Location work is always an exercise in improvisation. In this case, we had the perfect subject for the client's automotive aftermaket trade show graphic: a new Mercedes convertible in jet black. The problem was that it couldn't leave the dealership. (And would you want to spend that much money on a car that some photographer had been joyriding in?) The only area large enough to work comfortably with the car was in the service area which was understandably cluttered and lit with ferociously bright vapor lamps.
This is the kind of situation where digital capture positively shines. A softbox on a boom was floated over the car and shot in a sequence of ten images, each with the flash overpowering the bay lights, allowing a broad sinuous highlight to be blended together from the small chunk captured in each individual shot. Then a single capture of the back wall silhouetted the car to give us its edge. Carefully matching up the 10 individual shots in layers set to "lighten", we built the car up. allowing the highlight to blend into a continuous band. The background shot gave us an outline. The car was then given a horizon glow, a soft reflection and various tweaks to make it really gleam.
