Car Photography lighting tips with Jimmy Zhang

I reached out to Jimmy zhang & asked him if he's willing to share some car photography lighting tips & he handed over an awesome 8 minutes worth of car photography tips!
More Car Photography Tips - SUBSCRIBE ➜ goo.gl/9bhrRY
Jimmy's IG ➜ / jimmyzhangphotography
Follow me on IG ➜ / moezainal

[@KJMGarage]

He’s just starting out? Those are amazing professional shots! I just started out and I thought I was good. Nope not even close. I have a long way to go.

[@zhangshred]

Thank you! we've all still got plenty to learn, especially myself!

[@Gunrunn3rTV]

I started three years ago and recently have been crowned senior artist by the CD of the company I freelance for... it really depends on the people around you. I was pushed into the deep end and learned from amazing artist. In a vacuum, I recon, my progress would have been much slower.

[@richardaneale]

I would love to see how Jimmy edited that shot in Photoshop.

[@kalef1234]

this is one of those little gems on youtube you find. Nice video, Jimmy's really talented!

[@TexasRevving]

Incredible shots... Can't believe his work and he's just getting started.

[@MoeZainal]

Exactly!

[@jcinewilliams8819]

Thank you for this. Very inspiring. I'm new & from NC also. And I've thought it would be very "amateurish" to conduct a shoot like this. But after watching and seeing the result its makes me feel like having a deliberate process of evaluating your lighting options is pretty smart (IMO). Thanks for the boost of confidence.

[@docdeezy8220]

Great tut doc..that really opened my mind to a lot of what my photos have been missing; and I'm not just referring to car photography

[@Gijz74]

Great video. Really helpful and informative. And Jimmy's photo rock!

[@AmmarAlKharusi]

This is an awesome video and a very useful tutorials! Thank you both

[@kennyrobertson4673]

This is awesome! Very helpful thanks!

[@G8Thunder]

Saw one of Jimmy's NSX shots on FStoppers and they gave it a 4star rating. He's a great photographer. Thanks Moe for sharing him and his input.

[@jesneed1142]

I love your videos, Moe. I'm learning so much. Amazing work, Jimmy, and very inspirational. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you Joe ❤️ keep learning.

[@mickfocusphotography6647]

Awesome! I have a few night shoots coming up, so i'll be putting these ideas to the test

[@davidalanmedia]

Great tutorial Moe and Jimmy. Always helpful to see someone's else's workflow.

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you David, glad to know you've found it helpful!

[@ThaCmaro]

Thank you both for this great video! At the moment I cant find enough time to shoot but as soon as I get to go outside again i will try these tips jimmy gave us today. Thank you! I just got my first strobe and i cant wait to use it with the sun out. :) Great statement at the end moe!

[@MoeZainal]

Hey! Thank you for watching, practice makes perfect :-)

[@keylessmediagroup]

Jimmy Zhang is my DUDE!! Always killing it!

[@KimboyLajara]

awesome content.. now im looking forward to automotive photography using my phone. thankyou for the inspiration. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@RichThul]

Thanks Moe and Jimmy for sharing, great info and I think that both of your guys photos are amazing.

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you Rich, really appreciate it buddy!

[@ultronfilms2232]

love this dude's work!! top notch! need to step up my game lol

[@MoeZainal]

He's really good!

[@houssamghabra7222]

thanks for the video, it is really useful.

[@submarineofdoctors]

Very informative!

[@Gunrunn3rTV]

It's kinda insane how far CGI has come, every time I finish a composite I'm struck how all this cleaning up often results in a more artificial look than fully rendered cars. Makes me wonder if traditional photography is really still relevant in automotive. Why not specialize in sphere photography? A LizzardQ and VRay license probably comes cheaper anyway... Great work Jimmy, amazing progress! and sorry for the rambling!

[@josereynelchauxperez947]

Excelente material, muchas gracias !!!

[@MoeZainal]

+Jose Reynel Chaux Perez you are welcome!

[@benspear]

This all makes a ton of sense and I really like your final image. Would love to see it with a dark (retouch or revisit at night) version. You could go crazy and use your lights in the trees in the background!

[@zhangshred]

That area would make a great location to shoot at night, but unfortunately they close right at sunset. This entire part of the shoot was done in a hurry while the park ranger was driving around closing things down!

