Automotive

I started my journey in photography back in 2011. Since then, there are only a handful of photographers that I have really paid attention to in terms of actively keeping up with their work. One of those photographers is Commercial Photographer Dave Hill. His work has taken a more drastic turn in just a few years than any photographer that I’ve followed. That’s one of many reasons that I reached out to Hill to chat about his work and photography.

I have always had a passion for cars, which is what set me in the path of becoming a photographer. From casually taking photos of various cars with a point-and-shoot at local events in the beginning, I decided to go beyond that and see where I could go with a camera. Scouring the Internet to learn as much as possible, there have been a group of automotive photographers that stand out to me amongst the best, and Easton Chang is among them.

I initially dove into the world of cinema and photography because of my passion for the automotive world and the arts. I have had some plans for more video work with cars in action but I always wanted more than action camera footage that’s stationary on the vehicle. Even with a jib and other equipment, I wanted more production value out of my work. Really, what I had in mind was a vehicle camera crane system.

One of a photographer's least talked about yet most important tools is the horse he rides in on. Okay, so I doubt many photographers are still riding horses, but the concept is the same: a trusty companion that will take you from point A to point B safely and in many cases with style. After all, it's not like you're going to hoof it into the middle of the Baja Desert, camera equipment in hand.

Even though she doesn't have a professional portfolio website, her name is widely known. Annie Leibovitz has done yet another nice shoot. This time it is for a Lincoln Continental campaign. Her style is very distinctive — both working with the subjects, lighting, and post processing. Although her lighting is simple, many photographers find it hard to achieve such a look. There are details that are not obvious if we look only from the technical side of her work.

Cars are beautiful pieces of machinery, some more so than others. Photographer Philipp Rupprecht came across a chance to shoot a Porsche 918 Spyder as soon as it was delivered, which almost took a year to begin. With a chance to shoot an amazing automobile, I probably would have waited as well. Philipp and his team where able to take the Porsche to a 100 year-old locomotive hall that's usually available for large events; I'm very envious of a location like that.

Audi took advantage of Monday night's presidential debates with its "Duel" ad spot. Nearly the entire clip plays in reverse, allowing the chronology of the true story and how the action unfolded to the point at which you began to unravel itself in an action-packed scene. The rewound clip -- fit for a 007 film -- features quite the production, complete with excellent, blockbuster-born sound effects to sell every punch and shattering glass shard. But it doesn't take much studying to see this was hardly as easy as rewinding an otherwise-normal action sequence: it took great audio to create this spectacle.

The recent remake of Mad Max: Fury Road has to be one of my favorite examples of both CGI and practical effects in modern day movie making working perfectly together. The way they created this world for which these characters live astounds me every time I see the film and truly set itself apart from other movies. Thanks to behind the scenes access and places like Gizmodo for the latest BTS footage.

It isn’t every day that a massive commercial client gives the freedom to artistically design a product launch. But freedom and a great amount of trust is exactly what Infiniti Motors Middle East gave Patrick Rochon for their new Q30 reveal. Rochon’s previous success with Infiniti’s Inspired Light campaign led to a second contract that allowed him to produce one of the most artistic automotive reveals to date.

You can’t have a car feature without some amazing details shots of the car, right? Recently, Ben Hosking from Hosking Industries shot a VH SS Holden Commodore for Street Commodores magazine. Some behind the scenes video was taken of his process.

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!