Shooting your own car is one thing, theres no pressure, no time limits and at the end of it all if you’re not happy with what you have done you brush yourself down and have another go. it’s a great way to practise and enjoy your car and your photography.
  
I’ve done this many times now and I’ve learnt a lot by shooting my own car repeatedly. Each shoot you need to find new angles experiment with different settings and lenses. You find new locations and start to think more about the car in its surroundings rather than just the car and its details. 

but I know I can’t do this forever, at some point I need to start working for others, I mean thats the goal right? and the best way to do this is to simply just do it.

I asked Andy my neighbour and friend, who has a rather nice Toyota GR Yaris, if he would like some photos of his car and luckily, he did.

Obviously as I had approached him for the pleasure of shooting his car no money changed hands, for me this is all about gaining experience as a photographer, managing time, managing clients, and then working out on the fly the best way to shoot this car which is all new to me. Even with a friend on board, as I wanted this to be great for him (the client) it was STRESSFUL.

Some stats:

1.6-liter turbo charged inline 3.

Power: 268bhp, Torque: 360 NM 0-60 mph: Around 5.2 seconds

Top Speed: Approximately 143 mph (230 km/h) Transmission: 6-speed manual Weight: Approx. 1,280kg

I was nervous during this shoot. I really wanted it to work out for Andy this car is his pride and joy and i wanted to do it justice. we were also limited by a sun that seemed to want to set at double the usual speed, so time was tight.

I decided to use the light as best I could whilst it was there getting Andy to position the car in different angles in various pockets of light on the rooftop carpark that we chose to shoot in, something I usually do myself. once all the angles had been done and a bit of adlibbing around some nice shadows, I got Andy to take to the ramps and do a few laps getting some nice top-down angles.

 This is where I messed up a bit, rushing, I got my shutter speed slightly wrong, it just about worked out ok, it totally wasn’t the end of the world, but it was a nice little reminder of how focussed you need to be 100% of the time when shooting.

 All in all, the shoot was a success and the photos turned out pretty well. but best of all I learnt a lot. My confidence Grew with working for other people. All be it with a friend, which is always going to be a little easier.

 Next steps will be repeat the process with someone I dont know, and then do it again and again and again. The good news is that today just before writing this I had my 1st enquiry and we are now working on times and locations, and of course I’ll be sharing it all on here.

My 1st Photoshoot!

lets talk about the car.