It was a humbling experience being one of only a handful of people to spend some alone time photographing the only McLaren F1 in Australia for the front cover and feature of Issue 4 of Benzina Magazine . Being trusted around this 20 million dollar car with only a short time to produce these images was certainly stressful however i’m really pleased with the outcome for the client. Thanks again Jack and Barry for the opportunity to photograph this automotive icon.
Little BTS
This 1954 FIAT 1900A GRANLUCE SALOON was photographed for Collecting Cars, an online listing platform that has just entered the Australian market.
This beautiful Italian sex machine was photographed for its owner Jordan Roddy of Bespoke Motorcars here in Melbourne back in June. The day after this photoshoot the car was loaded into a container and shipped across the seas to its new owner in the UK. Jordan purchased this stunning rare Ferrari 458 GT3 Race Car from its previous owner who raced it in the Australian GT championship, Jordan began to give the race car a freshen up both aesthetically and mechanically. You may remember Jordans previous race car this Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT GT1 Le-Mans Race Car i photographed last year. There were many factors to consider when capturing race cars as they are a whole lot more difficult than registered road cars. For one they have no registration so cannot be ‘legally’ driven on the streets, they must be trailered everywhere, they are very very low so struggle to be placed into locations or even up ramps/driveways, most of the time they cannot be moved under their own power because of the noise and also the wear on the sequential gearboxes (they hate slow speed manoeuvring)…..
For all of the above reasons it makes it very difficult to get a variety of different locations or any panning/ tracking shots of race cars in motion unless you are shooting at a racetrack. Lucky for us it didn’t really matter in this case as the car is the star of the show and everything else would detract from this beautifully designed machine. Jordan chose this beautiful location in a small country town named Kyneton, about a 2hrs drive from Melbourne. Although it was a long way out it did give us the benefit of not being bothered by rubber necks or having to move the car for traffic. Most important of all this small town lent us this gorgeous orange and yellow backdrop created by the autumn leaves and let me capture a real country feel.
It’s always a pleasure shooting the amazing machines that Jordan makes his living in collecting and restoring, i’m very much looking forward to his next race car project of his and getting that in front of the camera.
“Lovely job, just stunning you killed it as always mate thanks again. Can’t wait for this printed in wideboy format on my garage wall ”
As we lost the warm afternoon sunset over the horizon we moved onto a new location nearby to capture some more dramatic images. The issue with race cars is they cannot be driven anywhere, the loading and unloading component took around 45 mins as this car is so wide it fits on the trailer with only a few cms to spare. We settled on this stunning old homestead and pushed the car into position for the various static shots. The theme for these photos both during the shoot and during post processing was a dark and menacing look, highlighting the red with the blue cold tones of the night sky.
A classic car you don’t see very often and one that many don’t even knew exists is the Citroen SM. A grand tourer sports car in every sense of the word. This model was Citroen’s foray into the ‘sports car’ world as the company had just purchased Maserati and decided to use the beautiful Italian engine in their french chassis . The engine started life as a 2.7 litre V6 with triple carburettors but by the end of its short lifespan was enlarged to 3.0litre with fuel injection and around 200hp ( back in the early 1970s). This same engine was used in the Maserati Merak albeit in a mid mounted format.
The car you see here was brought into Australia in 2009. It’s a US Spec car so does not have the special Euro Spec swivel headlights. This is a 2.7 litre 1972 model with the 5 speed manual. Since the current owner purchased it in 2013 it has received a full overhaul and rebuild of all the hydraulic suspension and braking systems and a full engine rebuild as the motor had let go.
These overly complex cars are rare to see on Australian roads as most have been left in disrepair because of the exorbitant servicing costs. There are just a few more final touches left to finish on the car before this French Tourer will be seen cruising the streets of Melbourne.
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Late last year Charlene got in touch with me wanting to surprise her husband with a photoshoot of his heavily modified Sixth Generation Toyota Hilux. Justin had built this car over many years and poured countless hours and dollars into getting the car to the stage you see here. The Hilux has graced the covers of local 4WD magazines on numerous occasions however for this shoot Justin wanted to capture the 4WD in an urban setting and not out in the bush or tracks.
Unfortunately after years of being hassled by the overzealous police and receiving numerous unroadworthy tickets, Justin was now going to revert the Hilux back to a legal wheel/tyre size and ride height to stop the attention of the boys in blue. The photos you see here were a way to capture the memories of the car in its finished form. The day after this shoot the car was booked in to the mechanics workshop to bring the suspension and wheel package back to stock. I’m glad we could provide Justin with some everlasting memories of his build.
If you find yourself searching for the perfect gift for that car obsessed special someone in your life Get in touch and lets organise a shoot with their pride and joy.
Nicks Ford Falcon XW GS may look like an unassuming restored old Falcon however under the hood it packs a mildly worked Windsor V8 pushing between 450-500hp. The power plant is mated to a Manual gearbox which refreshing to see in a world of automatics. Nicks sister contacted me a few weeks before this shoot as she thought it would be the perfect birthday gift for him. The love and pride Nick has for his car shows with the condition and passion he has put into this build over the years along with a few cheeky burnouts in between shoot locations. Deciding on an inner city location and for the conditions to be just right we organised a day and spent a few hours in the late afternoon at a few inner city locations catching the golden rays of light and continued shooting into dusk.
If you find yourself searching for the perfect gift for that car obsessed special someone in your life Get in touch and lets organise a shoot with their pride and joy.
I decided to find out at the local MX track. These photos were all shot on a Nikon D750 using a 25 year old Nikon 80-200mm F2.8 lens. The lens nor body has any form of stabilisation or vibration reduction. All these shots are hand held which means no monopods/tripods.
The useable images i came away with were taken using a shutter speed of between 1/25th sec to 1/50th sec at 200mm focal length. This is very slow for a 200mm lens of this age and not advisable if you want a great hit rate of sharp in focus images. I had never tried to shoot with a shutter speed this slow on this lens and so I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the shots worked and had the effect i was aiming for. What I wont tell you is how many shots were complete rubbish and blurry/ out of focus ( Hint- It was A LOT ).
I met the owner of this car earlier this year when i was on another shoot, we got chatting about his car which you see here. Simon is an avid landscape photographer and wanted to learn more about automotive photography, so I did what anyone else would do and put his rare blue machine in front of my lens and both snapped away. The Alpine A110 is a very underrated vehicle and a rare sight here on Australian roads. In this day and age of big heavy powerful cars it’s very refreshing to see a proper lightweight drivers car still being manufactured. Think how much fun 290hp must be in a tiny 1100kg mid-engine package. It was a great chance for me to have a look at this mid engined machine up close, the build quality and interior really impressed me and the blue paint just pops, i couldn’t imagine this car in another other colour. On a cold night back in May we braved the rain and wind and came away with some great photos of this French beauty at a local shopping center car park.
