Hot Ferrari… Hot day… Cool shots!
There are those occasions when a particular photo shoot just doesn’t schedule in at the right time of day or place. The period of availability for a particular product may be very limited or its location may be subject to time and travel constraints. This is the case in point with our recent shoot for a client and his new Ferrari 599 GTO. The distance to our studio was a factor, along with the availability of the owner and his exotic automobile being limited to a few hours on the week of the shoot. Rather than delaying the shoot and missing any deadlines, we packed up and traveled to the clients location and photographed the vehicle in a nearby Library parking lot. At least it was void of parked cars, although we did take a short break to accommodate a city utility truck on its daily trash pickup route. The Ferrari was shot in the heat, humidity and harsh light of a South Florida afternoon. The somewhat cluttered background was not an issue, as the final shots were going to be silhouetted, but we did need to pay attention to any distracting reflections it presented. With that in mind we came equipped with a roll of studio grey background paper, black and white foam core panels, and silver reflectors to kick extra light into the interior and onto the shadow areas as needed. With the automobile in position and the camera locked down on a tripod we proceeded to shoot multiple exposures utilizing our panels and reflectors to eliminate reflections and modify the light on specific areas of the vehicle, section by section. The finished shot is a composite of 15 of these exposures, including brightened wheels, brake calipers, trim and logos on the exterior and interior. Along with the silhouetted 3/4 views that Mark shot, we augmented the shoot with close-ups, detail shots and straight-on front, back and rear views which Jon shot, stretched out on the hot pavement behind the camera at ground level. With a two hour shoot in the hot Florida sun, some of our stock image backgrounds and a few hours of Photoshop work, we delivered a series of dynamic images. To quote our client “You guys did fabulous work ….it is rare these days to see real first class work, you guys delivered!!!”
