National motor museum car photography workshop

Mustang -Pan
Mustang -Pan

My latest car photography workshop was hosted by the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in the New Forest for the Royal Photographic Society although, it was open to all. Ford supplied the perfect pair of contrasting cars, a brilliant orange 2018 Mustang and a lovely 1963 Consul Convertible as subjects and although cloudy the threatened rain held off.

Consul-1
Consul-1

The day was in two parts:Photographing the Mustang and Consul in the grounds of the palace of Beaulieu, choosing sympathetic locations for each, working on composition, shooting details and finally action. Here’s the Consul by the abbey ruins and the Mustang driving for cornering photos in the arena .

Mustang -handling
Mustang -handling

In the afternoon we headed inside to shoot cars in the museum. Photographing cars inside is always tricky with mixed low lighting set for atmosphere so we worked with tripods and fill in flash to captureĀ  the historic displays.

Museum-Silver Ghost
Museum-Silver Ghost

Final part of the afternoon covered editing images and retouching.The car photography workshop was fully booked a long way ahead so if you would like to come to the next one do please get in touch via the contents page or drop me an email to: jim@jamesmann.com

Go to the How to Photograph Cars Twitter feed for more images: https://twitter.com/howtophotocars

 

Photography workshop for journalists

Last week I led a car photography workshop for the Guild of Motoring Writers at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.

GOMW group
GOMW group

It was designed to cater for journalists who are asked to shoot their own photos on car launches and for magazine shoots. As much as photographers might not like this it’s a fact of life that budgets are being squeezed and we are all being asked to do more for less.

We had a great mix of young and old, classic and modern car writers who learnt everything from the rule of thirds, choosing sympathetic locations, featuring our two vehicles, a Peugeot 3008 and MGB as well as brushing up on their panning and cornering image skills.

The afternoon was spent in the museum dealing with mixed and low light situations and planning a portfolio of images suitable for a magazine to include establishing shots , informative photos and details as well as the star cars on display.

GOMW group
GOMW group in the museum

Documenting a restoration

One of the best ways to record the restoration of a classic car is to take photographs along the way. Not only will your pictures be a great part of the future history of the car but they may help you put it back together again afterwards of you can use restoration photography.

Porsche 356 restoration
Porsche 356 restoration

If you get the chance shoot some photos of the car before it is dismantled and don’t be shy about including people involved in the work in your images as it brings them to life.

Porsche 356 restoration-2
Porsche 356 restoration-2- 1/8th second f8

Remember you are creating a record with your images so make sure you shoot all angles and try to catch as many of the processes as you can.Many workshops can be a bit dark so use a tripod , crank up the ASA and fill in the foreground with flash. Don’t get to close to any dangerous grinding or cutting and never look directly at any welding or you may damage your eyes.

Porsche 356 restoration-3
Porsche 356 restoration-3- 1/30th second f5.6

Ask the craftsman to pause if he can so you can catch the image. Mix up your angles and lenses to keep your pictures interesting and don’t be afraid to go in close….if it is safe.

Porsche 356 restoration-4
Porsche 356 restoration-4-1/15th second f8

Don’t worry too much about your white balance, it is more important to get a set of accurate images as you document the project using restoration photography.