BTS: My shoot for Lexus Finland

"MrAaro" (mraaro)
10/26/2016 at 17:49 • Filed to: lexus, lexus nx, Photography, Photoshop, Photos, finland, Behind The Scenes

I recently shot a series of pictures for Lexus Finland as part of their #LexusYoungCreatives campaign. I though you might enjoy reading about the process and taking a look into some of the unedited pictures.

The idea behind the shoot was to showcase the sleek, if something boring, Lexus NX in a variety of beautiful Finnish landscapes. The goal was to give the car a sense of adventure and movement. After doing the requisite location scouting prior to the shoot, I picked up the keys to the Lexus NX and had 24 hours to make it happen.

The locations varied from run-of-the-mill to somewhat haphazard. Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot from one of the trickier spots we shot in:

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Driving the NX onto the pier was super sketchy. Since the pier was about 4 inches wider than the width of the SUV, the Lexus was less than a tire’s width away from becoming a rusty write-off. Thankfully, though, no Lexus representatives were around to stop us from attempting this, and after a few sweaty minutes, it was mission accomplished...well, at least until we had to back it out.

And here is the unedited image taken from the ladder:

And the final edited image again:

Pretty different eh? Since my original idea for this shot involved a foggy, peaceful lake scene and the conditions did not play along, I had to turn to my friend Photoshop.

The image of the car on the wooded road was much less adrenaline-pumping to set up, but required another type of challenge: we lighted different parts of the car individually with the goal of compositing them later in Photoshop. The idea behind this type of light painting is to accentuate certain curves or details, giving the final image a slightly enhanced-reality feel. Here’s one of the light-painted shots:

And the final image:

There isn’t a huge change, but I want to think it is noticeable.

One goal in all the images was to have the car look like it belongs with the background while still being the focus of each image. Here’s the picture in the field, before and after:

And finally, one more bonus image, which required a ton of masking and brushing:

Hope you enjoyed this! If you have any questions about the process or details, lemme know. And if you’re interested, you can check out more of my photography on my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

DISCUSSION (15)

CB > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 17:53

Damn dude, amazing work! Did you have to ask them to take part in it, or did they ask you?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 17:57

Absolutely stunning. I happen to be in the camp who likes the NX’s styling to begin with, but this puts it over the edge. You should be proud of this work.

Captain of the Enterprise > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:03

Looks great!

MrAaro > CB
10/26/2016 at 18:03

Thanks man! They ran a type of competition for photographers to participate in, and I was one of the five they chose who got to shoot a model of our choice.

Svend > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:04

I really like all of those pictures.

Even the unedited picture of the car on the pier. The serenity in the foreground and the hustle and bustle of the industrial background.

MrAaro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
10/26/2016 at 18:04

Thanks man, I am! I’ve always been partial to the RX’s angles (if I had to choose), but the NX styling definitely grew on me during this shoot.

MrAaro > Svend
10/26/2016 at 18:08

Cheers man! Yeah, I was torn whether to swap out the background on that or not, but I decided to go all-natural—even if it required a lot more work.

CaptDale - is secretly British > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:21

Wow those are beautiful. I hope to be a paid photographer one day.

Svend > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:22

I don’t think there is a picture there I’d choose over the other.

I love pictures that tell a story, have a meaning or just display natural beauty.

A friend’s daughter did this.

I amazed with what people achieve with a little imagination.

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FrankAtlanta > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:35

I really like the composition and feel of the first picture!

Cé hé sin > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 18:36

The picture beside the field of rape is interesting because you’ve made the flowers more yellow and taken out the green. I was reading recently about how film and television producers use colourists to do the same and one of the examples given was a field just like that.

MrAaro > Cé hé sin
10/26/2016 at 19:08

Good eye! You don’t want to just boost all colors equally, or else the whole picture gets too loud. Selective boosting for the win. And bonus points for recognizing the rapeseed (even though “field of rape” sounds like a wartime atrocity)

Matthew Phillips > MrAaro
10/26/2016 at 19:50

You mind if I share these on my Podcast’s (FSFL) Facebook page ?

MrAaro > Matthew Phillips
10/27/2016 at 03:40

Go for it, as long as you add a link to this post. :)

Matthew Phillips > MrAaro
10/27/2016 at 13:30

https://www.facebook.com/Flatsidewaysfulllock/

Thank you !