A Work of Art
Mind you the title does not reflect the pictures I took of this car, but the car itself. The Ferrari 360 that replaced the Ferrari F355 and featured a entirely new all-aluminum space-frame chassis a new Pininfarina body styling that broke ranks with the Ferrari models of last decade’s sharp angles and flip-up headlights, replacing them with a rounded appearance that harkened to the 1960s can only be described as just that. A work of art. Now, I’ve never had much of a relationship with Ferrari’s, as the are rarely seen here in Norway, but I guess I have to admit that they’ve been subject to more than one automotive fantasy of mine.
So, when my friend Bernhard over at Brynildsen Autospa got this 360 Modena in for a thorough detailing I just had to stop by. Now, as I said, the pictures I took of this car can’t be described as anywhere near work of art, but then again I don’t think any pictures really does this Ferrari justice. The precence it gives, from the delicate lines and from it’s sheer size isn’t easy to capture on camera. Neither is the incredible sound of the 3.6 litre V8 displayed under a glass the glass hood. It doesn’t even have to pass halfway through its 10 000 rpm range before it gives you goosebumps. Absolutely amazing!
Now, I promised you guys a full shoot on the car some time ago, but unfortunately I had to do another last minute shoot with a Jaguar that day, and by the time I got to the Ferrari it was all most midnight and we were loosing light rapidly. In addition to the fact that shooting a black car at night isn’t easy I had to go home and pack for my vacation to Spain. So you’ll have to to with these three images… sorry…
Oh yeah, while you are at it. Check out Bernhards thread on the detailing over at Detailers Club Norway to see another work of art. The text there is in norwegian, but the pictures he put up shows that work he did on the car can be described as a work of art in itself.
Audi Urquattro – Feature
Earlier this year I had the chance to shoot this beautiful Audi Urquattro just outside of Oslo. Having production number 296 out of 898 produced in total the car is rare it self, but what’s rarer is the condition it is in.
Fully rebuilt with OEM parts, most parts under the car powder coated and the exterior paint wet sanded twice the car is absolutely immaculate. Sitting on H&R springs and Bilsteins shocks and rolling on 16X9 Schmidt Revolutions the car has maintained it’s rally heritage. Also, the 1994 Audi RS2 engine swap doesn’t hurt neither the heritage or perfomance. Beeing a most trustfull guy the owner gave us the keys, told us to have fun and left us with the car for hours. I won’t tell you how fast we went in it, but let’s just say it wasn’t the car that chickened out and let of.
This set was shot for Treffpunkt magazine and got both the cover (with the most cheesy composite sky ever) and a 4 page spread. All exterior pictures are shot with natural light and the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS and the interior and engine ones are lit with 2-3 Canon flashes. I hope you enjoy. And do browse to the bottom, there’s a bonus picture for you guys there ;)
There are some more pictures on flickr, you get there by clicking either image. Larger ones can also be viewed there. Hope you enjoy them
Cabriolicious
Still behind on my shots from Wörthersee, I’ve managed to edit some pictures I took of this nice Dutch Mk1 Cabriolet at Pyramidenkogel. Pyramidenkogel is a mountain located to the south of the Wörthersee, near the town of Maria Wörth and has one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. We were up there sightseeing one day and I took some panorama shots I’ll make sure you guys get to see on another occasion. Anyways, Russel from KLUTCH had contacted Twan Niemeijer to shoot his 92 Cabrio and we all went at it on this picturesque spot near the observation and broadcasting tower at the top of the mountain.
Click on either of the pictures to see some more shots Jordan from Klutch and I did of the car, or visit this link to read more about the car and see Russel’s pictures from the shoot.
Hello Mini
Pewh! I’ve gotta tell ya, since returning from Austria I’ve been swamped in work. But between editing shots for several editorials, writing articles, doing “real” work and having a fire at my apartment I found time to shoot this nice little Mini Cooper S.
The car belongs to Nina Marie, which you might remember from this post and is, although not dressed in a very masculine color, a really nice piece of machinery. Equipped with a supercharged 1,6 litre engine the car is quite fast, and you just gotta love the sound of the supercharger when you accelerate. And even with stock suspension and those powder coated stock 17″ rims the car handles surprisingly well also!
