Where do you want to go, señor?
While in Cuba for a photography expedition I wanted to capture the spirit of the classic cars kept on the road since the revolution created an embargo on American imports after 1960. The island has a vibrant culture of maintaining and driving classic American automobiles, keeping them on the road with whatever parts they can get, and a good deal of ingenuity.
Our AirBnB hosts, in a meticulously refurbished house from run-down to modern standards, connected us with a local taxi driver and we booked him for the evening. Driving around Havana looking for a suitable background for his car portrait, we found a grand old house or "solares" with a driveway, converted into apartments for multiple families, and searched for someone to give us permission to shoot later on. An old lady in the back summoned her husband and we explained our request, they didn't seem surprised, and we got our permission to come back later.
When we returned the old lady was nowhere to be found, and a different family were in the front rooms overlooking the driveway, but nothing was said and we got on with the job.
See the process below, plus some details shots of the Toyota turbo diesel engine and LCD interior screens.
Getting the Right Light
The car was parked well enough to locate a good composition balancing the vehicle as the main subject complementing the cool blue of the peeling housepaint and the green of the palm leaves and overgrown grass.
Next a number of passes with the light wand were exposed to highlight the curves of the bodywork, the two color tones of the paint, the interior seats and white headliner, the hood ornament, badges, tires, grille and lights. A few dents were left in emphasizing it's age and contrasting with the careful restoration and luminous glossy paintwork.
The Build - Putting it all Together
After the lightpainting passes were completed it was time for the build. The individual layers are opened on the computer, examined, and selected for carefully layering together, blending into the finished product.
There is skill and judgment combined with a lot of attention to detail, and an artful vision in creating the finished image, suitable to be printed and hung on the wall.
This image would look great printed at 30" wide x 20" high on metal with a high gloss finish for a dramatic and luminous showpiece.
Click to enlarge for more detail.
Yes, you can have people in the picture!
