Your Press Conference, My Studio

Is this the best photo of a Ferrari you have ever seen?

No, it's not.

But bear in mind that it was lit off-the-cuff at a presser with some quick thinking, two SB-600s and one very expensive light stand.
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Taking a cue from Kenny Brown's awesome gullwing shot a ways back, Strobist reader Mark Shannon (gently) put a Nikon SB-600 in each of the back seats of this brand new Ferrari California at a premiere event and fired them into the white ceiling. This created the nice, soft-edged light source that lit, and was reflected by, the car.

He triggered the flashes via CLS, with an on-camera SB-900 which did not contribute to the exposure. He placed the flashes so the light sensors were just visible on the seats, and they were strong enough to get him f/8 at ISO 200 even off of the ceiling. At a 250th of a sec, that allowed him to drop the background off nicely.

If you don't have a compact, 5-section light stand hanging around, it's always nice when you can support your precious speedlights with a $200,000.00 light stand that cradles them in soft, butt-hugging leather.

Not a high-end studio shot by any means. But quick thinking to elevate a not-so-great photo at a live event into something that at least begins to do this car justice.

Robin Masters would be proud.

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