Ah how great it feels to be back behind the camera shooting some sick cars!! If you follow me on Instagram, you would’ve seen my proposal on getting my poop in a group. If you haven’t, well basically since I’ve moved over to #TeamSony, I’ve lost the ability to use my Canon lenses which were an integral part of my arsenal over the last decade. I need an adapter to use them on Sony and thankfully, I have the amazing support of guys like Jimmy to help me reach my goal sooner. I’ll maybe dedicate the “thank you’s” to a separate post, but I did want to say that this was the first of many photoshoots coming in the next few months. I know the blog has been stagnant over the last year and a half, and I hope to bring some life back to it now that I have a little more time.

After my post on Saturday morning, Jimmy messaged me literally minutes after and said he was in. We went out to shoot later that afternoon hoping to dodge the rain and we quite literally beat it by a few seconds. On our last location, it started pouring and by then, I had an ample amount of photos already. JC helped me tag team this one and although he usually helps me with rolling shots – we couldn’t do that this time due to my lack of a wide angle. I could’ve done it with the 35mm but it just wouldn’t be the same.

Jimmy’s wagon is an excellent example of a perfect family mobile with the room and power to boot. This would be his first shoot with me as he’s awaiting tires to mount on his new wheels before we go out again. Hopefully by then, I’ll have my new gear to get some different perspectives on it. Saturday’s weather provided perfect overcast for the white/block combo and a dark and moody scene to add to the look.

As Jimmy dries off his car (it’s still drizzling at this point), I took some candid set up shots…

Over the years, my “style” has evolved and I went from trying to shoot in open spaces and getting complicated with angles to now using the existing environment to add a more natural feel to my photos. I always feel like if you spend more time looking for the best backdrop/surroundings, you spend less time post processing things that you don’t like or need.

From the side, Jimmy’s wagon sits aggressively on KW V3’s and Weds Sports with the M-performance brakes in blue popping behind the black.

A lot of the angles I tried to get of Jimmy’s car includes at least the rear portion of it to show how different the wagon can look compared to the sedan. It’s the same, but so different at the same time.

Head on, you can’t even tell the difference obviously but it’s the head on shot that usually works almost every time with BMW…

This was one of my favourite shots of the day and shows the length of the wagon and how aggressive wagons nowadays can look if you do it right.

From the rear quarter, you can see the aggressive stance and fitment of the Weds Sports – although his new set is a little more aggressive than this…

No finger gap. That’s the way.

It’s almost like Jimmy’s car was right at home here…

An upclose of the brakes and the Weds

One of the things I was initially worried about was the lack of creativity I could have with cars with my single 35mm lens but as you can see – it turns out there are thousands of ways to be creative with the one lens alone. I was getting used to using it on people and it was fantastic for that, but trying it out on Jimmy’s cars using different perspectives and angles almost makes it look like I had more than one lens.

That, or his wagon just shines in front of the camera and I didn’t even have to try. 🙂

Beauty

Another upclose…

And finally one of the most interesting shots that came out from that day was this rear quarter shot. I’d say it was on purpose, but I think it was all just coincidence. The sun peaked at just the right moment to cast almost the perfect shadow below the car while highlighting all the perfect body lines that BMW had planned for it. My polarizer was turned just the right amount to capture an almost oil-slick look to the windows.

It’s almost like I had a whole lighting crew with me there at that moment, but it was just good timing. I love this shot.

We’ll be back again soon with Jimmy’s cars with new wheels hopefully by the next time you see it, along with other new cars to add to the mix that I’m excited to share over the course of the summer. Glad to back and it’s good to have you here 🙂