Cameras Testing my lighting equipment at night...

[cawimmer430]

I've had this light set from Elinchrom for awhile now and it's come in very handy for providing lighting for my car shoots but I've never had the chance to test it at night partially because finding the right location around Munich is a pain in the behind (cops and annoying citizens around all the time).

I have two Ranger A "Action" (faster flash recycling) heads of 400 Watts each and a Ranger Quadra RX AS battery. It's good for about 160 flashes at full power which isn't bad. If I only use one light at full power I have about 300 flashes. Slow flash recycling also increases the endurance of the battery. Basically, I've got more flashes available than I'll ever use for a single shoot.

Anyway, here was a quick test of what happens when you use them at night.


First image is supposed to show you the scenery and how dark it was.




This is how I set up the lights. After I edited the final image I realized I could actually have place the two Elinchrom lights a little to the front of the car and used the SB-900 to provide some "weak" side lighting (weak compared to the Elinchrom flashers). I wanted to take more shots of the car with the lights positioned at different positions around the car but some annoying grandma who lived next to the church threatened to call the cops. God I hate the "unlockerheit" of the Germans!







The final image after a 10 minute Photoshop and Lightroom editing job. I didn't clean the car nor did I remove certain shadows etc. because this was a test.

Input and comments greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr Robert]

Wow Chritian, you have really taken this photo business of yours to a whole different level. I don't know how to provide any imput in this matter, other than sending you my best of wishes!

 

[Centurion]

This is brilliant Wimmer thanks for entire write up and images. I'm very intereste din night photography which is currently my biggest weakness limited off course by the sensor size of my camera. The final result is an excellent start and not too distant from the look and feel of official press images. With the exception of the particles and spots from using the light-fill feature, the photo is quite moving. Did you do anything to the sky?

 

[cawimmer430]

Wow Chritian, you have really taken this photo business of yours to a whole different level. I don't know how to provide any imput in this matter, other than sending you my best of wishes!

Thanks.

 

[cawimmer430]

This is brilliant Wimmer thanks for entire write up and images. I'm very intereste din night photography which is currently my biggest weakness limited off course by the sensor size of my camera. The final result is an excellent start and not too distant from the look and feel of official press images. With the exception of the particles and spots from using the light-fill feature, the photo is quite moving.

Yep, I used the light fill feature a little to extensively in this photo. I should probably have balanced out the image by using slightly longer exposure times. I also need more powerful lights on the left side of the car (but these light kits are expensive) but for now I depend on my SB-900 for providing some illumination on that side. Some of the particles on the front of the car are actually dead insects. My car was very dirty and I didn't bother cleaning it in person or in Photoshop.

By the way, a Speedlight comes in very handy for any kind of photography. My SB-900 has a maximum range of 20 meters (uses a lot of battery juice in that mode though). I always tell my friends who are starting out in photography to invest in a Speedlight first before looking at new lenses.

Did you do anything to the sky?

Nothing except increasing the blue luminosity by a small bit and some sharpening (remember, I was shooting at f2.8).