Behind the scenes: Lotus Emira
June 2021Calvert Studios, Leighton Buzzard
Duration: 4 hours
People: 4
Post Production: Alex Lawrence
Client: Petrolicious
Photographing in a studio is something that I really enjoy doing. This shoot was particularly enjoyable becuase it was an open brief. I pitched the idea as to how I would like to shoot it and I knew it would be a little different to most.
Usually when a new car goes to a studio, everything on it needs to be lit. All the angles, details, interior, scoops, vents, the lot. It is a big undertaking. The images you see will be provided to media outlets, sales and marketing, PR and social teams. A lot of the time they will be multiple frames that make up a single image.
I wanted to be different. I had a range of backgrounds that I had already chosen to use in post and so the main thing was to light the car accordingly. This post is to give you a glimpse of what I did.
Blank canvas
The Calvert studio LED softbox is a superb system. It allows you to control the full spectrum of colours, split them across the width and depth of the box and it really helped speed up my post production by being so adaptable.
LED lights in action
Watch the video to see how flexible the Calvert LED system is for yourself.
Rotolight Titan system
Supporting the main lightbox source is the Rotolight Titan system. Total control in colour, saturation and power meant that we could quickly change the setup.
Control
As you can see, the input system is intuitive and so much quicker than gels and filters that I’ve used on location previously. Great for both stills and video production.
Little legs
Towering above the world at the giddy height of 5′ 7″ means I needed both ladders and the gantry around the studio ceiling for some alternate angles. The backplates and thinking meant that I needed to use similar angles to blend the two.
A little tip is always note down settings, angles, light direction when doing this to give you the best chance of a better end result.
On this shoot I did all my own post production but it goes without saying that none of the visions can be created solely on your own. The lighting tech support at Calvert, the Lotus tech in moving the car, the PR at Lotus organsing the studio and the client for their belief, all make for a great team effort.
Lotus Emira
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