SDISTC – Behind the scenes of an automotive feature shoot
I thought it was about time that I wrote down some words on how all this photography stuff started to become a serious enterprise for me. So this post is part of a little bit of back-story on how I came about getting involved in the automotive stuff I like to shoot today.
At the beginning of 2009 I did a photo shoot for my best mate. He owns a pretty remarkable piece of machinery. A 1998 Toyota Supra RZ with a heart-stopping 620kw at the wheels (that’s 843hp for the yanks). Yes, you read that right and no it’s not a typo. For those not of the world of killer wasps, for comparison, the most powerful brand new Ferrari you can get, a 599 GTB, puts out about 400kw. So this Supra is pretty impressive, isn’t it?
Anyway, he wanted some photos of his car once it was back on the road after living at the mechanics workshop for 2 years, getting lean by eating a healthy diet of pistons. The word got out somehow that a fellow photographer friend and I were both going to be taking a few photos of his car. That word, somehow, made it back to Performance Imports Magazine and they asked if we could send copies of the photos to them for a feature car spread in an upcoming issue. I think we hesitated for all of 0.23 seconds before saying yes.
As soon as I heard that they wanted us to shoot this like a feature spread, I decided to attack it as though I was the only one doing the shoot. This way I could get some experience with doing a full feature without the pressure of having to supply a full feature. It also meant that if either of us stuffed up we could cover each others butts. These magazine guys usually want about 50-60 photos submitted, which is a lot, especially for amateurs. I think I managed to weed out about 30 odd good ones and my friend did the same so we ended up submitting about 60 photos in total.
And they were freakin’ STOKED…
Seriously… My friend and I were getting emails from editors and art designers telling us how they loved working with our photos and sending us enough compliments to inflate our heads so much that I needed my car keys just to scratch my ear. I was flattered, to say they least. I decided to bite the bullet and ask them directly for more work if they have it. And I did eventually get some, but I’ll leave that part of the story for a later date.
I also created a video from the shoot as well. Sort of a “behind the scenes” but really it’s just all 500 odd photos that I took during the shoot, in chronological order from start to finish. I recently “re-mastered” this video which was actually released months back as I have now purchased Adobe Premiere Elements 8 which is an in-expensive but fair decent video editing package.
So the video is now in high-definition 720p format for your enjoyment.
on December 8, 2009 at 11:05 pm
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awesome! and interesting. I also reckon you should start a facebook fan page
and these are seriously top photos! you guys should be supra proud 
on December 9, 2009 at 2:21 pm
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Awesome! Love how you have put that together! Thats a really cool story too!
on January 19, 2010 at 8:38 am
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WOW! Your talent is endless. How come you haven’t been snapped up by ‘TOP GEAR’? Your comments and editing are truly interesting for young and old. Your car photography shows your passion for the subject.
on January 19, 2010 at 9:10 am
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Thanks mum. But there are still loads of guys out there who are waaaaay better than me.