Mini Cooper, John Cooper Works Edition: photo and image build up
This is the latest addition to the portfolio. Very cool car, much cooler than your normal Cooper S.Here’s the finished piece:
This is the raw base for the image. From this file, multiple elements (ground, mountain side, trees, reflection on car side, car windows and roof) were exported into photoshop to be worked on individually:
Lit front end:
Lit side:
I wanted more wheel face showing, so I snagged a different wheel:
Stock sky image I shot while scouting locations:
The mountain peak was in clear view from the location but out of frame to the left, so I snapped a photo with the plan of stripping it in the final piece:
Photo of the location:
Click here for Part 2!
Thanks to all who helped make the image possible.
Nice to see how you combined the pics. Adding another backgroud behind ‘moving’ tree is a PITA as I discovered with this pic: http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/DPZ/Fabia/img_7560.jpg
Combining a flash-exposure with a rigshot has been on my list for a while….. Hmm, now there’s a reason to get a new wide-angle.
great job, man. a dope shot!
didn’t realize there so much PS work in it. but now i see why it looks so cool
at this point, i’m good for the first step 
Great shot Scott! im curious to your rig setup, I see a manfrotto suction cup.. that is if you dont mind sharing
.. Love your work btw, it’s just fantastically awesome! keep it up!
Nice work, I’m impressed.
Could you please tell me where you got the rig or better what’s the name of the manufacturer? I’m looking out after a good rig in the moment. Want to do some driving shots.
Aren’t you afraid the rig damages the finish of the car or drops to the ground?
keep on the good work!
i’m interested in the rig too:)
You never fail to impress me Dukes
Thanks for the comments everyone. Regarding the rig, it’s pieced together. Two Bogen suction cups, three Bogen Super Clamps, and an aluminum pole for the boom. The Bogen stuff should be easily sourced through your local shops or through the big online retailers. Hope that helps!
Thanks Scott!
loving the blog. thanks for all the info. its cool that your so willing to explain the process and work behind the image.. It definitely was interesting and impressive to read
thanks Scott!
Really enjoyed reading the steps you took, not many people share such steps either so thank you!
one more question, could u tell me please the f number, and the exposure time?
thanks:)
Thanks for taking the time to post setup shots Scott, I really enjoyed this!!
Cheers!
Regarding the process you use for lighting each separate part of the car, are you using the same focal length and just moving the lights around or are you zooming in on the area of the car you are trying to light and doing it that way?
Really cool shot, Scott. I’m on my 2nd Cooper S. They’re great cars!
I love the rig; it’s much simpler than others that I’ve seen, and also looks like it stays out of the way of the camera quite well, too, simplifying post-processing. How much weight are you comfortable putting on the end of the boom, and how long is the boom? The Filmtools suction cup I’ve got is rated to about 70lbs, as I recall, so even two of those should be pretty good, but I’m always nervous about hanging two grand worth of camera gear a couple of feet off the ground.
(Mmm, cannolis and garlic fries? Your captchas are making me hungry!)
Another question for you: how do you clean the car on-site? Even in the setup shots (presumably unretouched), the car’s very clean.
Great work scott. Love to know more about the rig lol.
Oh, forgot to ask, do the suction cups not leave rings in the paint?
Cheers.
That is so cool! I own GP #1636. Nice job! May I share that with other GP and MINI owners?
HI, Nice work on the photo, superb.
Can you please tell me what alloy wheels are on that GP Please?
I can’t find them anywhere
I think that you are cheating.
AWEsome photo !!!
superb piece of work… really, I mean it, I barely fave on flickr but this one definitely deserved one!!!
however, looking at it for the 100th time, I think I know what’s wrong!!! the mountain… it’s way too neat, it has to be motion blurred to fit in there, as trajectory is not a straight line
hope I’m not bothering here…
great work, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Scott for sharing, I found your website and amazing work!
Arjan