Now to add the lightpainted exposures (10:15). Dominykas then adds both a cyan and magenta colour cast to the whole image to create that 80’s vibe, using a hue and saturation layer (9:05). First of all on the background ambient image, the car is masked out (7:23 in the following video). The final piece of the puzzle is the post processing. It’s this sort of attention to detail that really elevates a single image into a story.
You can see that he also paid attention to the background area lighting up the wheels to the left of the image as well. If we go back to the Porsche 911, you can clearly see some of the lightpainting passes in these behind the scenes shots taken by Dominykas. The general technique is shown in the following video: The idea is to light up particular features that you then composite together in post production, using the background plate to work from. As you can see it is a fine exposure of a car, but there is zero atmosphere to the image.Īfter this, the car is then lit in sections with the light wand in separate exposures of 6 seconds. Lighting was all done with a Yongnuo YN360 LED light wand.įor this particular shoot Dominykas first took a fairly flat ambient exposure to use as a background plate from which to work from later in post production (below).
He says “while this DSLR is becoming pretty old now, I still find it very usable for professional work, and its huge image sensor is a nice bonus.” Of course a good tripod is essential in this sort of work, Dominykas uses the Vanguard Alta Pro. Dominykas used his standard camera and lens which he uses on most of his automotive photoshoots, The Nikon D800 and 24-85mm 3.5-5.6. The equipment used is simple for this technique. And the car suited those colours perfectly!” You know, Miami colours, cyans and magentas. So I figured I wanted to match that whole vibe and go with a more 80s themed colour scheme.
“They had finished restoring this gorgeous 1976 Porsche 911,” he says, “the shop has a bunch of 80s and 90s memorabilia, like car posters and other cool stuff (you can notice the movie “Drive” poster on the wall near the car in the photo). Behind every vehicle is a person with a story.ĭominykas regularly shoots work for a local restoration garage in Lithuania (Hammersmith motors). A story of a designer, fulfilling his deepest desires of creating a uniquely shaped vehicle a story of a craftsman, modifying every running part and making a car that’s uniquely theirs a story about an enthusiast, who adores the smell of petrol and sees driving as an absolute pleasure. A piece of metal with one main purpose – to take us from one point to another.