Hot Wheels Ford GT 500 Race Car Lighting Demo

Whether you’re photographing 1:64 scale cars (as I am here) or real, life-sized automobiles, lighting is key to a good result.

I lit the car two ways to demonstrate just how much impact a single light can have. The flat image on top is lit by one light directly above, feathered past the top of the car. The second image below is lit by an additional light coming from about 45 degrees to the right of the car and again feathered past. I also changed the color of the light and warmed it up in the second shot.

With metal objects, we want to control specular highlights and using large light sources, close to the subject and feathering the light, we can control the specularity.

The image below is what I settled on, which is closer to the top image but utilizes some of the highlights brought in with the second light source.

You may have gone a different direction. And that’s the point. When you’re in a session, try a couple of different approaches to give yourself more flexibility in post.

CONCLUSION

Since these cars are only the size of my thumb, it’s a challenge to get it all to work but in the end, light is light, and knowing how to use it to tell a story is the difference between TAKING a photograph and MAKING a photograph.

Fuji X100V

ISO 160
3.2 seconds
f/16

Color grade in Boris FX Optics.

Mounted to a Platypod and Platyball. Light sources suspended by the new Platypod Handle.

Remember, toys are joy.