Finally some quality time with a Ferrari 458 Italia! | Houston Automotive Photographer
I’ve been waiting forever to get my hands on a Ferrari 458 Italia, and my dream finally came true when I got a call from a client who wanted to have his collection photographed for personal use! He has amassed a pretty stunning collection of cars, including the 458 Italia, a 1968 Chevy Camaro that has been completely modernized and restored, a 5th gen Camaro SS, a BMW X5-M, a seriously off road prepped Jeep Wrangler and a Ford F150 Raptor. I followed the client into the garage, where I was greeted with a sight that any automotive photographer dreams of:
Oh man…
More on that later, though. Some of the cars were being washed when I arrived, so we first drove the Jeep and the Raptor out to some nearby private land to get a few shots of the trucks off the pavement, where they belong. Driving the Raptor after being so used to my little 2 door Acura is quite a different experience. It’s lifted up high with mud tires that hum along on the pavement, cruising at a “generous” 11.5 MPG average. Hopping curbs up onto the private land felt like nothing though, and out on the unpaved gravel road and grassy area was where the truck’s true character came out. The suspension soaked up every minor bump and vibration, giving the odd feeling of hovering over the road rather than driving on it. I won’t say that I exploited even 5% of what this beast is capable of, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. The Raptor is an unnecessary tool in today’s society, but that is exactly why I love it. Just like any Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche, this car is purpose-built, and it delivers in all the ways that I’d hoped it would.
Take that, Mother Nature
I arranged the trucks around a small pond in the middle of the property, using the slight grade downward to lift up the noses of the trucks to give them a little visual “oomph”. The sun was still bright overhead, producing rather harsh lighting and a slight bit of haze. I used off camera flash to help pop out the details of the dark wheels and to help even out the shadowy areas on the trucks. The Jeep is something else, with its knobby tires, winch and huge LED light bar running the length of the windshield. It happily hopped up onto a tree stump to pose for a few shots, making me really wish we could get both of these monsters out to an off road park where we could get into a little more trouble!
After toying around with the trucks for about 30 minutes, we headed back to the house to pick up the 1968 Camaro. The client had a spot in mind, so we drove out there, and got a few shots of the Camaro. Unfortunately, the Camaro had some battery issues which prevented is from restarting, so a jump was required a few times to get it moving again.
With the light beginning to fade, we headed back to the house to set up the full-collection shot. We arranged all the cars, leaving a nice open spot for the 458 Italia up front. Unfortunately, the battery gremlins had visited the Ferrari too, and it refused to start. We decided to go ahead with the shot for now, since we had some nice smooth light and the cars looked great together in the driveway. Standing on a ladder in the street, I gained a nice high vantage point that allowed for most of the cars to be seen fully. The shot turned out really great, and hopefully we can reshoot it sometime in the near future with the 458 Italia, as it is the keystone of the collection!
With the light nearly gone and the 458 refusing to start, I had a dilemma on my hands as to what to do. Not shooting the 458 wasn’t an option for me, as I HAD to have some photos of this amazing car for my personal collection. I elected to do some light painting to bring out the curves of the gorgeous Pininfarina sheet metal This is a car that looks beautiful in any photo, but even photos cannot do it justice. It is just painfully good looking. I broke out all my light painting gear and got started. I was limited strictly to where the car was planted at the moment, since it would not start and also because the garage had the best setting that we could work with for the given time. I enlisted the client (who was very helpful throughout the entire process) to press the shutter for me while I “painted” around the 458 Italia, lighting different panels one at a time, then the background with different exposures. The flawless paint reflects light beautifully, especially in the “kink” where the door meets the rear 3/4 panel. I pieced together one low angled rear shot, then moved the camera to a cramped corer of the garage to get a front shot. Since I knew I wouldn’t be keeping the background for this shot, I didn’t worry about lighting anything behind the 458 Italia. A few exposures for the panels, and one for the headlights and we were done! We wrapped up after that, and I headed home to edit the set.
I elected to place the 458 Italia in an endless parking lot for the front shot, as I thought a bunch of needless scenery wasn’t necessary – the car speaks for itself. The client has ordered 6 framed prints from the set, all of which look fantastic in print. But the metallic prints of the 458 came out so incredible that I may have to order some just for myself.
