I Went out on two photo shoots for involving automotive photography; one where the car was driving on the road, and another focusing on the car whilst static with the sunset in the background. I wanted to show the car moving along the road while using a slower shutter speed to show the speed. Many aspects from this shoot were based on how fast things can move in life, where as the second shoot was much more about slowing down as a sort of contrast to the first set of images. I obviously wanted the images be based around the car itself, however I wanted to make sure there was more to the image than just an image of a car on the road, so I also incorporated the use of a rear view mirror in the car that I was travelling in, with the subject car traveling behind.

Contact Sheets:

Final Image Selection:

For this image I wanted to show the car in motion, so to do this I turned the shutter speed down to 1/40 and set the camera’s drive mode to high speed continuous so I would have more of a chance to get a clear image of the car. I then turned up the aperture to f/22 to counteract the longer exposure time. To get this shot I had the window of the “camera car” open, and pointed the camera out the side of the car as the “subject car” drove along side, matching the speed of the camera car. This meant that I could keep the subject sharp and clear, whilst the road is blurred. One thing I would improve about this image is using a slightly slower shutter speed, in order to make the car seem as though it is going faster, however because I was not using any kind of tripod or stabilizer, that result would have been much more difficult to achieve. I then threw together a quick edit in Lightroom, turning down highlights, shadows, etc. and generally making sure the whole photo was exposed slightly better. After this I then turned up the clarity to create slightly harder lines on the car, making the different shapes and curves much more defined.

For this image I wanted to include more scenery, so I shot at a slightly wider angle and made sure the subject car was further back than the previous photo, but instead of leaning out of the window, where the camera car would have been in the frame because of how far back the subject car was, I decided to open up the boot and shoot directly out the back of the car, this meant that I could include much more landscape in the background of the shot. Another advantage to shooting out of the back of the car is being able to include more of the road; and as I am shooting slightly wider than normal, the road looks larger as a result. This is also helped by the car being further behind.

For the final shoot, I wanted to include something that focused on the car itself, because even though it is not driving literally on a path/road, the whole concept of a car is that it can quickly take you from point A to point B, and that is what I wanted this image to encapsulate. I wanted to make sure that this set of images also linked strongly with Journeys and Pathways, which is why I did the shoot during a sunset; to show how fast we’re moving even when out of our cars.