this size range. The larger Navigator remains popular, the only SUV Lincoln continues to market.
I plan to photograph some vintage cars in the next little while. There is no shortage of them in the Scottsdale area, a real mecca for the models my generation grew up with. I’d like to polish my skills in time for the next Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale next January. Here’s a link to their site…Barrett Jackson Auction Company