Practical Tips for Photographing Cars at Car Shows
By: Kurtis Landry of Kurtis Landry Photography in Broken Arrow Ok.
Anyone who is close to me and knows me well, knows I love Hot Rods and Harley’s. This is what I tell people when asked what do I like. But the reality of it is, I like anything with a motor and wheels. It can be motorcycles, cars, trucks, atv’s, utv’s and even boats. I really love Powersports equipment.
Where is the best place to indulge these obsessions? There is no better place than a local car show. I am blessed to live in the Tulsa area. There are a lot of hot rods enthusiasts here. This is awesome because from spring to fall, almost every single weekend and a whole bunch of week nights you can find a car show that is happening.There are a whole bunch of cool cars around this area.
The best way to remember the day is to capture photo’s. But car shows are not the easiest to capture great images of cars for several reasons. Here are some reasons:
Cars are sitting really close to one another.
Lots of people around the cars.
Chairs and people sitting behind the cars.
Cleaning supplies set under or behind the cars.
Cars are sitting in harsh sunlight.
Poor weather.
No clouds in the sky.
I am going to give you some tips on how to get awesome images even though all these factors above may seem against you to capture great images.
Tip One
You Need to Plan Ahead.
Do some research to find out about where and when the car show will be. If you know someone who is going to the car show ask them who is putting on the car show. Then go and visit there website, Facebook or instagram page to see if they have photos from previous shows at this location. This should allow you to formulate a plan of attack.
Things to do the day before the car show. Clean lenses and charge batteries. It is always a good idea to have a checklist to ensure you don’t forget anything the day of the event. Ensure you have enough batteries and memory cards with you.
Plan your route to event. Might want to see if there is a road that leads directly to the show and plan to stage yourself at entry top the event to capture cars arriving. I need to do this more often.
Tip two.
Get there early.
If they will allow you into the event before cars arrive. You can catch the cars as they enter the show. Looking at google maps while planning your day may help set you up in the best location to catch the cars as they arrive.
If you are going to set up in a position ahead of event to capture cars going to the event. Try to find a safe location where there will be a nice background behind the cars. I feel driving shots that show motion really look great. If not maybe set up at gate or check in table where cars are entering the car show.
If already in show you can try to capture the cars as they park before it gets way too busy, and the cars are jammed in tight with a tons of people around them. This leads to tip 3.
Tip Three.
Don’t get in a rush.
If cars are in tight and there are a lot of people try to get the small detail shots. You will need to be very patient to get the whole car shots. Please don’t be the photographer who tries to stop people from walking into there shot so they can get the shot. In my mind this is rude. Sometimes people will see you raise your camera and give you the space to capture the image. I always tell them thanks but they didn’t have to, I would have waited but thanks anyways. If there are too many people around this car move to another car or wait patiently.
Some of the detail shots you can include are interiors, dashboards, wheels, curves of vehicle, and hood ornaments. Walk around car with your camera down first and then plan your shots. It is better to take your time and get great shots versus rushing to get more shots that are ok but not great.
If the car owners have cleaning supplies and chairs around the car sometimes you can lower your prospective by lowering your camera to the ground and you can hide them behind the car. I love low shots of cars so I use this technique a lot. It works great.
If the event is really huge, I walk around and look for cars that really grab my attention. I will not try to capture every car. If I try to capture every car my shots are not that great. So I pick cars that are rare or grab my attention. Take your time to figure out which cars and which details you want. If it is a small enough show I will walk the entire show and pick cars that I want to shoot. Then come back and capture those. This way I will not miss a car that I really would have loved to shoot.
Tip Four.
How to deal with harsh sunlight.
Dealing with harsh sunlight some times can be hard to deal with. Normally you don’t want to shoot in harsh sunlight. But you can definitely get away with it in car photography. I don’t mind shooting cars in harsh sunlight. Sometimes I prefer it. Let me explain in shaded areas sometime with really shiny paint all the leave reflections make for a muddy photo. In straight sunlight you won’t have that issue.
Here are some tips for shooting in harsh sunlight.
You need to ensure you position yourself where your shadow will not wind up in the shot.
Maybe underexpose your shot by half a stop or more.
Get low and let the sunlight glisten off top of car and give you some lens flare.
Position car between you and the sun to get some backlighting on car.
Tip Five.
Stay Late.
If the car show is going to pass out awards. This is good time to hang back at the cars and not go to the awards ceremony. Most the crowd will go to awards ceremony and not be hanging around the cars.
Reposition yourself at the end of show to capture the cars departing. This is a good time to capture maybe a random burnout. If the sun is right this can show a beautiful car at the end of the day riding off into the sunset.
Bonus Tip.
Say hi to the owners.
I think this tip is one of the most important tips. The owners spend a lot of money and time on these cars. Just the cleaning and the logistics to get it to the car show and ready to show is a huge task.
I always try to meet the owners of the cars. I can’t always because they are not at their cars when I am. But, when I can I love to hear their stories on how they got the car. What they did to restore it. How they came up with the idea for the look of the car. These are their babies and most owners love to share their stories. Sometimes they will open the doors and allow me to get better shots of the interior. Some times they will explain details about their car and you can capture that detail that means the most to the owner.
I always thank them for bringing their cars out for us to look at, I always tell them it is a privilege to get to take photos of there car. I also tell them where they can see the images that I captured. I think it is only fare for me to show them what I captured.
Some of these owners may reach out to you later for a one on one photo session of their car. This is when you can be more creative and take your time to showcase their car.
Bonus Tip Two.
Put your camera down when you find that special car. This way you can enjoy it. Like I said earlier these owners put a lot of time and investment in these cars. The owners are rock stars in my opinion for bringing them out and letting people enjoy the fruits of their labor. Slow down and enjoy them yourself.
I have to tell myself this at every car show. Because I get very caught up in the craft of capturing images sometimes I miss the smallest details. If I stop and take time and look and enjoy the cars it will be an awesome day and in the end I will have some great images.
Summary:
It doesn’t matter how much you have planned and prepared something will pop up that you did not expect. Just roll with the punches. So defiantly make sure you have enough batteries and memory cards to capture the day. Take your time. Enjoy the cars.
I sure hope these tips help you get more out of your next car show photography.
Get your camera out and take some pictures.