[@saifahmed200010]

Beautiful video Moe ! Keep up the good work

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you Saif :)

[@razvanmanitiu2682]

Was excited since you announced it in the stream

[@zhangshred]

hope you enjoyed it and found something useful to take away from it!

[@hom296]

Jimmy...you're a good teacher!

[@LucasJohnsonVisuals]

Can't believe I haven't followed this guy yet. Incredible work, thanks for sharing! :)

[@MoeZainal]

Hey! You are welcome, thank you for watching!

[@dark_3926]

This vid was so inspiring subbed moe, following jimmy, truly amazing work

[@MoeZainal]

Happy to hear so & thank you for the subb!

[@zhangshred]

thank you!

[@chriscanela8376]

That was amazing work such an inspiration

[@zhangshred]

thank you sir!

[@marcanthonystorm]

Great video guys. I too make videos of my Z06 and I’m in North Carolina also. Thank you for sharing. I subbed.

[@als98au]

Love this photo . Just completed my first light painting shoot with a softbox and light that arrived last week . Just got to get the hang of the post processing . Thanks Jimmy Zhang , Moe and 8t5mm for the inspiration.

[@MoeZainal]

You are welcome Allan :-)

[@zhangshred]

you're very welcome!

[@Moroccanlens]

So Cool!

[@WrenchedOutExperiment]

great video and nice too see

[@angelozhang7687]

Thanks Moe and Jimmy! Gonna follow him now!😁😁😁

[@MoeZainal]

great! thank you :-)

[@jamesdoerr4318]

Thanks Jimmy

[@MamunShaikh]

Subbed! Bahrain represent 🇧🇭

[@r.devries5017]

I'd like to see Jimmy working with Photoshop to edit it to the final edit. It's so sick!

[@toxic_gam1ng_]

Hey dude what gear do you use?? would love to know btw awomse photos!!

[@8t5mm]

So stoked on this! Jimmy is insaaaaaane! I love how he uses his girlfriend as an assistant.... I also do that haha

[@8t5mm]

damn and that shout out haha!

[@zhangshred]

she's the best assistant in the world! you're insaaaaaaane too!

[@MoeZainal]

hahaha! well deserved 😁

[@ProjectDriven]

with the shots of the car driving, do you take the picture with the car still and add light and blur in post or is it done while the car is actually driving?

[@PowerStrokePS]

Subscribed 👍🏻

[@jeeshuamessengerful]

Have you ever done a video on photoshop elements?

[@livingahumanlife2651]

Question: do you have to blur out the number plate when using the pictures online etc.?

[@khez_]

Very smart!

[@Fade2BlackSS]

Awesome video. What's the name of the song at the beginning though?

[@TRIPLE_SIX_OFFICIAL]

Wow, this actually helped...

[@1grigoredan]

How aren't you bigger on KZbin? I like your work and style! Gj

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you Dan, I am climbing the ladder slowly but steadily - hope to get more awesome subscribers like you guys!

[@ahzanmustofa]

when shooting in daylight, can I use Godox TT600?

[@richardle246]

Great work guys!

[@zhangshred]

Thank you Richard! I definitely learned a lot from watching your layer breakdown videos, they were HUGE when I first started lighting!

[@MoeZainal]

+Richard Le Thank you Richard, you've got amazing shots, let me know if you would like to be featured on the channel with a tip!

[@knightryderbelow]

10 hours!!!! That’s why his photos look so good. People are not willing to endure 10 hours of editing. Great job!

[@kong_5oh163]

knightryderbelow must get paid paid .

[@iracer4]

Great video. Would love to know your camera settings as well. ISO F stop camera lens etc.

[@zhangshred]

this was shot with a Nikon D5200 with the kit lens. Iso 100, f10, various shutter speeds

[@kazimierzskalniak1457]

Nice. Where i can buy this light

[@xavigalvez7]

Thanks for the vid! Do you guys do all lighting exposures once without CPL and then repeat all the same lighting positions with CPL?? i just want to know if a have to make the double process in every diferent lighting exposure. i'm used to use big white and black sheets to block the reflections.

