When the top of the line car manufacturers look for people to call on in order to craft their new marketing materials for the newest and most technologically advanced cars off their assembly floor, they reach out to people like Richard Thompson, and that's exactly what Pagani Automobili did, for their newest and most advanced automobile yet.
Light painting is one of the rights of passage photographers have to try at some juncture. I enjoyed playing around with it in the early days, but what surprised me is I have used the techniques commercially on several occasions; from creating better backgrounds to my portraits in dark locations to capturing English Heritage sites. The importance of knowing how to light paint isn't necessary per se, but it does help you understand how light works and how your camera exposes a scene.
From the company that pioneered the use of virtual car reskinning for video use, comes the newest innovation of film technology. The Mill, in partnership with JemFX, Performance Filmworks, and Keslow Camera, launched their new product onto the scene, dubbed "Blackbird." Resembling a mix of a Caterham 7, a dune buggy, and maybe some sort of Batman-esque type vehicle, the Blackbird is a small electric car that has pre-mapped tracking points on it to allow for easy replacement in post.
You thought that 50-megapixel cameras were impressive? How about 50 gigapixels? Bentley took promotional photos to a new level for showcasing their newest car, and the result is very neat.
Whether your business is in photography, videography, or the evolving field virtual reality (VR), your job is to create a visual experience for your clients. As VR grows in popularity and in quality, its potential to create more immersive experiences in relation to more traditional media types increases immensely. The effect that systems like Oculus Rift can have ultimately depend, however, on how realistic one can make not only the imagery, but also the user feedback. Castrol EDGE's custom VR solution pushes the limit between what you can expect from a VR setup as it pits two race car drivers on different real-world tracks against each other in the same virtual world.
Like it or not, 2016 is going to be a huge year for virtual reality content and technology. It seems like every major brand is dipping their toe in one way or another. Even Pixar is creating their own movie studio in order to create 360-degree films. Magazines are no exception for desiring and creating this content. It's a perfect way to immerse their readers into their content. Recently Hearst Publishing's Car and Driver Magazine hired my company, 8112 Studios, to help create their first ever virtual reality car reviews.
As Fstoppers' resident virtual reality content creator, I'm excited to share our most recent project we did for AOL. A few weeks back, the Autoblog/Translogic team flew my business partner and I to southern California and rented out a race track so we could film an awesome 1980s Ferrari that was converted to an all-electric high-performance sports car in virtual reality. They also wanted to interview us on what we are doing in the VR field and where we see the technology going. Learn more and see the actual VR film below!
How many times have you seen that popular meme that inaccurately says today is the "Back to the Future" day? Well today, October 21, 2015, is in fact the true date Marty McFly set as his future destination in his time traveling DeLorean from "Back to the Future II." To help celebrate this iconic date as well as the 30th anniversary of the original film, the production company Full Frame did this awesome photoshoot where they explore the capabilities of time travel. Check out the full behind the scenes video in the post below.
Last week we asked the community to submit their automotive imagery to be critiqued by the Fstoppers team. Lee Morris and Patrick Hall went through a range of 20 images and gave their thoughts and feedback with the Fstoppers rating system. Check out the selection of pictures below and add your thoughts to the comments!
I've always been a big fan of Dave Hill's photography and creative vision. If you're familiar with his earlier commercial work, you probably know him for his progressive digital and composite techniques. Well, in recent years, Hill has been growing and changing as an artist and he's been exploring different techniques and mediums (not just super rad composites) and shooting a lot more automotive ads. Here is an example of a great Jeep Wrangler ad campaign he captured with — Gasp! — 645, 6x7, and 35 film.
Our next episode of "Critique the Community" will include any automotive imagery, cars, motorcycles, engines, or other vehicles. The above incredible image by Digital Macdaddy should inspire you to submit your best automotive photos below! Please get in your submissions by Friday at noon (EST) and you'll have the chance to have your image critiqued by the Fstoppers team. For this episode, we will be giving feedback to 20 pictures. To qualify you must follow the submission rules below.