I’m really pleased with these shots. I’ve been wanting to to the high key thing for some time now and think I pulled it of nicely. The car was consequently lit with 3 canon flashes triggered with the Elinchrome Skyports.
Unfortunately I had no time to do any interior shots, which is a shame, because the interior is just as good looking as the exterior. But I shot these pictures all the for the guys out there which might not like the Hello Kitty inspired exterior color ;)
I don’t really feel the last two pictures suit the set, and would have loved to shoot them on the first location to tie them closer to the others. But I hope you enjoy them anyway.
A couple of extra shots can be found in this set over at flickr. You can also access the full size shots directly by clicking on them and choosing “all sizes” .
The New Audi A1
One of the real treats when going to the Wörthersee event is to visit Volkswagen and Audi’s big official displays. Built from scratch in the middle of Reifnitz each year they just seem to get bigger and more exclusive each year.
This year the Audi display focused on their new compact, the A1 showing of 9 modified and personalized A1′s. As I had seen the cars a couple of days prior when Audi brought them to a small meet in Schiefling, I was already impressed by the new model, but seeing the show they put on on their display made me more exited. Check out the pictures below to see why ;)
Check out the full gallery from the show over at www.klutchonline.com by clicking here or either one of the pictures.
Home from Wörthersee
Ahh, just got back from one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. Got tons of pictures to go through before they’ll be posted here or on www.klutchonline.com.
Just wanted to chime in and share this picture I shot of this brand new Norwegian MkIV Golf R that had driven a breathtaking 2500 kilometers just to be at Wörthersee! Talk about dedication!
Make sure you stop by the blog over the next week or so for more pictures from Wörthersee!!!
At the See
Just another quick post from Wörthersee to tell you guys we’re having a blast. Posting a couple of pictures and writing a few words here doesn’t really do this thing justice. But I’ll give it a try anyway… Just imagine everything you guys like, then put it all in a beautiful surroundings, multiply the amount of fun you think you can have by 10 and you’re close.
Shell Velden, probably the most “famous” meeting point here gathers thousand of people from early morning to late night and is just crazy. Words can’t even describe the feel you get when you pull into there long with insane cars from all over Europe.
We’ve also been to Schiefling a couple of times which is almost as crazy as the Shell in Velden. Modified cars litter the streets and parking lots there and everyone is just enjoying themselves.
Audi even stopped by the other day showing of 7 of their new A1′s, each on modified by the factory. Imagine that…
Yesterday we met up with the guys from www.klutchonline.com and shot some amazing Dutch cars. The Mk1 Cabrio is one of the cleanest one I’ve ever seen, And the Mk3 with the R32 swap was just insane. Check out www.klutchonline.com for more pictures soon.
Audi A4 Allroad – Road Test for Treffpunkt Magazine
I know I should have put these pictures up earlier, but I’ve been swamped lately and haven’t gotten around to it before now.
Anyways, in addition to taking pictures, I sometimes write articles as well. Earlier this year I had the pleassure of having the Audi A4 Allroad for a week or so to do a road test for Norwegian VW- Audi Magazine Treffpunkt. As always, I had planned the location for the pictures in advance and everything was looking to go down smoothly. But again, the weather managed to put sticks in my wheels and the day of the shoot clouds rolled in and made everything into one dull gray mass. Shooting in the snow is hard as it is, add the boring clouds and the way they make everything really flat and dull looking and you’ve got yourself a real challenge. Still I feel I pulled the pictures off nicely.
Most of the pictures were lit with 2-3 Canon flashes placed of camera and triggered with my skyports.
The article ran as a 4 page spread which I’m pleased with. Even made washing the car 5 times in a weekend worthwhile :p
There are a couple of more shots in this set on flickr
Trackday.no at Rudskogen Motorpark
Yet another tell true sign of spring is the raceways opening for the public and trackdays being held again. Today the good folks behind www.trackday.no held their first event of the season at Rudskogen Motorpark. I was there and managed to bag several hundred decent shots.
