I love shooting cars. Day-to-day I shoot everything from massive aerospace tools to tiny fasteners, but photographing this Ford GT was a treat. Using a light painting technique we walked around the car shining a light at it while the shutter was open. After seeing the results we would alter how fast we walked, where we held the light and where we pointed it until we had a dynamically lit image.Lighting is crucial for every photo and this car is no exception. These are the kind of jobs that get me excited forty years into this business. As always I look forward to your thoughts.
Automotive Studio Photographer
in Photography
There are thousands of parts in every car. These photographs are of parts from a major automotive supplier. The immediate use of these of photographs is to decorate their offices, but I’m sure they’ll find other uses for them too. The parts have an intrinsic beauty that is undeniable. My goal was to keep it simple, and let the lines, shapes and textures speak for themselves.
Automotive parts are really important around Detroit. Statuesque is what I was going for. Big. Important. Grand. This part is cutaway so we can see inside. I like shooting industrial parts. You can see them for their functionality or you can see them as circles, rods or trapezoids; light and shadow giving them volume and shape. My job as a commercial photographer is to transform my client’s vision into a photograph, that is visually impressive and tells a story. As always let me know what you think.
Where would we be without filters! Filters are one of those hidden things without which nothing would work. Nearly everything is filtered, like gas, hydraulic fluid, water, oil, and that's only in a car. We were making a banner for a website, so the goal was to be about filters, but also to be a little dramatic to catch your eye.
I shot this Ford GT a couple of weeks ago using a technique called light painting. Basically, we just walk around the car shining a light at it. There is a lot of trial and error, as well as a fair bit of serendipity. Frankly, it would be difficult to get a really bad photograph of this amazing car. It has a tricked out 800 horse power engine, custom wheels, bumper kit and an awesome paint job. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Jet engines actually, not rockets, but rocket sounds better. I have no idea what these do, but it doesn’t really matter. Unless I’m riding in the plane. The important bit is in front, and in focus. My client was looking for an interesting image for their website. They cropped it differently, and it told the story they were after. I’m interested in your thoughts and comments.
The science of automotive paint is stunningly complex. This car only has an “E coat”; it’s the initial coat of paint. It’s a process not unlike electroplating, where the paint is attracted to the metal by an electronic charge. The upshot is that the paint gets onto all of the surfaces of the body including all the inaccessible little nooks and crannies. This, among other things, is why our cars last longer than they used to. My job of course, is make an interesting and compelling photograph for use in an ad. Let me know what you think.
I really enjoy shooting in the studio. On this day, we had a great team. The client, models, stylist and I were all working well together. Fortunately the studio is large enough the there was no problem pulling in a large truck. Then it was a matter of staging the scenarios that told the client’s story. Working together we made photographs that pleased the client. As always your thoughts and comments are welcome.
This is another in the series of photographs of the Custom Charger Hellcat. My client wanted an extremely low angle from the front. It was necessary to raise the car onto apple boxes to get the camera low enough. The low angle and the flaring headlights add intensity. Let me know what you think.
While the big picture is important, details are often more interesting. The 700 plus horsepower engine in this customized Dodge Challenger Hellcat is one of those details. Sometimes it’s a spoiler, or wheels. They are as much fun to shoot and arguably as important as the big picture. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts an comments.