This is it... I've come across the mother lode of photography personal projects that will just blow you away. Czech photographer Jan Rambousek and Creative Director Tomas Kopecny were inspired to visually recreate some of the most noteworthy scenes from Grand Prix racing during the 1930s. The series is entitled "Silver Arrows" due to the fact that Mercedes race cars were dominating the race series during that time period. The final images are incredible and gorgeous, but what's even more amazing is the research, detail, and overall production that went into creating these images. Prepare to be inspired and amazed.
Dave Hill has become known for his amazing, over the top compositing work, but last year Scion hired Dave for something very different. A large photo and video campaign that needed to be shot mostly natural light and without heavy retouching.
Last week I made a list of 10 of my favorite photographers to follow on Fstoppers and a few people complained that too many of them were "portrait" photographers. I've scoured the community again and today I've created a new list with 10 incredible, additional photographers who shoot much more than your average portrait.
Samsung is currently testing a prototype truck in Argentina fitted with a camera on the cabin and a live view display in the rear. The purpose of this is to help drivers safely pass trucks; a task which often proves difficult and has resulted in many accidents. This is quite an ingenious and innovative way to solve an every day problem and to help save lives.
Dreaming big is never a bad thing for a photographer. The more imaginative your ideas, the easier it is to stand out amongst your peers. Yet there is often a very real, and very high price tag associated with grand productions. Producing personal projects that you’re passionate about is vital for many photographers in the fashion industry. However, it can be frustrating to lack the funds necessary to bring your vision to life for more ambitious projects. Fortunately, there are many options available to photographers to help them bring that production to life, without breaking the bank in the process.
If you have not yet seen "Mad Max: Fury Road," I highly recommend seeing the film in theatres while you still can. The combination of art and action brings a rare addition to the big blockbuster-filled summer. These before-and-after shots will give you an idea of the true creativity behind the movie's polarizing set pieces and live-action stunts combined with brilliant post-processing.
Last year I had an exciting opportunity to shoot what I am told is the first combined Jaguar and Land Rover USA ad campaign now that they are both under new combined ownership. The goal of the campaign was to create content that would appeal to the users of both car markers and promote brand loyalty. It was as if we were to say: "If you have a Land Rover, you need a sporty Jaguar for the ultimate garage!" (and vise versa). This campaign came together very quickly and the client had specific production requirements. Learn how I did it below and feel free to ask any question about the process in the comments section.
As a huge movie car buff and lover of the original "Mad Max" films, it goes without saying that I am more than excited for the release of the latest iteration of the series. I'm going to assume statistically that you are too because it is rating incredibly well among most of the movie reviewers. One of their biggest compliments toward the film? The stunning energetic visuals, and I would agree. What's even more stunning? Most of the stunts were done with practical effects! Check out 18 minutes of pure stunt-making glory.
Many new photographers hold a lot of excitement and fear inside of them waiting to be unleashed the moment they receive a call to do their first big photoshoot or ad campaign. For talented automotive photographer John Zhang, this was no different when he received a call from one of Land Rover USA's ad agencies recently. He has been nice enough to share his entire experience from the first client call to executing the shoot itself. There is a lot to learn from Zhang and his photoshoot, read on below!
As photographers starting out, we quickly learn that shoots do not always go as planned. This fact seems to remain the constant even as we proceed through our careers, but we know we have to make the most out of what we are given or we risk not getting the job done! One such example happened to veteran car photographer William Stern when he was hired to shoot a new Corvette, but his strobes were dead on arrival. Learn how he overcame the obstacles and created some pretty sexy car shots.
Remember watching the trailer for "Fast and Furious 7" and chuckling to yourself about how unrealistic, improbable, and over-the-top it was to be air-dropping sports cars from a cargo aircraft thousands of feet above the ground? Me too. Just 24 hours after the release of the trailer, the filmmakers put out this featurette to prove us wrong.
Even if you're new to this site, I'm pretty confident you've seen some sort of article about this unique photo series in which Michael Paul Smith builds intricate models and photographs them to recreate scenes from his imaginary childhood. Even I marveled at the fact that these were photographs of 1/24 scale models and not real scenes from history. Soon, Smith will be releasing a book called "Elgin Park" in which he explains his creative process and his life. If it is anything like the video above I will absolutely read it.
