Reflections on Reflections

The May 2009 cover set me to thinking about a useful and underused photographic tool, reflections. No, not the often-seen car reflected in a shiny 356 hubcap or even the near-cliché of the following car reflected in the outside mirror of the photo car. I’m thinking instead of light modified in some appealing way before it gets to the car. In the case of the Panamera on the cover, I was shooting a dark blue car in a covered area, sort of like a huge carport. What saved this apparently dismal scenario was reflections, some of which picked up a blue hue. Interacting with the complex lines of Porsche’s new sedan, they made an interesting and quietly colorful pattern that could be exploited into a needed cover.

The dark blue Panamera was saved by emphasizing the reflections provided by the surroundings; without these, there would not have been enough visual interest for a cover.

 

Gray car, gray day, flat overcast sky. The only good thing about this 997 C4S photo is the expression of joy on the passenger’s face; he’s only 37 feet away from the finish line of a hillclimb run with Walter Röhrl.

 

The same C4S (ok, so it’s been repainted and the tag number changed by 7 digits). Look how much more appealing it is with some visual interest to break up the wide expanse of hood.

 

Consider the 997 hood (I’d like personally to consider one, but money’s a bit tight right now, and this job doesn’t pay). It’s pretty wide, and about as interesting as the second day of midwestern plains on a long road trip. 911 hoods also tend to be overexposed when the rest of the car is happy with the amount of light it’s getting, making for some pretty C minus type pictures. I’ll bet that you’ve already figured this one out, and you’re right. Get that puppy into some mottled light—think trees for a starter—and it immediately looks a lot more interesting.

This GT3 yielded a strong enough composition to be a cover on its own in spite of its pure whiteness, but didn’t make the cut.

 

In the spirit of never leaving well enough alone, internal contrast was bullied into accentuating existing lines and reflections, helping to produce a more eyeball-grabbing final product.

 

But don’t stop there. Look for other large structures that will modify the light, either by filtering the amount that gets through—like trees do—or reflecting an interesting and perhaps colorful pattern onto your subject. Note that I said interesting. I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in seeing the reflected images of your buddies or a random concour crowd drooling on the paint of a Carrera GT. Something more abstract would suit better.

Even parts of a car can benefit from some relief of their silver and blackness. Reflections from a building only a few feet from the car and lit by the afternoon sun provide additional visual interest to a turbo wheel.

 

This 904, irresistible in its own red right, was made especially intriguing by having been parked under a striped tent.

 

A pop-up tent can change the quality and even the color of light, and objects placed on it can produce a variety of patterns. A tent with stripes helps the viewer explore the lines of the car, and calls attention to subtle variations. A large building in the sun can reflect beautifully, sometimes mysteriously, onto our favorite cars. Clouds can provide difficult, but sometimes effective, possibilities. Colorful flowers can not only be a backdrop, but can reverberate off the paint or windows.

Clouds in a Colorado sky give shape and dimensionality to the clear plastic cover over this 917’s headlights. The small J shaped shadow in the lower left is my elbow. No, I didn’t mean to do that. Yes, that was a mistake. But you wouldn’t have known if I didn’t tell you—

 

A red 997 cab picks up a bit of eye appeal from the sunlit yellow building reflected in the hood.

 

Maybe it was black or dark blue, I don’t remember, but this early 356 was some dark color. What makes the picture is a buttermilk sky with brightly lit clouds, an unplanned gift like so many reflection shots.

 

Variations are endless, experimentation is fun. Give it a try. Have some other ideas? Let me hear from you; I’m at leonardt@pca.org.