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Michael Furman's Gear Box

Cameras
Phase One P25 or P45 digital backs on Hasselblad H1, Sinar Bron 4x5 with FlexAdaptor
Nikon D2x

Lenses
Sinar camera: Sironar lenses (210mm, 240mm, or 300mm)
Hasselblad camera: 120mm macro; 35mm, 50mm, 80mm, 210mm

Lighting
Broncolor strobes

Hardware and Software
Apple Mac G5s with Apple HD Cinema Displays
Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
Phase One Capture One software

Tips from Furman for High-Impact Automotive Photography

1. Shoot in the largest studio you can find. You can’t find a studio that’s too big! We shoot in a space that’s 60 by 100 feet, with a 24-foot ceiling. It sounds pretty big, but the walls and ceilings still reflect into the car. Usually I shoot 50 feet away from the car, so I’m not reflecting myself.

2. Wear black. I can tell when I’m working with a new assistant—he or she wears a bright yellow T-shirt to the shoot. Often if I’m shooting in detail and up close, I’ll cover myself in black cloth, so all you see is the lens kind of peeking through the hole.

3. choose the right lens. Using the wrong lens is, by far, the biggest mistake automotive photographers make. To be a photographer, you really have to be able to see; if you can’t see, you can’t do the rest of it. If you introduce distortion because you don’t know what lens to use, or if you think it makes perfect sense to walk up as close to the car as possible, you shouldn’t be taking car pictures. You don’t take portraits of people with a wide-angle lens and walk right up to them and say, “Gee, this shot is cool.” Lens choice is just as critical with cars.