FERRARI 458 GT3 RACE CAR- SUPERCAR PHOTOSHOOT
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)…..
PART 1 - DAYLIGHT
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 ”
PART 2 - NIGHT
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.
MODIFIED TOYOTA HILUX PHOTOSHOOT
Prowling the streets in Melbournes toughest HiLux
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.
FORD FALCON XW AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOSHOOT
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.
Alpine A110 - Sacre Blue
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.
Mercedes Benz 230SL Pagoda Photoshoot
private photoshoot with this TIMELESS Mercedes Benz
Early this year Victoria, Australia suffered some devastating bushfires, after a few weeks the smoke and haze from the bushfires hundreds of kilometers away reached the city of Melbourne and swept across the suburbs. This situation created some very soft and diffused lighting as a weird orange glow lit everything. This hazey lighting ended up being perfect for shooting the timeless curves of this classic Mercedes Benz 230SL Pagoda and creating some unique images for its owner. No introduction is needed for this classic two-seat roadster/coupe as its reputation precedes it.
If you’d like to organise a shoot with your classic car Get in touch here .
Pagani Automobili Museum- Museo Horacio Pagani
This small modern museum sits right next door to the small boutique Pagani factory where these automotive works of art are hand built. There is no other supercar manufacturer that excites or moves me as much as Pagani. The vehicles are simply breathtaking, also on display in the museum are many of Haracio Pagani’s early creations along with the history of the company and story of his journey from aspiring car designer to a legend in the automotive world. A truely inspirational man and one that makes this small company so special to me.
It’s always a challenge shooting clean images at a museum with lots of people and busy backgrounds distracting from the cars along with the added challenge of mixed spotty lighting. Not my finest photographic work but i thought it was still worth sharing as Horacio’s creations are just too beautiful to sit on a hard drive lost forever.
Click on the images for larger versions
Pagani Zonda R
Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT - Photoshoot with a priceless Race-Car
Getting up close and personal with a very special race car
Recently I had the chance to shoot this Lamborghini, and not just any regular old run of the mill raging bull, this is the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT GT1 ( Chassis # 5 of only 9 ever made). A purpose built race car built by Reiter Engineering in conjunction with Lamborghini to compere at LeMans. There are only a handful of parts that are shared with the road going supercar. Somehow this example found its way over here to Melbourne, Australia and somehow i had the good fortune to shoot it. This particular example was restored to its former 2004 American Le Mans Series glory by Jordan Roddy from Bespoke Motorcars in record time ( think serval weeks, not several months) and shipped over to the US just in time for its unveiling at the Monterey Car week back in August. Unfortunately this car will live the rest of its life in another country as 2 days after these photos were taken the car was sitting inside a shipping container bound for the US. Many thanks to Jordan and Vito from Polo Bodyworks for the opportunity to shoot this spectacular vehicle.
How were these images captured?
Shooting this scene was quite a challenge, although it's a beautifully presented machine the messy background and dull light/ shadow was not doing any favours in making the car stand out.
Unfortunately being a race car with no ground clearance it could not be moved more than a few meters. The location was the small industrial estate carpark where this Le Mans race-car was restored by @bespokemotorcars. To make the images a little more interesting i wanted to try something different. I took multiple exposures of the car with the Godox AD600 studio flash making sure to highlight certain areas.
The fog and fire looking smoke were produced by a modified insect fogger filled with diesel which created this haze. For the fire look i placed a Godox AD200 flash with a red gel behind the smoke to illuminate the plumes of fog/haze moving slowly from the front to the back of the car. Although it took a long time in post processing to layer all of these exposures to create the following images i'm very happy with the end result. I could not of achieved these images on the day without the help and expert advice from Ben Galli who i cant thank enough.
Interested in getting some timeless photos of your pride and joy or just want to know more about my photo packages? Hit the link below to get in touch
Meguiar's MotorEx 2019
MotorEx is Australia’s largest and most one of its prestigious car show. I headed down to the Melbourne Showgrounds back in May for a look at this special event. On display was everything from 6 second drag cars, half million dollar show cars, JDM classics, rusty hot rods, American and Australian muscle and a sprinkling of drift pigs in action. With over 400 cars on display and hundreds of exhibitors it was quite the spectacle.
It’s always tough work trying to get any decent photos at a car show as there are so many people and distractions in front of the cars so i didn’t really bother. I did manage to snap a few shots on the day, below you can view my favourites.
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