My Experience Shooting a Billboard

In the summer, Steele Mitsubishi, Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Mitsubishi dealership, asked me to photograph one of their vehicles for an upcoming billboard campaign. The only creative request I was provided for this shoot was to photograph the vehicle in a recognizable Halifax location, as the purpose was to advertise the Halifax dealership specifically.

When photographing for use in advertising, one of the most critical aspects of the composition is leaving room for copy, including graphics, logos, and text.

In this post, I’ll discuss my experience shooting for this billboard and how plans had to change fast during my time with the vehicle.

Bedford Highway, Halifax

Preparation

I’ve photographed for Mitsubishi several times, and this was my second time shooting an Outlander PHEV, the best-selling in their lineup. The first one was a white model that I light-painted indoors. You can find it in my automotive/location gallery. This one was grey with dark wheels and would be photographed outside.

Darker cars reflect much of their surroundings, much more than a lighter colour. Are all reflections bad? No, but when there are busy surroundings, it can be excruciating to mask them in Photoshop.

In addition to a good location, the weather needed to cooperate. This shoot had already been delayed once, and deadlines were approaching, as the billboard schedule had already been secured. In addition, I was also travelling for a few days after this and would be unavailable if this day didn’t work out.

For my camera, I chose the Fujifilm X-H2 for my camera due to its higher megapixels. The 21MP in the 5D Mark II would have worked fine due to the viewing distance of a billboard, but my recent automotive shoots have been with the X-H2. This camera is a joy to use, and I also love the results it produces. Having 40MP is an advantage, too; if I needed to crop, I could, and the additional focal lengths I had with the Canon were something I didn’t think I needed for this.

The Shoot

I mentioned that this shoot was delayed once before due to weather. When we rescheduled, the weather cooperated and was forecasted to be sunny with partial clouds well into the evening. Everything was looking good. Leading up to an automotive shoot, I’m adamant about continually checking the weather for even slight changes to the forecast. Still, they are never 100% accurate, and the evening ended up having a few clouds at first, then complete coverage—not what I was hoping for.

Locations

I had a few ideas that could work for the photo. Along with having a recognizable Halifax location, one suggestion was to get one of the two bridges that connect Halifax and Dartmouth in the frame. I also considered Citadel Hill and the Town Clock, and Pier 21. Two of those locations would involve driving downtown. My time was limited, so if one were not working, I’d need to move quickly and get to the following location to maximize the optimal light.

When scouting, I found an area using Google Maps with a good view of MacKay Bridge. For such a large structure that can be seen from many places in both Halifax and Dartmouth, I found surprisingly few areas where you can find an unobscured view of the MacKay Bridge, where you can also take a vehicle. This road includes minimal traffic, but I could not park in the middle of the road for obvious reasons. It would have been optimal to have a second person with me here to stay in the car and move it quickly when needed. I took a few photos at this location but could not find what I wanted compositionally. It was a bit earlier in the evening, and the sun was higher. I didn’t think the area would work out, even if it were later in the day. I moved on.

I decided to go downtown, as I had shot in different locations around the downtown area before and thought I could find at least one that worked. I don’t venture downtown much, but this evening was busier than usual. The traffic was substantial, both people and vehicles, increasing the time spent driving.

Once downtown, I drove up to Citadel Hill. For those unfamiliar, Citadel Hill has existed since the mid-1700s. It is a military fortification with a great, elevated view of downtown. Many people exercise here regularly. Also, because of its significance and location downtown, it’s a usual visit for tourists. A one-way road revolves around the perimeter, and there is limited parking. The light was pretty good at this time, but there was barely anywhere to stop, and the locations I could have had many distractions in the frame. I shot here once before, and that didn’t work out, and this time was no different. I probably will not be trying it again.

Moving on to Pier 21, there is plenty of parking and space to maneuver. There aren’t many people down there after work hours unless it’s the weekend when they have markets and other weekend activities. Since this was a Thursday evening, I thought I would be good. Well, I was wrong. This was the first night of the yearly Seaport Beerfest. This year’s event was outdoors and near the market down at Pier 21—lots of people and nowhere to park without being situated in a parking lot amongst other vehicles and people. Things were not going to plan, and I was getting worried as the light worsened and it was getting darker. At this point, I had taken approximately 100 photos. Would they work for the purpose? Probably yes. But I wanted to continue.

After Pier 21, I continued down Marginal Road, which leads to where the selected shot was taken. The area is somewhat industrial but is a main thoroughfare leading to Point Pleasant Park, which is also popular. There are areas to pull off the main road where you can take photos without vehicle traffic. There is an old grain elevator with a series of galleries and conveyors, which you can see in the image. There was also a featureless building to the right of the frame, which added nothing to the photo. The graphics and text overlay were positioned here.

Conclusion

While preparing for this shoot, I scouted areas on Google Maps and PhotoPills. I checked the forecast leading up, including the hours just before. Everything was looking great. I had a few locations in mind and a few hours at my disposal. However, this became a prime example that no matter how and what you plan, there is a chance that it will not go as expected.

In the end, Mitsubishi Halifax selected an image they liked that works well as a billboard. The vehicle is prominent, and the billboard's placement on the Bedford Highway is highly visible.