A tool I made to light car interiors in photos

[bh1701]

Being able to see the interiors of cars in photos is sometimes hard to accomplish. It's especially hard since the lighting on the car is lighting up the exterior and not the interior.

For my latest model photos, I took an extra battery box and an LED light to make this contraption that slides in under the roof of the model. It's mounted to a thin piece of plastic that has a 90 degree bend to it. I also made several paper sleeves that can go over the LED to dim it down if it is too bright. If you position it correctly, it should not be visible in the photos.

The contraption

How it slides in to the body (the interior looks bright in this shot since the exterior was not lit up for this shot)

A finished photo ( I should have done a better job of hiding the contraption from view!)

 

Edited March 15 by bh1701
Fixed photo position

[johnyrotten]

Great idea. I'm horrible with pictures in general, and my most recent work in progress is very dark. Thanks.

[ColonelKrypton]

Very good idea. something else for me to tinkerwith.

cheers Graham

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice.  

[Steve H]

Thanks for sharing this Bart. I have some appropriate led’s, so i think i may make one of these. Great idea. Wondering about maybe using some thin but rigid wire (guitar string),  which might be easier to “hide” in the photos…🤔 

[bh1701]

1 hour ago, Steve H said:

Thanks for sharing this Bart. I have some appropriate led’s, so i think i may make one of these. Great idea. Wondering about maybe using some thin but rigid wire (guitar string),  which might be easier to “hide” in the photos…🤔 

Steve,

The use of wire might be a good idea. It would probably be easier to hide in the photos.

If I am paying better attention when shooting photos, I would try to put the plastic strip in a position where it would be hidden by the sides of the roof.

One of the features I like about the plastic strip is that it is flexible enough that the horizontal portion of it can be bent up or down as needed to fit close to the underside of the roof.

I had also considered using thin clear tube or a thin plastic tube for the vertical section with the wires running inside the tube.

This whole contraption was something I thought up while falling asleep one night. My prototype was thrown together quickly, I will continue to try to come up with an improved version of it.

I will be interested in seeing what you come up with.

Bart