[@zhangshred]

It depends on the situation, in this case I did that just because I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out/how I wanted to edit the picture. This was actually my first time strobing during the day at a legitimate photoshoot, so I wanted to get as much lighting as possible just in case I wanted to change up the look in post. Also notice that there's no long shadow, so the natural light was coming in from all sides - another reason why I wanted to augment that and light from a bunch of different angles. If there was a low sun directly on the car I would have used my light differently

[@xavigalvez7]

Thank you for your time amd answering Jimmy Zhang!

[@tomwhitmore]

Late comment but hoping I get a reply. Been looking for a fair priced strobe light similar to the one Moe & Jimmy have used/been using but can't seem to find one. What's a typical price to pay for one? So far I'm using a £2 strobe torch, it does the job but I can't get the height to create some of the effects I want. Great video Jimmy, you should start doing videos on your own channel, I've only just found Moe's and subscribed straight away. It's always good to have more people to draw inspiration from!

[@MoeZainal]

+Tom W Hey Tom it's never too late, thank you for subing! Have A Look at the godox line: Godox AD200 Godox AD 360II Godox AD600 Hope this helps.

[@kylevanhelden]

Awesome vid! How do you start with getting clients cars to shoot?

[@paultrunfull3324]

Hi there Kyle, the way I started was to find a car that was a little different from most of the cars being put into the mag,(I started by looking at one car mag.) with the car found I asked the owner if they would do a shoot. For this I supply them with a cd and few prints( do give nice size prints, don't be cheap here) Once the owner is on board. Then look for a good local, try to keep as local to the owner as poss. Once your happy, check for trees/lamp post's(things like that)growing out of the car (this makes life harder in p/p.) If you are shooting for a mag. then remember to leave room around the image for the Text. If you shooting for a client them you can shoot tighter. For mag. work try to keep to the same style as the mag. shot's they like, but with some put your twist on them, shoot high/low from all angles. Don't forget the little bits lights/bright work etc.But most of all make sure there sharp. Hopes this helps a little.

[@kylevanhelden]

Thanks so much man!

[@benspear]

That's a really great answer.

[@jorkygonzalez720]

Go to car meets and talk to people start taking pictures of cars and post it on your page so they can c what you are all about.

[@allthingsawesome8298]

What camera setup/gear did he use?

[@MintyTunes]

what camera does jimmy use? :)

[@MahmoodSuhail]

اخ عزيز ومبدع وتستحق الدعم thumb's up

[@MoeZainal]

mn thoqk yal'3ali, thank you so much!

[@TrapWorldHDTV]

nice

[@ZohareHaider]

My hero :)

[@MoeZainal]

Hey Man, I miss you bro - we'll hopefully meet-up soon!

[@nils_ninja]

Is this a flash or light Setup !? :)

[@MorningCoffeeDaily]

I just started ...then u see his work...Ok goodbye world!

[@guillermomartinezruiz9175]

Wich polarizer do you recomend for these kind of shots? Thanks!

[@MoeZainal]

I personally use B+W brand but might consider polarpro to try it out.

[@kazimierzskalniak1457]

Do you know any similar light?

[@ulrickteissier363]

Great video! Do you change your focus point for each car pictures that you take?

[@zhangshred]

nope, I lock it down on the headlight or wheel and leave it as is. I shoot at a small aperture so the focal plane is really deep

[@ulrickteissier363]

Thanks for your help

[@paoloignacio8836]

wow! just found out that you are from bahrain.. currently staying here... just want to say yur shots are amazin.

[@MoeZainal]

Thank you Paolo! We should have some coffee sometime then :-)

[@dipbar1824]

what exact car is this?

[@CreativeCriminalsBangalore]

@moeZainal , can the Godox AD200 used for these kinda shots?

[@MoeZainal]

Really depends on the exposure & the aperture, a more powerful alternative would be the AD360II

[@CreativeCriminalsBangalore]

Moe Zainal thanks, moe

[@jessesutton3454]

how do you combine all of those layers to get the final product?

[@zhangshred]

I start out with lighten layer blending mode and mask from there

[@kuroryu9778]

But wat if i dont have Photoshop, is there any good alternative?

