Setting Up a Nighttime Race Car Photoshoot

Ever wonder what it is like to be a professional photographer who gets paid to photograph wicked cars on location? Wonder no longer as you watch this behind the scenes clip of a photo shoot for Falken Motorsports with talented photographer, Frederic Schlosser:

The shoot was done at a shipping yard, where the stacks of containers added interest and helped set the mood of the images. You may have also noticed that Schlosser‘s camera was not the typical Canon or Nikon you see in the hands of many pros, but instead the powerful Sony Alpha A850. It’s always refreshing to see pro photographers step outside the norm and make room for equally capable equipment.

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For lighting, Schlosser’s setup is fairly basic, using mostly the existing light and supplementing it with a strobe. For some shots, a Profoto Softbox was added to the light to help diffuse it. The lights were controlled using the Phottix Strato II Multi with a Sony mount. Lastly, to add further interest, Schlosser had his crew hose down the roadway and the vehicle to give the final images a shiny, wet look. The combination of techniques certainly made the car “pop”.

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