Earlier this week, I was contacted by Tony to do a last-minute, farewell photoshoot of his baby – a 2011 Mercedes E350. He had a few too many cars and not enough space, so this one had to go. It’s always a sad day when you have to get rid of one of your cars, but if you’re replacing it with something better, sometimes that’s enough to ease the pain a little bit. As a side note, it’s kind of sad how many cars I’ve shot and have been sold or replaced shortly after. I feel like my camera is the camera of car deaths or something LOL.

I know for most of you, this will not likely be up your alley of the types of cars you are used to seeing. It’s not lowered, it doesn’t have a big exhaust, no bucket seats, no LS swap… And the list goes on. It’s an elegant and simple car and I think this is a good illustration of a perfect combination of car, scenery, colour, and light. I’ve been loving shooting at sunset at this time of year because it pairs with the fall colours perfectly and almost every car shot in this setting looks amazing. I’m trying to shoot as much as I can around my own schedule, but sometimes time doesn’t permit. I know I have a few more lined up and trust me – I haven’t forgotten about you!

I got around to editing some of the pictures for Tony last night after getting home and having some dinner. Commissioned shoots for me are always a lot more exciting than shoots I just do for fun. The reason I say that is because I know that the people that are willing to pay for good quality work, deserve the best that I can deliver. Often times, when I’m just shooting my own car or random shots, I’ll shoot just to capture a good photo, I’ll edit just to edit enough. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a half-assed kind of guy and I like to finish things all the way through, but the time and effort spent editing a photo of my car getting washed in my garage will not likely get the same time and effort as a shoot such as this.

I wanted to post a teaser for the shoot – here’s the one I got to last night. There is a huge difference in working in Photoshop while zoomed in at 200% or more versus just 100%. Editing a photo of a car is much like editing a photo of a model – blemishes are fixed, nicks are gone, small little details that can otherwise stand out like a sore thumb are more or less gone. I wish I had the before photo with me right now but it’ll have to wait until I get home. It would be a good example of what a before and after photo looks like and ultimately a “you get what you pay for” deal.

I mainly wanted to use this post as a “thank you” to those that reach out to me and ask me to shoot photos for them. What I do for fun for my own personal enjoyment over the last 8 years has turned into something better than I ever would have even guessed. Good work isn’t always free, and free work isn’t always good. 🙂

I should have the full set up this weekend!