It’s been a while since I’ve shot anything. As this summer went by and my priorities consumed my free time, I knew I needed to make a change. So I called up Stephen and my buddy AJ and scheduled this shoot. Shooting multiple cars together isn’t my favorite. I just lack the vision and creativity to get shots that I am happy with. I’m sure it is due to the lack of experience, but I knew the only way to get better was to get out and try.
As is usually the case, Stephen was running late. That afforded me the chance to shoot AJ’s Viper solo as we approached Golden hour. Finding a large parking lot with a decent background, I settled in and started to shoot.
Profile shots of Gen2 Vipers are one of the all time greats.
One of my favorite shots of the day. That Viper hood, with a beautiful set of CCW Classics, and the iconic Viper GTS logo against a sunset sky and green trees really makes the freshly ceramic coated red paint pop.
After a quick wipe down of the ACR, I begin to struggle with car positioning. A few shots moving the cars around before I started to settle in on a style.
I felt like I was getting a little closer to what I was looking for. Shooting at a much deeper DOF (Depth of Field) than I am used to caused these photos to look odd to me at first, I think they turned out decent.
After some small adjustments, I got the shot I was looking for. Standing on top of my Jeep, I got just enough height to get some downward views of the cars. Next time I will be bringing a small ladder to make it easier.
Recently Stephen had the ACR “painted” with Autoflex. Its a relatively new and unique process where you essentially “paint” the car with a dip like material. From even a few feet it looks like paint, and protects the paint underneath. You essentially get the quality of paint with the protection (and removal ability) of a vinyl wrap. In the sun this color flops like crazy.
Look at this majestic beast.
After I got my shots of the cars together, I began focusing on some individual shots of the cars.
And just like that night was upon us.
Pulling the camera out was almost cathartic for me. After a summer full of competing priorities, long hours at work, and never as much time spent with those you care about, this shoot felt like the old days. It didn’t take long before I was getting back into a rhythm, and I picked up right where I left off. I am going to finish the summer out making it a priority to shoot more, and this was exactly the shoot that I needed to get that ambition flowing again.
– Andrew
