The hobby- CDP: Return of the Mack

I've been eying this Mack truck since the first time that I drove by and noticed it parked in the field. I loved it's style, shape and sense of decay with all of its layers of paint flaking off and rusting away. It's just down the road so I've driven by it numerous times now giving me many opportunities to scout out the location. I wanted the shoot to take place during a time when the sun would be in the frame. I also wanted to have partly cloudy skies to add to the scene. This meant that it would have to take place during the early afternoon hours which would only work on the weekend. Today turned out to be the absolute perfect day.

If you would have driven by while Caitlyn and I were out there you may have asked yourself: "What the heck is that guy doing out there with a large flash/umbrella unit 9ft. in the air during mid-day? Is the sun not bright enough?!" Never mind the fact that I was shooting some old truck left to die in a field.

I chose to artificially light the truck for numerous reasons. I knew that because of the location of the truck I would be shooting the side of the truck that would be in the shadow of the sun. That meant that for me to properly expose the desired side of the truck I would need to light it with some fill flash. I also wanted to retain the details in the sky that I was after (the partly cloudy blue skies). Without the use of the flash the sky would have been blown out for the most part and not salvageable. The final reason I wanted to light the truck was because of the amazing textures to be found on it. I really wanted to bring out all of the details of the flaking paint, the cracking bondo, the rust etc. This meant I would need some sort of side lighting rather than the direct sunlight which at that time of day would just wash it out.

Hopefully you'll find that I succeeded in my mission.