A Complete Beginners Guide to Car Photography
I’ve been inspired to share what I’ve learned over the many years as a car photographer because when I first started, I had little information to go off of. Most of it was just figuring it out myself. Making a name for myself but also making a lot of mistakes a long the way. In this article I’m going to share with you everything I believe will help yourself to quickly go from beginner, to nailing your first shoots. We will go over the following:
Equipment
Practice
Composition / Inspiration
Collecting Feedback / Networking
Social Media/Website
Booking Photoshoots
It is possible to quickly grow out of feeling like a beginner photographer depending on how much work you’re willing to put in. Reading this article, watching YouTube videos will only get you so far, but the biggest step to take is actually getting out there and shooting.
Equipment
You will hear this a lot in regards to photography of any sort - shoot with what you currently have. This is true! Don’t be discouraged by professionals and their $3,000+ cameras. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showcasing it is possible to get great photos out of cheap cameras. Some of my favourite have been produced by North Borders - an automotive photographer based out of Australia who has done multiple challenges around this topic.
Nowadays smartphones are getting pretty competitive with professional cameras, so even if you don’t have the latest and greatest in tech, you can still begin your journey.
There’s no one single camera that will make you a better photographer, so waiting until later to upgrade is a preferred choice. My main advice would be to invest in a durable tripod. Tripods will help stabilize your shots, and make it easier to shoot.
Practice
Practice does truly make perfect with automotive photography. You can’t expect to get better if you’re not putting in the work. If you have a vehicle, start shooting that. Your objective with practicing would be to experiment with lighting, composition, locations, and editing your photos. Don’t have your own car or access to one? No problem. Anywhere there’s a road, there’s bound to be cars.
When I got bored of shooting my own car, I turned to carspotting. Carspotting is a term for photographers or individuals who capture various unique vehicles out in the public. They’re usually shared on personal Instagram accounts or on online forums such as Facebook Groups. Carspotting is great for getting experience with different vehicles that can vary in colour, shape, and features. Most cities will have a hub where the rich wine and dine. In Toronto, the best carspotting location is easily around the Yorkville area.
Another great place to practice is at car shows/meets. It may be difficult to get clear photos without people in them, but if you wait for the right moment you can certainly get some nice shots.
The more shoots you do, the more you’ll learn about what settings to use and what angles work best.
Composition / Inspiration
Composition is where you as the creative director come into play. There are many angles to get of vehicles, but the way you choose to shoot your subject (the car) determines how you’re story is told. I like to think of it as similar to a film director choosing which way to shoot a scene. You can have a great actor play out an amazingly written scene, but if it’s not shot in an ideal way - the scene may not convey the message you want, or just fall flat. Similar to how you would shoot a car - you can have a GT3 RS and a great location, but if your composition is off, your photos won’t be as appealing.
How I learned more about composition was taking notes from the photographers I looked up to. One of my favourite local photographers has been Zach Brehl, a creator known for producing stunning car photos.
As you can see, Zach utilizes a zig-zag stacking of the cars to make for a pleasant viewing angle of each car. Flipping through the entire gallery, we see a variety of compositions being utilized, including distances from the vehicles (close to far), and setup of vehicles (side-by-side, staggered). This could serve as a good reference when organizing a shoot with multiple cars.
Collecting Feedback / Networking
One of the most effective ways to improve quickly is to get feedback and suggestions from others who’s work you look up to. More times than not, you may not be getting the best advice from friends and family who aren’t familiar with car photography. Or maybe they have an opinion that might be in the wrong direction, which could not serve to help you either.
I’ve found it especially helpful to reach out to other photographers and ask for advice, so slide into those DMs! There are also Facebook Groups dedicated to automotive photography, just be ready to get some real honest opinions. Here are some popular groups to try:
These groups are the perfect place to meet other photographers and get actionable feedback. It can also be a place that provides motivation or inspiration for your next shoot. If you receive feedback from someone, don’t look to be on the defensive, be open to what others have to say. It’s also important to keep in mind who is providing that feedback. A seasoned photographer’s advice will carry a lot of weight.
Another idea to try is to attend car shows/meets and take photos of some of the cars there. There’s been a few times where I would take the photos, send them off to the owner, and they may end up even booking a shoot! This is a great way to network and get more experience at the same time.
Social Media / Website
As you start to get some shoots under your belt, it’s important to start building your presence online. This will help you get noticed by others in your community and the potential for a car owner or business to reach out to you for your services. My first client had actually found me through one of my posts that ended up in their search page. I’ve also had one of my car photos shared by the Mercedes Benz USA account, along with a few other official vehicle manufacturing brands. This would not have been possible if I wasn’t consistently sharing my work, whether or not I felt it was my greatest at the time.
If you’re looking to start a website, Adobe actually offers a free website depending on your subscription. My first website was created on this platform and is still online today! Check it out here: https://maxparkes.myportfolio.com/
This website was created using Squarespace. I believe it is one of the best out there currently as there is no worry about how many photos I upload to the site as there is no limit, and creating blogs, landing pages, and other website content is made easy.
Booking Photoshoots
When I first started, I knew my photos weren’t going to be as good as they would “potentially” one day become. So in my case, I would contact people I saw online who had vehicles I was interested in taking photos of. Since I was the one reaching out, it’s not something you can particularly start asking for money for doing the shoot, so these were unpaid for me. Not to say that you can never charge a person even if you reached out to them, just that it may be more difficult to sell that as a beginner. As a new photographer your goals are to try to get noticed, get more experience under your belt, and just improve. There’s nothing wrong with doing unpaid shoots if you have a goal that is at the time different than a monetary gain.
When car owners or businesses are reaching out to you, these can be great opportunities to charge what you value your time and experience. In coming blogs, I will share with you my pricing strategies.
Closing Thoughts
If there is one thing I learned, it’s that more photography practice will make you a better photographer. Learning what works and doesn’t, making mistakes and learning from them are some of the most important steps in advancing yourself. Use the equipment you have available to you and don’t be discouraged by all the new tech that gets introduced. There are plenty of great photographers still using gear that are years old.
A lot of photographers are self-taught, as there are lots of information on any aspect of photography available online. From editing apps, camera settings, finding locations, and everything else.