Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I work for an auto dealership and they want me to shoot cars within a 20x27 space. We are going to hang a curtain system on a rail to act as a background. I currently have 3 AB800's and moving them around from shot to shot is taking way too long. I was wondering if I got another three 800's or even 3 1600's and hung them from the celing if that would keep me from moving stands around? The curtain height is around 12'. Does anyone know the easiest way for me to rig the strobes from the ceiling without having to purchase a rail system of some sort? I would like to keep the lights stationary so the lighting is even with every shot. Also, would 6 strobes be enough to light the vehicles? Thanks for any help!

If the lights are going to be in the same place every time, then a basic rail system made of metal pipe should be fine. If you want to build some adjustability into it, you could supprt lightstands upside down for vertical adjustment (maybe even with the legs removed), and clamped to the rail with Manfrotto superclamps or our EC32 cam bracket for horizontal adjustment (mind you this would not be a particularly fast way of adjustment, but it keeps the set up from being permanent). Six lights i think would be fine for a car, though i dont know that i would have all six coming from above. With curvatures and moulding, the shadows could get problematic.

I was going to say the same thing. The only thing I would add is stretch a sheet of translucent white fabric under all the overhead lights rather than using front diffusers on the individual softboxes. Most fabric comes in 5ft rolls, but some is available in double-width 10 ft wide - that's what you want. A store in the NY Garment District can send you samples, as well as finish the final piece with grommets or wire stitched in, etc. Haggle for price.

If the ceiling is not white or silver and the installation is to be semi-permanent, you can actually get some wide rolls of aluminum foil at HomeDepot (6ft wide I think) and aluminum duct tape with which to tack the foil to the ceiling above the lights, forgoing the individual reflectors, thus forming a giant softbox. That aluminum foil is intended for house insulation; it is finely corrugated i.e. the light won't be too specular. The aluminum tape is key - it is many times more sticky than regular plastic/fabric duct tape (and the work does not have the proverbial-duct taped look :-). The regular duct tape is actually illegal to use on HVAC ducts anymore.

Not a bad idea, but i would certainly get samples and get them big enough to test, say over teh fromt of a soft box. Some white fabrics use brighteners that can fluoresce, causing a blueish cast. Also, you may look into polarization, or double polarization to avoid reflections of your light sources in the windows or paint.

I agree - it's a virtual certainty the sheer white stuff will fluoresce some, plus it may be tinted on a blue side as well. But most monolights if not used at full power go on a warm side so a little blue is not a bad thing and custom white balance will be a must anyway. I had consulted for a car dealership 3 yrs ago setting up their photo workflow and helping with tips on lighting and composition along the way (one of their employees is into deliberate photography now - feels gratifying). We could never get the polarizer to kill all the reflections because of all the different angles on the surfaces and secondary reflections etc.

Thanks for the suggestions! The floor is a white epoxy resin, which should help with the shadowing to a point, but I see what you mean about shadows at the curves. That's my issue at the moment that I am trying to resolve. The biggest thing I'm trying to avoid are extremely harsh shadows underneath the vehicles. Ultimately, I would like to be able to take photos at several different angles around the entire vehicle without stands and or cords getting in the way, but still have a nice even lighting. Since this dealership uses mostly stock photos at the moment I have a huge volume to catch up on, so I would like to be able to shoot exterior and interiors within a half hour for each car.

For under the car use a small slave clipped to the underside of the vehicle and bouncing off the floor. But don't forget it there - make it the driver's personal responsibility to mount and remove the slave. Anybody else will forget once in a while.

A large enough overhead light will help minimize reliance on mobile lights that move with the camera. But I understand what you mean.

What I came up with for my guys was a Manfrotto light stand (on the heavy side) mounted on Manfrotto 110G casters. To this stand were clipped a softbox (top), a camera (on a side arm). They've later attached a laptop on a shelf (for direct connection) and a power strip. So you just move one piece on casters around the car.

Would you guys recommend possibly using Magic Arms with superclamps for mounting these strobes? From my experience shooting sports over the years it seems like that would be the easiest way. What do you guys think?

Hey Alex, would it be possible if I'm running these Bee's with the Cyber Commander and want to use something like a Nikon SB-600 as a slave for the undercarriage? If so, how would I set that up through the Commander?

it is possible to trigger the sb600. You can use our SLFA and a CSRB+ (the + is not a must, but will fit more in line with the rest of the equipment). You will not be able to adjust the output though, just fire, group and meter. The magic arms should be fine.

dont put the lights directly overhead, move them out. This way, the light will wrap and can self fill. Using two banks of three rather than one bank of six may be a preferred route.

Also, the higher the lights, the closer exposure will be from the top of the car to the bottom (and to the floor for that matter, increasing efficiency on any reflections).