Creating The Title Image

I have two passions at the moment.  Diecast collecting and photography.  I've been collecting diecast cars, namely Hot Wheels and Johnny Lightnings for most of my adult life.  Now add Code 3 to the list. I've also recently discovered the joys of photography.  I'm using this blog to promote the fusion of both of my passions.  As i go, I hope to become a better photographer.  So what better way to practice, than to create a really nice title image for this website?

For the title image, I used the following:
the subject model, being the Cincinnati E-One Ladder (#12961),
a white foamboard
2 spotlights (actually wall scones from Ikea)
my trusty Lumix G2 camera
MS Paint
Picasa

Here's what I started with ...

It should be noted that I reside in the great white northern country known as Canada, and daylight is a luxury (just kidding!).  As a result most of my shots involve the use of artificial light.  In the shot above, I took this at approximately 6:30 am (yes, i'm an early bird), so I've got 2 lights employing cool white energy efficient 60W equivalent bulbs.  The white foam board is indispensible when used as a base or background.

I use the little squishy air blower thingy to remove any dust from the model, but it ended up leaving little hairs instead.  I could have retaken the shot, but was lazy and instead opted to remove them using the retouch feature of Picasa.  I digitally removed the Cincinnati logos from the firetruck using MS-Paint.  Then straightened, cropped and adjusted the shadows using Picasa.  I also used Picasa to add the text on the fire truck and blog name.  I might add that I really like the way the shadows option gives the picture punch.  Hope you like the picture!

More about the E-One ladder truck here:  http://code3diecast.blogspot.ca/2013/01/e-one-ladder-cincinnati-oh-12961.html