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Cobra on the Water: using the 755MF3 + 222
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The title of this lesson sounds rather lofty, yet it's really very simple. In the auto advertising industry, floating a car is commonplace and requires a lot of planning, manpower and hard work.
This lesson will do the same thing on a much smaller scale and in a simpler way. The techniques we will present in this lesson can easily be applied to numerous different subjects with some very cool results
(Click on any image below for an enlarged view.) |
Topics Covered:
- Set construction
- Floating your subject
- Choosing the right tripod and head combination
- Three/quarter back lighting
- Controlling the reflections
- Setting up the tripod
- Adding accent lighting
- Making waves
Manfrotto Equipment Used:
Other Equipment Used:
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Important Note:
There are some safety items to consider any time we bring water and electricity together. The ideal situation would be to have all lights and power cables hung from above the set using a system like the Manfrotto Sky Track, but whatever you use, we highly suggest that you take heed and be very careful with the placement of power cords and power supplies. Be sure all supports and materials you choose for your set can handle the weight load you intend to apply. |
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Set Construction:
As we mentioned, floating a car in auto advertising is quite common. Typically they find a large flat parking lot and create a low dam, around 4 to 8 inches high with sand bags. Then the car is placed into position on short blocks and the lot is flooded to create a large shallow reservoir. This creates a smooth surface almost like a black mirror that reflects the subject in very cool ways.
We will recreate this technique in the studio on a small scale, using items we can find in a garden or home improvement store: a medium sized mud mixing tray (24 X 18 X 6), bricks, and some interesting garden stepping stones.
Once we got back to the studio, we set up our heavy duty sawhorses and a 3X4 foot, 3/4 inch thick section of plywood as our tabletop.
Next, about two feet behind the table, we set up a background pole on two lightstands and attached a 9 foot roll of black seamless paper. We lifted the paper roll about three feet above the table surface and pulled out enough paper to cover the table, clamping it to the front edge. To make light placement easier we cut off the two front corners of the paper then set our reservoir on the set.
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Figure 1 |
Figure 1 shows the basics of our set with the stepping stones in place. We know we want the water level to be at the top of the tray and we want the subject to appear like its floating. With this in mind we placed bricks and shims under the stepping stone so that it would be about ¼ inch under water when we filled the tray.
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| We filled our tray with water. (Again, practice caution here if your electrical equipment is already in place). Before we started, we calculated that we would need about eight gallons of water to get the effect we wanted. So we filled a 10 gallon trash can and brought this to the set, then used a plastic pitcher to fill the tray (figure 2).
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Figure 2 |
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Note:
Before you fill the tray, it's a good idea to clean it out so when it's filled there is no dust or debris floating on the water. Also we feel the method described for filling the tray is much safer than running a hose in to the studio. A hose may be faster but it is better to be safe than sorry! Plus, the trash can gives you a place to put the water when you're done.
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Figure 3 |
Figure 3 shows the tray filled to the level desired. We placed the cobra model in position on the stepping stone.
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Choosing the Tripod and Head
Now that we have the model prepared, it's time to break out the tools necessary to capture the shot. The first item we need is the tripod. We chose the lightweight Manfrotto 755MF3 because it has the flexibility and features we need to easily get our camera into position. On top of the tripod we mounted the equally flexible Manfrotto 222 (3265) Quick Action Ball Head. When we need to adjust our camera position, the 222 makes it easy, fast and secure (figure 4 and 5). More on this to come!
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Three-Quarter Back Lighting
With the set put together and our car in place, and the tripod chosen we can start the lighting process. The main/key light for this shot will be a 1000 watt Starlite in a Large SilverDome soft box placed over the top and just behind the subject.
This is commonly referred to as a three-quarter back lighting pattern. This set up will light the subject without placing highlights in the reflective surface of the water. |
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| In figure 6, we see the placement of the main/key light over the subject and set.
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Figure 6 |
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Before we set the camera and get started shooting, we need to place a cutter card between the light and the background. This cutter will control the light falling behind the car, allowing us to get a pure black background.
To create the gradation to black on the background, we cut a section of black foam core about 10 inches wide and three feet long.
Then we set up a Photoflex LiteDisc Holder on to a light stand and placed this assembly on to the set under the main/key light.
With the spring clamp on the end of the LiteDisc Holder, we attached the black foam core cutter to block the light from the main/key light from striking the surface behind the car (figure 7).
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Figure 7 |
Figure 7 shows the position of the cutter card, creating the gradation to black. |
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With our main/key light in place and controlled, we now have the space to set up the camera and tripod.
An extremely versatile tripod, the 755MF3 has a removable center column with a built-in 50mm leveling ball and bubble spirit level. The center column can easily be fitted as a lateral arm because of the patented design of the tripod's houlder casting. Not only does this allow the camera to be offset out of the way of the tripod legs, it's also the simplest way to use a tripod to shoot a subject from directly overhead.
The 755MF3's unique center column not only raises and lowers the camera, it also has a leveling ball at the top that is unlocked and locked using the rotating grip built into the bottom of the center column. This allows the camera operator to level the camera without needing to make micro adjustments to each individual tripod leg as well as letting him fine-tune the camera's height like a normal center column.
