In the last installment of my rants into the void of the Internet, I gave some pointers on getting your beloved automobile to the attention of journalists and editors who might be persuaded to put your car in their magazine. To get your car into the pages of an enthusiast’s magazine is the pinnacle of achievement for the home automobile hobbyist. It is the recognition for all the hours of labor in the garage devoted to building, restoring or improving your car. Even if your friends, family and significant other can not understand your slavish devotion to a pile of inanimate parts taking up space in the garage and making a dent in the family finances, the thrill of seeing your car in an enthusiast’s magazine is nearly enough to compensate for the abuse you have endured to achieve this confirmation of your automotive addiction.
The major points in my strategy to get your car noticed by the jaded decision-makers of the enthusiast magazines is to have a car that is a bit different from the rest in the crowd; an unusual engine, rare option packages or some other feature to make your car stand out from similar models is always the best attention getter. I also suggested that doing a bit of the work for the hard working journalist who is charged with covering your car for the magazine is always helpful. Provide a well-written background sheet on your car, including details about the restoration/improvement of the car. And be sure to include a bit of background information on yourself as the owner/builder that the magazine readers can relate to. And the extra tidbit that may tip an editor’s choice in your direction of placing your car in his magazine is a well-crafted set of pictures of your car. A picture is worth a thousand words, seeing is believing and all those other clichés will come true if a stunning photo of your car catches that editor’s eye. This entry will help you take great pictures of your car.
Taking good photographs of any subject, including your car, is fun and easy once you really learn how to make a picture. Notice that I say, “make a picture� rather than “take a picture� because good photography is a deliberate act, not something left to chance. And you do not have to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy cameras, trick lens or expensive digital software to create a great picture. A good photographer with an instamatic can take a better picture that a clueless amateur with the most expensive camera equipment.
All photography, digital or film, is about the use of light. The quality of the light you use to illuminate your subject is half the battle to good photography. Soft, low angle light from a sun low on the horizon that occurs early in the morning or late in the afternoon is ideal. What you want to avoid is using the high angle, harsh light of mid-day when photographing anything or anyone. If you cannot shoot in the early or late hours, try to shoot your subject in the covered, even light of the shade. One of the many reasons so many movies are shot in Canada (beyond the very attractive economic inducements the Canadian government provides film makers) is the relatively low angle light of the northern latitudes that is so flattering for photography.
Fill the frame of your photograph with the subject of your picture. Placing the subject of your picture off to one side or in the corner of the frame immediately drains the impact of the subject from the picture. As a photographer I like to shoot my pictures a bit wider than normal to insure that all of the car/person/scenic view/subject of my picture makes it into the frame (you would hate to cut off the top of someone’s head for example). But I use simple digital photography editing software to crop and center the picture on the subject.
A clean, unobtrusive background and foreground will help keep the focus on your picture’s subject. For automobile photography, I like to find a spot that offers an unobstructed vista in the background and a smooth, featureless foreground. Ideally, a grassy hilltop at sunrise or sunset would yield the nicest pictures. If grassy hilltops are in short supply in your neighborhood, consider shooting your car against a neutral background like a brick wall, or a leafy hedge. What you are looking to avoid is things like a telephone pole sticking up through the roof of your car. The foreground should be a stretch of clean pavement, try to find a spot without parking spot stripes or ugly oil stains. If you notice, most professional photographs of cars are on a wet surface. The water covers stains on the pavement and makes a pleasing reflection of the car’s image.
So now you got the spot, you have waited for just the right light, you even hosed down the pavement for that extra special professional look; it is time to start taking your pictures. A front, side and rear views of you car are OK, but frankly they are pretty boring. Move to a ¾ angle, a position where you can see both the front (or rear) of your car along with the side for a more interesting view. Turn the front wheels to better show off your cool wheels and tires. Get down on your belly and take a low angle shot from the ¾ angle. For an even more dynamic angle, bring a step latter and take your ¾ angle shot from above the car so that you can see the roof as well as the front (or rear) of the car as well as the side.
There you have it, all the tips you need to take a really nice set of photos of your car. Polish up your car, find that perfect spot, wait for the soft low angle light of the dawn or sunset and snap away. Package your pictures with a clearly worded, concise history of your car and have them ready to distribute to the journalist covering the car show, track event or show and shine you go to next. The chances are good that a well-prepared car owner can get his car an even shot of being featured in a car magazine.