[TWiTCHY]

Sorry if you were expecting photos...this is a work in progress.

I wanted to start light painting cars, so I made this:



The Vagabond mini will attach to the bottom of the stick to balance out the weight.

Question is, what type of softbox do I use now? Square, rectangular, octagonal? Size/dimensions?

Anyone with experience in light painting cars, chime in, please!

[rodi]

i used a small stripbox for these:

[TWiTCHY]

This is a great example of how difficult it is to light black cars. What were the dimensions?

[rodi]

it's an AB stripbox, like 36" by 9" or something like that.

[TWiTCHY]

AB800 started smoking at highest modeling lamp output using the Vagabond Mini to power it, so I switched it out for a normal 60W bulb. I'll post test shots in a bit...hoping to find someone's car to shoot with tonight.

I didn't use a softbox, by the way, just the dish reflector.

EDIT: Going out to Home Depot to see what different bulbs and mounts I can get...softbox is totally unnecessary I think!

[Chewy734]

in that first pic, turning the wheel like that makes it look really distorted.

[TWiTCHY]

Here's a second attempt with a black car. Went out to Home Depot and bought a 60w daylight bulb.





Still having trouble grabbing highlights on the edges of the car.

[rodi]

why are using the modeling lamp? use the strobe.

[TWiTCHY]

Lamp because this is a topic on light painting haha. Are your photos done with a strobe? If so, I might try that, but then I would need a softbox...

[rodi]

what are you using f/16 and 10 seconds?
with the strobing method, you can light what you want for each shot and composite later. that way you can focus on the back side of the car (relative to the point of view).

[BillLee]

does this count as light painting? i did this with a SB-600, all in one shot. F8, 20 sec exposure. flashed once on front bumper, and twice down the sides.

[BillLee]

this one is with a led work light. two images into one.

[TWiTCHY]

There's no right or wrong way of doing this...but there are better ways in achieving a certain effect.

I'm going for those white streaks of light - the highlights that run along the lines of the car. Photos like this, by Webb Bland:

I am trying to emulate this effect using light painting, and it's very possible given the photos I've taken already. It's a matter of knowing where to run the light across and at what angle so that the light bounces into the camera. The height and angle of the light relative to the car's surface and camera position is everything. I'm going to practice that more on a car with more lines, rather than different camera/light settings.

[rodi]

that one is an effect of the overhead lights and composited with selective strobing.

[1013mm]

no stick....




I can tell you that webbs was not light painted. in fact the car was not even shot there.