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In figure 8 we see the positions the center column can be positioned with the 755MF3. At the top of each leg is a grey button which, when pressed, allows the legs to spread to four different angles. For this lesson we will leave the tripod set in the normal position, or the first shot in figure 8. The second position is generally used for shooting straight down on a subject. The third position gets the camera down low with the leg angles at 90 degrees. The final figure shows the center column, inverted, again to get the camera close to the ground for low angle shots.
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| To increase the overall height of the tripod extend the tripod legs by simply opening the quick action lever locks, pulling the leg out to the desired length and re-closing the lever lock (figure 9). |
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Figure 10 |
On top of the 755MF3 we will mount the 222 (3265) Grip Action ball head. This head gives us the ability to easily set the camera in any position with in a 180 degree sphere with just one hand (figures 10 and 11). For table-top work, this head is a dream because by simply pulling the trigger we can position the camera anywhere and solidly lock it down just by releasing the hand from the head. Unlike other heads, with the 222 there's no risk of forgetting to lock it, releasing the camera and watching it tumble off-balance or out of position. |
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| To connect the camera to the 222 Grip Action head, attach the Quick Release plate to the tripod mount on you camera. A small arrow at the bottom of the plate indicates the directions it can be mounted to the camera. Set the camera and plate on top of the Grip Action head and gently press it into place so it snaps in to the locked position. To secure the plate on the head set the secondary locking pin to the closed position (figure 12). |
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| Once we had the camera and the tripod assembled, we set the camera's programs to the following. The white balance was set to Tungsten, the ISO to 100, the focus to Manual , the exposure to Manual, and the resolution to TIFF. Once the camera was set and we found the camera angle, we squeezed off our first shot. |
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Figure 13 |
In figure 13, our result shows the effect of the lighting pattern on the car and in the reflection. The broad highlights accentuate the clean classic lines of the car and are mirrored in the reflection on the water. The two images work together to add interest to the overall shot.
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The top of the car is now looking good. Our next task is to light the side.
To keep the lighting looking consistent, we set up a Small Silver HalfDome with a Starlite and a 500 watt lamp on a light stand. We placed this assembly to camera right at a 45 degree angle to the set and about 18 inches from the car.
Again we set a cutter card in between the second light and the background to control the light on the background and keep our gradation going to black (figure 14).
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Figure 14 |
Figure 14 shows the placement of the second light and our cutter.
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| In figure 15, we have moved in to show the cutter card placement. Again, this is black foam core about 6 inches wide and a foot long. We simply attached a spring clamp to the edge to hold in place.
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Figure 15 |
Figure 16 |
In figure 16, we see that the second light has opened up the detail on the side of the car and in the reflection on the water.
We could stop here and have a pretty cool image.
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| In figure 17 and 18, we can see a side-by-side comparison of the first and second result shots showing the improvements we made adding the second light. |
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Our next addition to the lighting set-up will be to add our accent lights. To accomplish this we will employ the DLH4 tungsten spot lights from Dedotec.
To start, we set up a DLH4 light on a stand and placed it to camera left. We set the height of the light about eight inches above the level of the car on the set. Then we connected the light into the DT24-1U controller unit and plugged the controller into the wall. The control unit has sliding power output switch so you can control the intensity of the light from the unit.
For this shot, we set the slide to the maximum output. We then installed the controlled focusing spot attachment to the front of the DLH4 light so we could shape the pattern of light on the subject. We aimed the spot at the front of the cobra model and used the cutters on the spot attachment to shape the light to just light the grill and head lights on the car. We then added a light blue gel to the light to give added interest to the model (figure 19).
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Figure 19 |
In figure 19, we see the placement of the spot light relative to the subject.
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| In figure 20, we see the placement of the spot relative to the set.
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Figure 20 |
Figure 21 |
In our results shot, we see the effect of the spot light on the subject. We have gained added separation of the subject from the background and more of a sense of three dimensions to the subject (figure 21).
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| In figures 22 and 23, we can see the side-by-side comparison of the shot without the spot and then with it.
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| Now for our final action, we added a second DLH4 to the camera right and just past 90 degrees with the same set up as the first spot light. But for this set up, we added a red gel filter to the light to strike the back bumper and tail light section of the model (figures 24 and 25).
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Figure 26 |
In figure 26, our result shot shows the effects of separation and reflection that the second spot light has on the subject.
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| In figures 27 and 28, we see the side-by-side comparison of the shot with and with out the second spot light.
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As we mentioned, with this type of set up the subjects are endless. We can apply this lighting solution to any number of products and move them up the scale of interest and price.
Figure 29 is just one example we made once we finished the shot with the cobra. Using the same set, we mounted the column of the tripod into the horizontal position (see figure 6) so we could place the camera over the subject, then we simply added some leaves to provide some color and visual interest to the background of this camera shot. |
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Figure 29 |
Manfrotto Equipment Used:
Other Equipment Used:
Recommended Links
- To learn more about Photoflex equipment, go to www.photoflex.com
- For more tips and techniques on lighting and cameras, visit
www.webphotoschool.com
and sign
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