[@xstavinx]

You really do need photoshop and lightroom

[@jamesietill1788]

On your soft box you created yourself, do you have a dimension size that you would recommend? I have a similar light and would like to create one. Cracking images by the way :)

[@zhangshred]

I had pretty much no idea what size I wanted, and the size ended up being as big as I could make it with the cardboard boxes I had sitting around my house haha

[@RustyZipper]

👍

[@kong_5oh163]

So how did you edit this 🥴

[@usynnstradler]

How do you join All the pictures

[@zhangshred]

photoshop lighten image blending mode is a good way to start

[@bonedyone]

how did he light a moving car, roller shot

[@marcuslane4507]

Mike Hunt good question. Shots aren't actually rolling shots. He creates that in post processing. I know this because I'm the owner of the white NSX. And was there during the whole shoot.

[@zhangshred]

The entire shot was done stationary and then photoshopped into a rolling shot (like you would do with virtual rig)!

[@yumyumpacotaco86]

Dave O. For those who aren’t to great with post process. It could be done with a rig. A poll with suction cups on one end. The other end is the camera. Set it to a long exposure and SLOWLY drive. You will get an amazing affect. Then you remove the post in process

[@saitousan15]

Hey Moe. I'd like to know if he plans on doing this full time.

[@MoeZainal]

We all hope he does! Let him finish school first then it's his choice :-)

[@zhangshred]

I highly doubt photography will ever be full time for me, unfortunately. I'm in dental school so that's going to be my career, but I definitely plan on making photography a second job of sorts!

[@saitousan15]

All up to you man. I am trying to get into at least holding and operating a camera as my full time thing, and also doing my own thing on the side. Currently I do IT beta testing and hate it.

[@Lukerr239]

@@zhangshred From someone who does automotive photography and advertising in the car industry - be happy with it, as a second job. You'll get tired from it quickly, if you have to work with photos every day. Not to mention the amount of time you can spend on editing gets limited or decreased. Best of luck my man, im following on Instagram, you're made for this type of art.

[@enfynet]

I need a tripod 😳

[@conanfox634]

How do you throw light out on a car?

[@MoeZainal]

Check out my latest video with Thom Bateman, should give you an idea on how to do so... I also have a video about lighting tips.

[@ElReySupr3me]

If only I had a computer to use photoshop =()

[@SuperApe2aje]

How to use speedlight / strobe to a black car.

[@MoeZainal]

I'll try and workout a tutorial on this.

[@angelozhang7687]

Is Moeday my suggestion?😂😂😂😂

[@MoeZainal]

haha well its Luka's

[@angelozhang7687]

Mine is 8 minutes Moeday, Haha pretty close!

[@muhaY-vb5vp]

ini versi china nya Arap?

[@ryanott6763]

hi jimmy

[@zhangshred]

hi Ryan

[@TheBANDEMIC]

so in photoshop he pretty much stitched together his favorite lighted areas from all those different pictures???

[@MoeZainal]

Yes, he masked in the parts he wanted 👍🏼🙌🏼

[@TheBANDEMIC]

@@MoeZainal ohhh wow damn! now I see why it takes 10 hours...

[@MoeZainal]

Indeed, the more time you spend on layers to perfect it the better the outcome is.

[@TheBANDEMIC]

@@MoeZainal never knew how indepth car photography could be! you must need a really steady tripod in order to take multiple shots with out moving the camera out of position right?

[@mperformance3502]

Not a fan of making the car look cartoonish. That Camaro almost looks fake after all that photoshop. But great video and tips!

[@4seeableTV]

The final result looks good, but also fake. If someone is going to spend that much time in Photoshop to completely change the look, why even bother with a location shoot to begin with? Just light the car exactly as you want in a garage, and then put in a background of your choice. That would take a hell of a lot less time and would even look better.

[@LimitedSpectrum]

"I'm still brand new to photography" I've been serious about photography for almost 5 years now, and my shots are total garbage compared to Jimmy's! I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

[@KimboyLajara]

awesome content.. now im looking forward to automotive photography using my phone. thankyou for the inspiration. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@MoeZainal]

thank you for watching and good luck with your shoot :)

[@KimboyLajara]

Moe Zainal thankyou. Currently im in Doha i work here

[@MamunShaikh]

Subbed! Bahrain represent 🇧🇭

[@MoeZainal]

+Mamun Shaikh thank You!