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What is the best looking setup/stage (floor, backdrop, lights) for taking pictures of vehicles in yo

http://dealermade.com/?s=12474

Car Carousel System
Green Screen 12' x 40' backdrop
Car carousel w/dual motors & remote
Video/Camera one w/External microphone
Video/Camera two wide angle camera
Adjustable handled Camera Grip
Tripods
Memory chips, cables and connectors
Lighting system
- 3 x Studio Softbox Light Holders
- 3 x Studio Softbox Reflectors
- 2 x Premium Studio Light Stands
- 1 x Studio Boom Light Stand
- 15 x 5400K 35W Photo Studio Bulbs
Laptop computer
Picture software w/batch processing
Video editing software
Shipping
Total costs: $21,600
 
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@ Joe

Not my pictures Joe... I wish they were.

I was hoping that someone from The Thompson Organization - BMW, Lexus, Toyota & Scion Dealer | Doylestown, PA its a member here and they can help us out.


Here is some of my work:

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2007 Mazda MAZDA3 MAZDASPEED3 GT For Sale in Reno NV, near Sparks, Carson City, Minden, Truckee and Lake Tahoe | Vin JM1BK34M071738290

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2008 Lexus RX 350 AWD For Sale in Reno NV, near Sparks, Carson City, Minden, Truckee and Lake Tahoe | Vin 2T2HK31U48C067505

As you can see in the pictures above I am fighting the reflection ... I am working on getting a filter like the guys at Thompson ...


Thoughts.

When you add the filter, you'll reduce the lighting intensity that makes it to into the booth. I am going to guess that you may need to increase your lighting. PLUS, if you do talk to Thompson, ask them about lighting details. For example, in your examples, I see a large rectangular reflection that is the reflector for the florescent. I looks like a white block. On the Thompson pics, I saw thin white stripes that were soft. Are they florescents and How far away are they.
 
Thoughts.

When you add the filter, you'll reduce the lighting intensity that makes it to into the booth. I am going to guess that you may need to increase your lighting. PLUS, if you do talk to Thompson, ask them about lighting details. For example, in your examples, I see a large rectangular reflection that is the reflector for the florescent. I looks like a white block. On the Thompson pics, I saw thin white stripes that were soft. Are they florescents and How far away are they.


Thanks Joe... it all looks so simple ... just looks


Here is another one that came up on my Google alerts this morning

2010-12-14_0847.png


2010-12-14_0851.png
 
We all know Photo Booths can help sell cars and create higher gross, but they can be a black hole that sucks up mountains of time.

In other words...
What good is a photo booth that has to have everything "just right" for it to work? The right photographer, the right detailer, not raining that day, floors scrubbed from last vehicle, etc...).

We're ALL busy multi-tasking, beware the black hole called "lots of little details"!


Stefan,

Ck this out. LuxurycarsOKC.com | Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma City, Jaguar of Oklahoma City, Volvo of Oklahoma City

135 used cars plus a GREAT photo booth and only 1 in 10 have pics.

----WARNING----WARNING----WARNING----WARNING----WARNING----

Design is easy, getting it to make you money.... ain't.
 
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Hello all, my first post here but I feel this thread really caught my attention as it pertains to my job quite well. I'm in charge of photographing our cars at the dealership and am currently using a pretty low budget setup.

I see some people with white backdrops as well as black.. and someone suggested neutral walls. That is what our current set up is. Light gray (particle board) and then one side has a tan-ish curtain (that I hate).

I think the gray color works best for the majority of car colors... I'll post a few examples in a bit. They are by no means exceptional photographs but the edge details aren't lost like some are..
 
One thing to note on all these photos, we have normal flourescent light above, without and type of diffuser and I'm using an "advanced p&s" canon S5 camera...

No photoshopping done on any of these...

Silver car:
IMG_9277.jpg


Interior, creates a pretty neat affect:
IMG_9311.jpg


black car:
IMG_5517.jpg


interior again:
IMG_5566.jpg


Here's how it does with a white vehicle:
IMG_3574.jpg


*edit* Gonna add one more interior shot, sharper edges and creates a better 'stock photo' feel than the LS picture..
IMG_7072.jpg


The biggest battle I am fighting is the inteior lighting for the back seats/third row. There isn't enough light in the vehicle to keep the interior 'colors' accurate always..


I know these could improve substantially if shot in RAW and run through photoshop, unfortunately I think my post processing time would take about 2 or 3 hours instead of 30 minutes.. Photobucket kills the quality too..
 
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Thank you all for the compliments... We where professionally consulted on the design and construction of our booth. We are in the process of moving to a new 20,000 sq ft facilty and the new booth will be even better. Thanks again.

Since you are getting a better one already do you mind sharing few thoughts about your old one?

Uncle Joe was wondering:

What did you use for the lighting?
What did you use for the canopy
What did you use for the walls?
What did you use for the floor?
What did you use for the Camera?
 
First post here,

Lighting is going to be an issue where ever you shoot photography, whether its a controlled environment or not! If i was you guys i would turn off all the lights and get yourselves a couple, atleast 2 AlienBees and some umbrellas and set them up on one side the vehicle and have them slaved to your camera (granted you cant shoot a picture like this with a small cheap canon or anything like that, you need an SLR or something you can plugin a shoe or something of that nature (most all canons like the 10d,20d,30d,40d,50d etc have a hook up for external flashes. Set your camera to about F11, 1/50 and iso no more than 300 ( i shoot with a 7D which has great processor but i still don't like to push the iso cause stuff gets way to grainy). It will take a couple test shots adjusting the brightness on the flashes but once you get it dialed in i think you will like your results alot more. Or the next best thing you can do is take picture of the car right at sunset, using the shadow of the building or something, that way you have consistent light throughout the whole car. The harsh overhead lights will always leave a dramatic eye catching reflection!
Best color to use for a backdrop would be a Grey of some sort, and remember you can change the color of the gay to become more white or darker based on the light and how far it is away from the wall.

I wrote all this at 2:45am hope it makes sense haha.

Here is a couple pictures i took of some cars!

Oh and btw you can get the alienbees from Adorama or BH photo video along with the lightstands and umbrellas.

Hope this helps
 
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EmcBoise, do you have any examples of cars you've shot with that set up?



The problem with turning off the lights and using strobes is that some folks don't have a dedicated photo studio for the vehicles, they share space with other functions of the building/dealership.