G'day Merv, no real secrets and am happy to share some of the process.
In regards to the Cuda shoot, despite having my gear in the boot in the hope of a full on shoot, time got the better of us. What this meant was that we couldn't locate a glamour location that didn't have too much traffic, as well as an interesting yet not too distracting background. The one thing I really didn't want to have to do was take the car on to the grass, however due to it being a public road there was little other choice.
Being very sunny at the time, I chose to have Stef face the way he did to reduce the length of the shadow in front of the vehicle. This obviously means that the grill and front of the car was also in shadow and had no detail at all. I compensate for this with multiple portable flash heads and wireless trigger system.
I also used a circular polariser to combat the glare and reflection of the windscreen, which as a result also over saturates the colours in the background. I also had another wireless flash inside the car to give some extra detail.
That's really it, the rest is a bit of tidying up in photoshop, however since editing isn't my greatest strength, not a lot was performed.
In a perfect world I would know of, and have access to more suitable locations in future.
This was only the second time I'd used the portable package that I've got, with the first test results below. You may notice that it is the same location of Stef's No.96 magazine shoot, which in fact I chose on behalf of the pro photographer.
The struggles I faced during the first test was quickly fading light and constant traffic being a public road. I had to have the owner of the car constantly moving my flash heads every time a car came past.
_DSC0099_1 75dpi by
inmotionphotography, on Flickr
_DSC0097_1 75dpi by
inmotionphotography, on Flickr
It's all part of the learning process, one which will hopefully see me improve over time.
Cheers.
Steve.