So you got inspired by my last blog and bought yourself some camera gear. Now you want to find your nearest car show and capture some sweet pictures like I have on this site. If this is the case, then this post will give you some pointers based on my experience with shooting car shows. (I would also like to give a shout out to @keithkars for unintentionally being a model for this blog.)
When shooting car shows I have a few basics that I want to go over:
Awareness
Preparation
Timing
Snapping the Shot
Awareness
The idea of awareness applies to a few different items when photographing car shows. The first thing to be aware of is that car shows are for everyone, not just photographers. Understanding that car shows are a public event means that you shouldn’t be yelling at people to get out of your way so you can take a picture, not getting upset at people when they walk into your frame, and realizing that you may not always capture the photo that you actually wanted.
Take a look at the photo below:
Ferrari La Ferrari (One of the most redundant car names ever) - Sunset GT (8/11/2019)
Unfortunately when you are at car shows, particularly ones that are going to have many special cars on display that will draw in huge crowds, you have to accept whatever shots you can get. The above picture is a perfect example of this reality. Ideally one would like to have the La Ferrari (seriously, this name is stupid) by itself, but when dealing with a car this popular people will always be walking around it, gawking, and taking their own photos, so this photo of the car with the couple in the background getting into their own posh car is what I had to settle for. Ultimately, as long as I can get a clean photo of whatever car I’m photographing without anyone walking in frame on the sides or obstructing the camera’s view of the car, I’ll be satisfied with the photo.
The other part of awareness one needs to be aware of is yourself. Understanding your own “bubble,” especially when you’re carrying around a bag or backpack, is important because one of the golden rules of car shows is “look, don’t touch.” The last thing you want to do is scratch someone’s car with your bag, especially if the car is worth more than what you make in 5 years. Take a look at my good friend below:
@keithkars NOT touching this Aston Martin
You’ll notice that my friend in the photo above is about a foot away from the front of the Aston Martin photographing another car, but he’s done a good job of being aware of his personal space and not touching the car behind him. If he was wearing a bag he might not be able to get this close, so again just be aware of your surroundings. One last thing to consider about spatial awareness is not just the cars, but the other spectators. Don’t swing your bag around into another passerby, as you could hit the wrong person.
Preparation
Preparation is key when doing anything in life, especially photography. Make sure your gear is ready to go before you go to bed the night before your selected car show. Pack the gear that you are going to take, charge your camera batteries, make sure your memory cards have space, know the car show’s address / start time, how long it will take you to get to the car show, what parking will be available, and what the weather will be like. When selecting camera gear, think about the shots that you want to capture and pack the gear that will let you capture those particular shots. I personally try not to have too many lenses with me as changing lenses takes time and typically you don’t have much time to capture your shot (which I’ll go over shortly). If you happen to bring multiple lenses, try and capture all the shots that you need each lens for before switching lenses. For example, I like to use my 35mm f1.8 to do the profile shots / detail shots while the 18-300mm is primarily used for getting close up interior shots, so first I’ll run around with the 35mm and get all the photos I want to use that lens for then switch to the zoom and take all the interior shots I want. Additionally, if I know the sun is going to be out during the car show, I’ll throw on an ND filter on my lenses (in addition to my polarizers). Having your gear setup the night before is as equally important as having it packed the night before. Mount the lens that you’re going to start off with on your camera, have the battery and memory cards loaded in the camera, and have any filters you’re going to use already screwed on your lenses.
Timing
Depending on the car show, one may want to arrive early / stay later than the show’s posted time. Especially when you know the show you’re attending will have a large crowd due to some special cars that will be in attendance, arriving 30min before the show’s start time will allow you to snap some clear shots of cars before the crowds start piling in and staying a little past the show’s end time can afford you the same.
Speed is also important. Remember what I said about thinking about the types of shots you want to get the night before? Having your photos planned out means you can spend less time photographing each car and spend more time getting more photos of different cars. Speed will also play an important role in the last topic.
Patience is just as important as speed. While minimizing the time you spend shooting each car is important for ensuring you get to photograph all the cars you want, sometimes you need to slow down and wait for the people to clear out so you can get your shot. Below is an example of what many photographers deal with on a regular basis:
You’ll see that I had to wait for the guy in black to walk out of the way so I could get a clear shot of the Porsche, but had I waited a bit too long then another person would have prevented me from getting a good photo.
Snapping the Shot
So you’ve packed your gear, arrived at the car show, and whipped out your camera. All that’s left is to take some photos.
You may have noticed that the majority of car photos are taken from a particular perspective and based on this perspective you might be inclined to believe that car photographers are the size of small children. While for some this may be true, in actuality we are full sized humans. The way many photographers (myself included) capture these “eye level” shots of cars is by unleashing our inner Samus Aran and entering “ball mode,” which my buddy @keithkars expertly demonstrates below:
“Ball mode” as demonstrated by @keithkars
“Ball mode” is pretty self explanatory. It’s just a funny way of saying “crouch down.”
The other tip I have for taking photos is using a reasonably fast shutter speed. While many photographers look down on the practice of “spraying and praying,” taking a few shots in rapid succession is almost necessary when trying to get a nice profile shot of a car at a car show while people are constantly walking around. As with the case of the Porsche above, I essentially had to take a few rapid shots in a row with a decent shutter speed in order to ensure I could get one frame where no one was obstructing my view of the car.
Hopefully these tips help you out on your next car show adventure. Let me know if I missed anything and like always, feel free to leave a comment below.
Thanks,
J. Stitt