4WD Action Pic's

[vk2ss55 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vk2ss55]

Have you guys noticed the quality of the pic's in the mag , I'm wondering how they produce some of those shots ? Ok they start with great photos but what about the post production ? They seem over saturated and what about the lighting under the cars ? Do they use multiple flash guns to get this level of illumination ?
Lots of questions...I'd like to know some of the tricks .

Cheers

Ross

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Yes I've noticed too. Heres an example of what you're probably talking about with Joeys Photo shoot Look how well lit up the Prado is in what would normally be a very low lit area of rain forest. You can see a remote flash gun 3rd pic of this post. Joey will certainly be able to shed some more light (pardon the pun) on just what else these guys use to get these results. (along with all the other photo junkies on this site )

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

They would be using off camera flash and heavy post processing. Maybe even more than one off camera flash at times, but typically, they lit up under the car, or the point of interest if normal light is not good enough.


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[Guest Close Guest]

Yep, off camera flashes were used. Look for the shadows for a clue to the position of the lights.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

They used multiple camera flashes when they shot my write up.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Can I give an opinion as a professional photographer
The art of lighting in photography is to light something so it doesn't look lit (for the most part anyway).

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

I wasn't finished what I was saying put Lorelai hit send

[Guest Close Guest]

+1 Leon. Looks to obvious.

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Can I give opinion as a professional photographer
The art of lighting in photography is to light something so it doesn't look lit (for the most part anyway).

100% agree.


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[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

I've been on a few shoots and I have seen the photographers use up to 4 flashes with delays, Im no expert. Cheers samo

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

What I was trying to say.... before little fingers got a hold of my phone...

I have a bit of experience lighting vehicles (MAN trucks, Isuzu D-Max etc...) and what I was getting at is as much as the bright lights and splashes of light look good (in a fake kind of way) I much prefer to see lighting that looks clean and clear but isn't the feature of the pic.
Using speedlites to bring out some detail in a shadow area is great but a splash of light that looks like a street lamp must be just out of frame when in the middle of the bush doesn't do it for me.
A speed lite inside the cabin should look like the interior light is on, not make it look like they have a 32" LCD TV strapped to the dash.

Also, if you're wondering how they get the post production effect...
If you have photoshop (and I'm guessing lightroom and aperture can do the same)...
Just open a RAW file, select the 'Landscape' profile/presets (it's a little camera icon on the far right of the tabs)
Then move the 'fill' slider to the right until you get the detail in the shadows you like.
Then move the 'Blacks' slider to the right until you get some contrast back.

Add a bit of clarity, a bit less vibrance and a tiny bit of saturation and you should be done.

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

As easy as that hey snags. Cheers samo

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Yeah ... gives it that super saturated glow and detail all through the shadows.

As easy as that hey snags. Cheers samo

[vk2ss55 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vk2ss55]

Interesting replies guys ! I thought they must be using multiple flash guns .
Snaga thanks for your input ,would I be correct in calling the mag shots over saturated . A classic one is the ad for GIC where they have a shot of a camper set up on a beach .
I'd assume that the photographers submit their work in RAW format , or is it in Adobe RGB ?
Cheers
Ross

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

A lot of their shots do have an over saturated look...
It's usually more a vibrance setting as the vibrance in Adobe Camera RAW is basically a saturation slider that leaves 'skin tones' alone till last.
That way if you have a portrait you can give it a bit of a zing without the people looking jaundice.

The one on the beach is hard to call... the red and yellow of the canvas doesn't look right so I'd say it's a yank on the saturation slider.

As for RAW or JPEG... not sure really. The contract I have from Express Media Group doesn't go into that much detail.
I personally never hand over RAW files as when I am shooting I am basing my decisions on what I can do later in the RAW conversion. I'm not talking about 'fixing' shots I just mean that there's so much you can do in the conversion that it's a major consideration when actually shooting.

RAW, JPEG, TIFF etc... are image file formats (various levels of compression, or none)
Adobe RGB is a colour space as is sRGB.
They are the main two and if I'm supplying to a client who I know knows what they are doing I'll give them Adobe RGB 1998 but if I have any doubt about their understanding of colour spaces I'll drop it to sRGB before delivery. (they can do less damage to an sRGB file... ie. hopefully my image will look how it should when it's used)

What I should add is I'm not saying what 4WD Action is doing is wrong... it's just their style.
The reason I probably don't like it is because it's a result that used to scream 'under-exposed image' and they've tried to fix it.

I like shadows... the world is a play on light and dark, highlights and shadows and an image just doesn't look right when you can see too much detail where you shouldn't.
Once again, for that reason... I'm not a fan of HDR's. But when an HDR is done well it looks amazing!!

Hope that helps a bit Ross

Interesting replies guys ! I thought they must be using multiple flash guns .
Snaga thanks for your input ,would I be correct in calling the mag shots over saturated . A classic one is the ad for GIC where they have a shot of a camper set up on a beach .
I'd assume that the photographers submit their work in RAW format , or is it in Adobe RGB ?
Cheers
Ross