Help Lighting Car/Van Interiors

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PDub

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Philip
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A few months ago a friend of mine asked me to start doing some photos of his work, he converts VW T4/T5 vans to put interiors in etc...

Now im having some issues with lighting them properly, his unit doesnt have the greatest of light and I usually shoot them before and after work which means its dark now.

I've been using my Metz flash off camera, often bounced with a diffuser which helps a lot but I do often get some weird shadows thrown by my on board flash as i have to use this to trigger my flash.

Question is how can improve the situation, would it be worth gettin wireless triggers, extra flash guns etc...?

This is what im gettin so far, taken this week...


DSC03119.jpg by Philip Warren, on Flickr


DSC03111.jpg by Philip Warren, on Flickr


DSC03095.jpg by Philip Warren, on Flickr

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Why not try a longer exposure to make it look less clinical? The vehicle is static so make sure your colour balance is right then use a longer exposure to balance ambient with the interior. I would have thought with such a small space and so many reflective surfaces flash will cause you some issues. It would be good to include the view out of the window too otherwise it look very dark in there. Just make sure you pay attention to what is in the view!

I would also try and soften it up a touch ie put some things in the open compartments, personal touches. It will give people looking an idea of the size of the compartments and allow them to pre visualize their van and how they could use it...

Have a look at volksworld etc to see what they do as I would imagine prospective clients will have looked there first!

In the shots you show the seats look really marked do I would try and ensure they are all brushed in right direction/clean!

Another thing use a small adult or 2 to show it in use and give the illusion of greater space.

Hope that helps....?
 
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Some great pointers there, thanks for that. Ive been trying to avoid the outside of the van as its in the workshop which isnt that glamorous! lol.

Longer exposure shots are quite difficult as i cant get my tripod in a position that would cover as much as the interior as possible, maybe i should look to get an ultra wide angle to help with this. I'll try it out next time tho even if i have to prop the camera somewhere.

Good shout on putting things in places tho, will have to try that with their demo van, mostly i take photos of their work that goes out the door the next day so its difficult to get some props involved as a lot of the vans are different but i will try to do it.

Normally the seats are clean and brushed correctly but i forgot to check this one!

Thanks again.
 
PDub said:
Good shout on putting things in places tho, will have to try that with their demo van, mostly i take photos of their work that goes out the door the next day so its difficult to get some props involved as a lot of the vans are different but i will try to do it.

Normally the seats are clean and brushed correctly but i forgot to check this one!

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
It's the attention to detail that makes or breaks the shot.
Ultra wideangle lenses cause their own problems because of perspective distortion - OK, before anyone jumps on me, it's the close viewpoint not the angle of the lens - so several different shots with a moderately wide lens usually works best.
And the tip about including small adults is a good one too.

Back to your original question - have your tried bouncing flash off of the roof lining and combining it with as long an exposure as you can realistically manage? The only other thing you can try, which has worked for me, is to hide small slave flashes so that they light dark corners.
 
Why ive never thought of HDR before i dont know! Its pretty much made for a good blend of exposures.

I'll try a long exposure with what i normally do and report back. Ive been using the camera in aperture priority so just left it at the usual 1/60th, ill try a few in manual and see how i get on.

Thanks all, much appreciated. :)
 
Another, albeit odd, work round I've used occasionally with limited kit for this sort of thing - long exposure and manually pop the flash, if your flash head will let you? You can simulate having a couple of radio triggered ones, if that makes things easier, then it might be worth getting some cheap ones.
 
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