Making it Sparkle – Half Scale Cars

We were recently contacted by Half Scale Cars via our Instagram channel after being recommend by an industry friend to talk to us. They were suffering a unique situation and heard that we were the light masters and might be able to help. Half Scale Cars build bespoke, half scale motorised cars based on famous road and race going cars. In their possession they have an impressively bejeweled Jaguar E-type which was built in conjunction with Harrods. This E-type features over 100,000 Swarovski crystals, handed applied to the body work. However, no body until now could make the crystals produce a specular highlight or sparkle in photo. Therefore, it became our challenge to do so.

Specular highlight

"A specular highlight is the bright spot of light that appears on shiny objects when illuminated."

After looking at previous photos sent to us it became apparent that the issue was they were using a studio with soft white lighting. This will cause the crystals to become flooded with light and look flat. In the original images it appear the model is cover in shiny paper, not 100,000 crystals! Our intended solution was to use a sharp light and have a dark.

Using continuous led lights with no modifiers we used steep and tall angles to cause refraction in the crystal to create the specular highlights required. To light the underside and infill dark areas, reflectors were used and later removed in post. We also produced a short promo video to accompany the images, using the same technique to make the bodywork sparkle. Now with images the sparkle, Sam from Half Scale Cars can push this model through his marketing campaigns.

Are you in need of commercial product photography to showcase your business? As imaginative thinkers we can offer out of the box thinking to wow your customers. Start your journey today by contact us on 01202 287 088