Automotive

Yesterday, I showed you the process of pre-producing a successful photoshoot and used a recent session as an example on all the steps it takes to put together a successful session with a large team. Today, I put together a breakdown of the entire production and post production process on creating a successful portrait session and a behind the scenes look into what all goes into it.

Automotive Editorial Photography will teach you many things. Mostly though, it'll teach you how to make something out of nothing and how to operate quickly and efficiently. I can't tell you how many times I've shown up to shoot a car only to be told it can't be moved from where it sits. It's those situations that will really test your mettle as a photographer and I've actually grown to love those challenges. One challenge from last year that I really enjoyed was a RIDES Magazine cover that would require fitting and lighting 10 cars. Here's how I did it.

Casey Neistat was approached with an unusual proposition from Mercedes Benz. They wanted Casey, a successful Youtube filmmaker to make a car commercial for the new Mercedes Benz CLA, even though Casey has never filmed a car commercial or anything close to resembling one. The following set of the three videos is his rather interesting journey so far. With Casey's charismatic personality it's curious to see how the commercial will turn out. I will update this when the final commercial is released. Enjoy.

I've been working on a personal photo series capturing movie and television cars (real and replica) for about 5 years now under the title "The Unicorn Project". I've posted about this before on Fstoppers (here, here, & here), as you may recall. Most recently, I had an opportunity to photograph a replica A-Team Van and KITT from Knight Rider while I was in Los Angeles. These happen to be two of my favorite television cars of all time. Watch the video and read the full post below to learn how it was done.

My good buddy and fantastic car photographer Richard Thompson (check out his facebook page) shared a unique shoot he just completed recently. He photographed over $20 million in rare exotic cars using the Phase One IQ180 (80 MP medium format monster) in an extremely rare and beautiful location over 3 days. Even better, the shoot benefitted a children's charity. Check out the full post below to see more images & to learn more about how everything came together on this remarkable shoot!

Tom Parker, avid aerial photographer and videographer from Cambridge, UK, decided to try and make his own homemade MōVI rig without losing all his savings in the process. Parker is a Product Design and Manufacturing student at the University of Nottingham, where he got the knowledge on how to design and build the rig for his GoPro camera. The final result works great, and all he had to pay was $200. Not bad if you compare it to the $15,000 it will cost you to get the MōVI. Check out how he did it.

As some of you may know by now, I'm a commercial photographer that gets some great opportunities to shoot epic movie and tv cars. Honestly, most of my paid shoots are portrait-related, but I just love all things cars and my clients know that. Last year, I came across a rad company called Flash Rods that makes custom memory storage (hard drives and thumb drives) based from 1:18 scale models and matchbox cars, including movie and tv cars like the Ecto1, Back to The Future Delorean, and A Team Van to deliver my files to clients.

For a couple of years now, I have been shooting a personal series about movie and tv cars, and the people that either own the original vehicles or build replicas for themselves. I call it the Unicorn Project (see more from the series here). Recently, I had the chance to photograph one of the screen-used Black Beauties from the 2011 film, The Green Hornet. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out my new automotive rig from Rig-Pro for the first time to simulate high-speed action shots.

Automotive photography can be an extremely rewarding niche in the photography industry. The fast, shiny, power-inducing machines that rush by in a blur of color can be a thrill to anyone photographer, but it can also be daunting making sure that every detail is just perfect. Automotive photographer John Zhang walks us through the post processing of one of his lates shots of a Lexus LFA.

My buddy Ray Wert from the ad agency Tiny Toy Car knows how I love gadgets, filmmaking, and obviously custom camera trucks capable of racing in the Baja and destroying anything in its path. Last month he got me a sneak peek of this Ford ad (below the break) before it aired and introduced me to the director, Tim Damon, who told me about his incredible custom Ford Raptor that he used to film rally racer Tanner Foust as he thrashed the new Ford Fusion in the hills of California.

Car photography can be done in many different ways using different techniques. Some people like shooting it with gelled strobes, some like to lightpaint it or just shoot with available light. There is no one right way to do it. Shooting cars is something most photographers can try: just take your (or your friends) car and start shooting it - but as easy as it is to try - its not easy to produce breathtaking results. Check out this collection of amazing car photos found on Flickr.

Last spring, I met a group of 4 cyclists planning a 35 day epic adventure from coast to coast across the US. Their goal was to cycle over 100 miles a day, resting only one day a week, in order to raise awareness and funds for the poor and needy in Burundi, Africa. I decided it would be awesome to tag along and film their journey.

I have been following Taylor Morris' story since the beginning. We share a mutual close friend, and because of that I was quickly exposed to the story of a Navy EOD tech who lost all of his limbs in Afghanistan. His story has been nothing short of inspiring and motivational, but furthermore he has had the help and support of a few amazing videographers and photographers to help spread his story.

It might be easy to form a quick opinion about a picture like this. I'll admit it, when I first heard “trucks,” I was already curious about the people I was going to work with. It's not often that you run into someone who is passionate about their vehicle.

Her name is April.

She's a 1970 Volkswagen Bus converted into a mobile photo booth with The Photo Bus written on the door. John Deprisco, a wedding photographer based out of Kansas City, came up with an idea to put a photo booth on wheels and create The Photo Bus from his Volkswagen Bus.

A few months ago, I hit up my buddy Paul Miller, who is a movie director out of Southern California. Regular readers of my personal blog site may recognize Paul from my previous Mad Max Interceptor shoot. Paul told me that he is part of a group of folks that essentially constructs clothing, weapons, and even vehicles to re-enact the Mad Max post apocalypse in the Mojave desert, much like some re-enact the US Civil War. They are often referred to as "Wastelanders" after their annual gathering entitled "Wasteland Weekend".

I was recently hired by the team over at TheRealMach5.com to shoot new marketing images of the "the only officially licensed Mach 5 in the world that was built to the Speed Racer cartoon Mach 5 specifications". As you can see from the video, it was a hot hot day. I was probably suffering from heat stroke and a wicked farmer's tan by the end of the day, but I got to tear around in the Mach 5 on Florida back roads after the shoot (thankfully she's street legal if you don't drive with the spinning saw blades on it haha), so it was completely worth it.

I had the pleasure to be hired to shoot an amazing car collection last year, which included 2 ultra-rare special Bugatti Veyrons. For example, the silver Bugatti, as you will watch, is a one-of-a-kind 100th anniversary Bugatti called the Sang Bleu… literally 1 of 1. We also had a decent-sized portion of a private airport at our disposal to use for the shoot. Pretty incredible experience. Read on to learn more about the shoot itself and my lighting.

Recently, I was approached by my Creative Director, Scott Rodgers, over at the ad agency Tier 10 Marketing to shoot some ads with the newly redesigned 2013 Honda Accord. The problem? The shoot had to take place in less than 48 hours, we were shooting with 2 of the first cars in the United States, and there was literally NO time to permit for a shoot that had to take place in New York City. Why the rush? US Honda dealers needed these images right away for some new ad campaigns as the first new Accords hit our shores.