First of all, if you watched the lead video above, you have learned that Matthew Jones is possibly a crazy person. Car photography is absolutely a challenge, but rollerblading down the road at full speed to capture driving action is just bonkers. When I heard Matthew talk about doing this and when I saw the high quality of his images, I knew I had to feature him on Fstoppers. Obviously this technique is not for everyone, but Matthew has absolutely captured my attention with his story. Read below to read why he has chosen to do this and see samples of his great photography,
Patrick Rochon is a world-reknowned light painting photographer who recently produced a project with Infiniti, where he used their cars as paintbrushes themselves, in a manner of speaking. This video shows off what is possible when a skilled artist is given the reigns to create compelling images of vehicles, and has the support of a technical and creative team. And to top it all off, the really cool part is that everything was done in camera– there was nothing digitally added.
For years I found myself making excuses as to why I wasn't creating the type of images that I so desperately wanted to make. I didn't have the gear, I didn't have a model, I didn't have access to a studio. At the end of the day, it came down to one simple thing, I never tried.
Photographer Tyler Shields is known to be one of the craziest photographers in the world. Just few months ago we posted about how he fed a $100k purse to an alligator, all in the name of art. That seemed to be a bold move that can take years to recover from (financially). This week Tyler proved once again that money doesn't mean much to him and that he'll do anything for art, even if that means blowing up his own Rolls Royce Silver Shadow car he got just few months earlier. Check out the BTS video explaining the idea behind it, and of course the final slow-mo video.
If you have not heard of BMW's nimble new i8 hybrid supercar, you should look it up now. Even if you aren't into cars, you do have to take a moment to marvel at not only its beautifully-futurisitc aesthetics, but it's equally as impressive performance technology. BMW hired director Gus Van Sant to create a trio of gorgeous ads to help introduce the car to the world. Watch the behind the scenes video above and see the final three videos below.
My friend and RIDES Magazine's head photographer Andrew Link is no stranger to Fstoppers. He also happens to be one of the kings of shooting cars with the Westcott Ice Light, which is essentially a handheld LED rod (looks like a flourescent tube) used as a constant daylight temperature light source. After about 6 months of me begging Andrew for him to make one, he has finally created a fantastic and to-the-point tutorial on how to create an epic car portrait with nothing but a camera, tripod, and the Ice Light.
Our friends at the automotive website Jalopnik have announced their second transportation-focused film festival, and it is great news for car lovers and creatives alike for a few reasons. First, you can attend an awesome film festival in New York City later this year and watch great car movie shorts. Second, you can submit your work and possibly win awards just as you would in any festival. Third, if you don't have a movie but always wanted to make one, you can possibly win the chance to have it made for you. Finally, you can help me create the ultimate car movie poster!
Last year Mercedes-Benz USA (@MBUSA) ran a very successful social media campaign using Instagram and some of its top influencers to spread the word about the new CLA which you can read about here. Now, they are at it again with a new approach on the much anticipated Mercedes GLA. What better way to advertise than to hit social media with some absolutely stunning adventure photos?
Some great photographers are lucky enough to have a rare opportunity to photograph ultra-rare and exclusive cars, but usually you have to work under tight restrictions or are often thrown an obstacle or two. Car photographer Pepper Yandell's recent photo shoot with a rare super car worth nearly $4 million was no exception. See how he shot incredible images in less than an hour and learn from the helpful tips he shares.
Intelligent Details is the new ad / documentary that Bentley Motors commissioned. It was filmed throughout New York and highlights what inspires Luc Donckerwolke, Bentley's Director of Design, and SangYup Lee, Head of Exterior Design. At around the 3:16 mark, you'll be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was created. Their YouTube channel explains, "Intelligent Details was filmed, assembled and edited using the in-car connectivity and entertainment platform."
One of the hardest parts of filming on moving sets such as moving cars or trains is to maintain perfect lighting in a way that makes sense to the viewer. There are many obstacles the filmmakers have to deal with when shooting on a moving set, like how to move the lights while keeping it on the same angle while the vehicle is moving and how to keep the camera shot steady and focused on the subject. Check out this great BTS video showing how filmmakers in China solved these problems.
