It's been a long time since I've gone out with my camera and shot a still car. I'm used to them flying past me over 50mph and hoping my focus is keeping up. This is why I'm so used to fast paced photography and the slower tedious work was definitely a good break from the norm.






The day started around 3:00pm in what I refer to as the industrial part of Tacoma. The only easy way to get there besides walking across the closed 11th street bridge is the roundabout way from I-5 or coming from the back. This area is full of countless backgrounds, buildings, and textures that I have used on several portrait shoots. It's a great location and there is always something new to explore.



This garage has been shot a ton, and its no brainer why. Covered in graffiti its home to countless car shoots and portrait locations, so naturally I had get in on the action. Garage was full around 5:00 when we arrived and went  to get some food. PSP (Puget Sound Pizza) serves some of the best freshly cooked pizza I have had and its work checking out if your in the area. Both the garage and PSP are within walking distance of each other and is located in the south end of Tacoma.



First time as well that I brought out my lights. I tend to dwell in natural light and generally like how it "can" look better, but at the same time external lighting allows you to get more creative in your work. I tend to go the route of McNally and use speedlights vs. lugging out battery packs and power cords. Set up and tear down time was under 20 minutes.



I used a simple setup with 2 lights and a gelled third light to add some color. Cybersync's to trigger everything, if you haven't checked out these things or think pocketwizzards are to large, take the time to look them up. Half the cost and just as durable, these things have about half the range as well but I'm not lighting a helicopter or anything.



As far as editing goes, I tend to go crazy with editing. This shoot allowed me to experiment with a variety of editing techniques. I used Adobe Lightroom with final editing done in Photoshop.

For more photos, click on any of the above for a larger view in my gallery.

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