KIA & Steven Tyler

It’s fitting that a week before I moved to the suburbs I shot a big car ad. We had a busy day shooting the print and billboard executions for KIA’s Super Bowl Stinger ads with Steven Tyler but I still managed to get some vehicle purchase advice from some of the guy techs on set. 

I’ve shot cars in editorial many times, and for automotive companies, including Dodge, and Mazda, but this one felt different, stepped up a level in working the look of the car. 

First came the talent portion, shooting Mr. Tyler with a large beautiful light source. We had him for 20 minutes in the morning; energetic, professional, and charismatic in front of the camera, he brought everything that we needed. 

Then we executed the photography of the car in the afternoon. We started with hard lights, then using both positive and negative fill cards we shaped the reflections in the body. Working closely with the agency creatives, and a first assistant who specialized in car lighting, we then pulled back on the manipulation and let the natural reflections in this desert speedway location show through the car. And here we found our sweet spot, beauty and grit, all grounded in a real setting.