You can’t take shots like these with your iPhone in the driveway. You aren’t going to take photos like these with your digital camera in the garage either and that can be frustrating. We’ve all done it, we take a few pictures and afterwards we keep telling people, “the photos don’t do it justice, it looks better than that.” Ever wonder why?
Lots of lighting makes a huge difference and preparing a proper studio setup gives you a fighting chance and that’s how Frank J Bott turns out great shots of all kinds of motorcycles, from super high dollar customs to some that are highly prized by their owners, but considerably less costly to build. The right light, eliminating shadows and no small amount of talent gets you pictures like the ones you see here.
He built himself a 27 by 48 foot softbox or light tent, one of those semi enclosed areas for photos that eliminate extraneous shadows in the background while bathing the object in light from all angles. They’re common for small objects and you can buy them or build them yourself, Frank just needed something bigger.
You have to do more than hang a bed sheet in the background. He won’t show you what he did, but he’s rebuilt his 12 times to get it right and experimented with all kinds of paint for just the right amount of reflectivity, seems like he’s on the right track.
He’s got a lot of his photos online so you can see the results of his hard work and a studio in Asheville, North Carolina where he can take photos of your bike, too. The only problem with shots like these are how bad they make your own photos look. Nice work!
Link: Frank J Bott via Wired
Fid Hawser says
I’ve done a lot of product photography in my years as a Graphic Designer. One of the simplest ways to improve lighting is to use reflectors. You can spend the money to buy flexible silvered nylon(?) pieces with flexible loop edging that can be opened or twisted to fold up for storage. Or you can simply use some large sheets of white poster board. Strategically placed, these fill in shadow areas. Be careful, though, that you don’t make the wrong area too “hot.” Watch the old Hawaii 5-0 episodes for many examples of amateurish reflector use.
Racetrack Style says
Having a studio in Asheville is a great idea too.
KB says
Or just take pictures at dawn or dusk. The light is perfect for vehicles. Not only can you get some great pictures and have an epic background, but you can enjoy a ride there.
FREEMAN says
Those are some gorgeous studio shots.
Kultmaster says
To take photos is one good reason to ride a bike and go some places too.
http://motoralbum.sytes.net/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=30&start=10
Paul Crowe says
What struck me about the photos here was the DIY setup he put together. Building a photo space like this is something a person could do in their own garage and, with a lot of trial and error, come up with the soft light and no shadow solution that makes pictures really pop. Yes, dawn and dusk are great times to get good light, but nothing beats the right studio lighting, but that’s something within reach of many of us now, especially if you put in the time to learn what’s necessary and then experiment until you start getting good results. It’s just another hands on opportunity for someone who likes motorcycles. I think it’s pretty neat.
david blankenhorn says
The space used is very much larger than the typical garage probably at least 60’x100′ with at least a 20ft. foot ceiling.. and even that is an area that’s only twice as big as his main light source.
In a typical garage you could not shoot “Bott style” pictures of anything larger than a gas tank
And that’s with the gas tank on or near the floor, not on a bike.
OTOH, these photos strike me as being over lit, so it is possible to make a virtue out of necessity.
Wave says
This may be a philosophical argument, but I’m not sure whether this guy’s efforts fit into the category of “DIY”. He is a professional photographer with years of experience, and he says that the setup he built is a trade secret which took a long time to perfect. If that counts as DIY, then pretty much anything made by craftsmen is also DIY, from custom furniture to TIG-welded tube frames.
Paul Crowe says
I think the “trade secret” comment he made is just his way of saying he doesn’t want to give away what he did, not that you couldn’t do it. There’s a lot of skill involved in the actual photography, too, which is why a novice with any tool can’t do what a pro can with the same tool. The tool won’t make you a pro, but without it, there are some things you just can’t do.
nicolas says
Do you ride in a booth ? 😉
Bill says
I’m a pro photographer by trade, and I did a very similar thing…only I did it as a mobile studio setup. I put together a 30′ long tent with a photo black backdrop (a heavy, fabric backed velour) and a modular diamond plate floor. Lighting was done with several softboxes lined up and suspended from the 10′ ceiling. You rode the bike in one end and I either shot it by itself, with the owner, or you could have a model I hired pose on it. You rode out the other end with a print and a web link where you could order other prints, t-shirts, even a cutout of the bike for display on a desk. The pics were amazing. Studio quality that you’d never imagine they were taken in a parking lot.
Unfortunately, as a business, it failed. Riders at charity rides and rallies didn’t want to pay the $25 for a professional studio shot of their bike/themselves/a hot model on their bike. Dealers wouldn’t bite on the idea of paying a day rate for me to give their customers a free portrait during open houses or customer appreciation days. It was a bummer. If this guy can make a go of it in a studio, then more power to him.
c w j says
As little of a fan as I am of products from Cupertino, it’s a bit misleading to say that a “digital camera” is necessary to take those pics.
Particularly since cellphone cameras ARE digital cameras….some of which at this point are as good as dedicated digital light recording devices. Dynamic range (ability to deal with bright or dark, mostly dark with phones) is still an issue, but changing.
The main topic of the article is the real secret: the control of lighting. The ability to produce extra light and understanding how to manipulate it for desired effects is the main difference between bad photography and good. Having a studio to do that helps, but most people would be surprised at how much more they can do with a pretty basic knowledge of lighting.
Nikon and Canon make a LOT of money off people who think their pictures are bad because they need a “better camera”.
And the beauty of it is, as demonstrated above, that just about all light manipulation equipment that sold
in the photog stores is evolved from a photog’s homemade solution. Light doesn’t care how much the surface costs, is just wants to bounce off or go through it. Take time to talk to so real, dedicated photogs, amateur or pro, and you find out they are immensely handy people.
(also true of film/videographers & sound recorders)