Car & Model Photography
“You should always be learning. If you’re the smartest person in the room you’re in the wrong place.” Erika Bearman
One of the (many) things I love about my chosen career is that I am always learning. Most of the time I shoot real people and the stories they want capturing like weddings and new additions to their families. Recently I have branched out into Product Photography which I am really enjoying. But one area I have not had much exposure too is car photography. Which is weird because I love cars, with their elegant sweeping lines and individual features.
Lucky for me, Mr JB is a complete petrol head and for Christmas gave me a car photography course from Jason Dodd at the legendary Brooklands Museum – the birthplace of British Motorsport. On the proviso that he got to visit Brooklands too!
Models everywhere
Jason had lined up a great selection of car makes and models that we got to photograph against vintage garages, the airfield (including Concorde!) and of course what is left of the original banked track. Teaching us about lighting and composition along the way.
There were a couple of modern marques.
Like this Mercedes AMG.
And this Nissan R35 GTR.
As well as a Porsche 944 and 924 Turbo
All beautiful models in their own right but it was the classics that Jason had procured for the event that really caught my eye. These babies had curves in ALL the right places 😉
Vintage Darling
It is often joked that Lotus stands for Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious but there was nothing wrong with this vintage Elan.
And this Corvette Stingray was an absolute honey. When I shared the Corvette images I’d taken with its owner he said,
“Just looked at the photos – amazing. Is that really my car looking that good?!
So I have taken a few photos of my car over the years and they look ok – but the way you do it brings out the great shape of the car.”
Add to that a Bugatti replica
and a baby pink Thunderbird and I was having a great time.
But wait there’s more – real models!
One of the first things Jason said to me on the day was that Mr JB had told him about my usual genre and that I was in luck as he had a model joining us for the day.
I could barely contain my excitement at this point. I have held model calls in the past for newborn babies in the studio but I’ve never worked with an actual professional model. (SQUEEEEEEE!)
Cue the gorgeous Miss Mercury (or @missmercurymodel if you want to follow her on Instagram). With her brunette pin curls and sassy winged eyeliner, I’m not ashamed to admit I had a bit of a girl crush. Especially when I found out she had a French Bulldog too!!
Now with a beautiful girl standing next to them, the cars really came alive. All my favourite pictures from the day have Miss Mercury in them.
It was incredible working with a professional. She knew instinctively what poses looked good on her and moved into them effortlessly. All I had to do was tell a story and click 🙂
Despite being the only girl on the course I think I monopolised Miss Mercury’s time (sorry not sorry). As the day went on I even abandoned the cars for a while to take pictures of Miss M in front of a vintage bus and aircraft hanger.
I feel the need, the need for speed
All in all, it was a fabulous day and I learnt loads from the course. Now I feel like I’m getting the hang of shooting static cars I want to master them at speed. Luckily for me, I’ve managed to get on the media pass list at the Boness Revival this year so I get to pair up with an experienced motorsport photographer and take pictures at the event including of Mr JB in his 1978 Corvette, Lemmy.
Always learning 🙂
