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This beautiful 1965 VW Karman Ghia had been fully restored by Harrison Automotive and they asked if I could get some shots of the finished car along with a red TR6 that they had restored too.
With my studio on the first floor I knew getting the cars up the stairs wasn’t going to be an option so instead we went for a warehouse space to give us plenty of room. Unfortunately the client didn’t have the budget for us to rent a fully equipped car studio, so we had to rely on bringing most of my studio to the warehouse and a bit of DIY ingenuity for the lighting.
There were a number of photography related challenges to overcome including, large subject, glossy finish, multiple shapes and surfaces and working in a shipping warehouse with lots of daylight streaming in! However after about 8 hours work we managed to photograph this one and the TR6 and a bunch of details and interiors, so all in all quite a productive shoot and very happy with the results. For those of you wanting to know the technical stuff, how it was lit and what we used etc, you’ll be glad to hear that we filmed the whole shoot and provide a step by step guide which will feature in our forthcoming Product & Still Life DVD 
The full set of pictures should be appearing in one of the UK Classic Car Magazines soon, I’ll keep you posted.
© copyright Karl Taylor
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15 Comments
Once again Karl weave’s is magic brilliant .
Karl:
Great work!!! When will this new DVD be out?! I am looking forward to it! Also, at some point would you explain why sometimes a Hasselblad with a digital back is a better choice than your Canon DSLR? Does it have to do with optics, resolution, intended output or a combination of things?! I would really like to know your decision process on what equipment you pick and why, maybe you could include that in one of your videos.
New DVDs out in July / August, I’ll give your idea a mention in the Product & Still Life DVD as it’s a relevant point for that title.
Cheers
Karl
Thx Karl,
It is a topic I have always been curious about. Modern DSLR’s can produce outstanding images at a relatively high MP. So then why would you go even higher to the HB or Leica S2′s?! Sometimes is it just client requests (do they expect higher end equipment even though the Canon could suffice?) Just a few of my questions . . . any incite you could give to the matter would be really cool!
Oh and as I said above great work, but really I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from you!
somebody correct me if i’m wrong, but one of the reasons i believe that Karl switches to his hasselblad is the sheer quality, i believe over 40 mega pixels and the image sensor on those beauties is HUGE offering richer colours etc. despite how good his canon is, it cannot compare to his hasselblad…jelly much
I saw that Ghia at the Jersey classic/speed car show in Jersey at the week end. The guys did a great job restoring it. The black paint job looks a mile deep. It’s beautiful.
Look forward to the DVD video of the shoot Karl
Sam
I can see where you are coming from. I think the quality of the canon is very good. If it weren’t Karl wouldn’t be using it at all on landscapes and such. I will be interested on what he says in his new DVD. There come a point when you have to say how many pixels do I really need? I want to know the where’s and why’s. The HB is like you said phenomenal for sure. But I don’t quite agree that’s it’s for the exact reasons you stated, I think there is more to it.
Awesome lighting on the car. It’s beautiful.
Can you give us an update on the new dvd?! Waiting for it!!
Hi Karl,
Whilst I love your DVDs I can’t say I’m finding the same enthusiasm for your blog (sorry). I read a post, get interested and then there’s little past “buy my next dvd” which is a shame (I’m not expecting it all for nothing). Some insights and tips could go a long way into making me want to purchase that DVD, without it I haven’t got much to go.
Oh your RSS feed is pretty hudden too.
Hi Paul, LOL maybe I get carried away with that
Although I’d say our most recent posts are more general, this year we are aiming to use the blog more to talk about all sorts of things photography related. You’ll also note that within the new blog we include lots of links and tips to inspire people. But with a family and business to run we are conscious of having to make a living by talking about what we do too. I think overall the balance of what we provide for free and how we promote ourselves is pretty good. I’ll check with the web guys on the RSS feeds.
Hi Karl, i love your work and enthusiasm mate. We make corsetry for a living and really want to start doing our own fashion shoots to show off our product. One major hurdle we’ve had difficulty with is the photography of our new line of shiny PVC corsets. Problems from getting a sharp in focus image to getting a nice reflective surface finish…. lighting etc. I think we will experiment with a few of your lighting techniques. Sadly in an enthusiastic rush we bought lowell video lights so need to get rid of that first lol. If your new ‘Product & Still life’ dvd helps overcome this problem it will be a good investment. Btw i think you have the perfect mix of providing free info and promoting your DVDs, in fact I’m surprised how little sprooking you actually do
Cheers!
Hey Karl,
Your work is just amazing! You are a great inspiration for me as a photographer.
Thank you for your posts
Yair
Hi Karl, I have learnt a lot from you thank you for the video training that i got, you are the best inspiration and my role model as well, thanks for everything.
Paresh Kini,
India.
Hi Karl,
That car is beautiful, the lighting is perfect. Love your you tube videos as well.
James