If you were there, theres more than fair chance that I’ve got some shots of your car, so don’t hesitate to contact me. Send me an email with either the number the organizers assigned you, your cars registration or just car make, model and color and I’ll see what I’ve got.
Location, Location, Location
Whenever I browse the web for inspiration I notice all the great locations people seem to find. Underpasses, bridges, parking garages with rooftop access, epic industrial areas, graffiti walls, deserted roads, cityscapes or whatever, for me the location can make or break a great automotive shot. It doesn’t matter how great you are with the camera as long as the location is unexciting.
Whenever I’m out driving I’m on the lookout for good locations, but Oslo where I do most of my work isn’t a big city and locations like that are scarce. especially locations with a cityscape for background. I’ve found some with a great view of the city, but most aren’t accessible with a car. However, just down the road from where I live there’s a small parking that could do the trick, so on my way home tonight I decided to take a look.
I did some quick shots with my own car to test the location and can’t really say I’m to pleased with it. Lighting was rushed, is uneven and the car was no longer as clean as I thought. But with the right car, a slightly higher vantage point and some proper lighting, it might just work.
First Signs of Spring
At this time of year everything once again begins its tilt towards the Sun. The changing of the season is easily observed everywhere. Some find joy in the awakening flowers, the birds returning back from their southern refugees ,or just seeing people outdoors once again. I for one find joy in the snow melting and the roads slowly, but surely drying up. For me and thousand of other car enthusiasts this means it’s time for taking our cars back out from winter storage and enjoying driving them again.
Ida is one of these enthusiasts and today she took her ’59 Volkswagen Beetle out for a spin. With brand new BRM wheels on the car we did a quick shoot with it. Far from my best work, the pictures are more snapshots than real photo shoot pictures. But hey, take them for what they are. For me they are a sure sign that both the spring and the car season is finally here!
The rolling pictures were of course taken with natural light only and the still just got a little fill flash from a camera mounted 430 EX.
Audi A5 featured in Treffpunkt
You’ve seen this car on my blog before, but I’m finally able, and pretty proud, to post the full set from the shoot last September. I was sitting on these until they were published in Treffpunkt Magazine this week. (Ok, so I might have posted them at a photography site last year to get some feedback on them, but don’t tell anyone… ) As before, the car is a Caractere kitted Audi A5 3.0 Tdi S-line. I think the owner checked all the options on the list and then some. With the Caractere kit and rolling on a set of staggered 20″ Petrol Traviata rims the result is awesome!
Treffpunkt is a quarterly magazine published by VW-Audi Club Norwegen and distributed to around 6000 members of the club. Treffpunkt has recently received a big change layout-wise, and I’m actually stoked about getting these images in the first issue with the new layout. Mag looks really professional now! Even made the cover, yay! Make sure to visit Red Rabbits, the design company behind the new layout to see some of their other awesome stuff!
But I digress, back to the shoot…
I’m usually not to happy about my own work, but these I like. Sure, there is a ton of stuff that can be improved, but I really feel they work well together as a set, and the location suits the car. Seeing them on print in the 4 page article in Treffpunkt made me like them even more, even though they had to be cropped a bit to suit the layout. I might even go as far as to say they are my best work to date…
Also, I’ve gotta give a huge thanks to Andreas, the owner who was extremely patient and put up with all my directions and swearing during the shoot. Here’s a bonus shot just for you!
Hope you all liked the pictures, check them out on flickr to view them larger by clicking on them.
Blown Out of Proportions…
This summer I was approached by the good guys behind Australian magazine AutoSalon and asked if I could do some shoots for them. The first car up is this white Subaru Impreza Wrx built and owned by A nice chap named Bjørnar here in Norway. Being an ex-Petter Solberg company car Bjørnar sure didn’t put the cars racing pedigree to shame as he took it from a nice weekend track car to the full out race car you see here.
I met up with Bjørnar at his buddy Auduns workplace where we were to shoot the car early in September. The location was really awesome and even had an indoor train…
The car was consequently lit with three canon flashes triggered by Skyports and fired through either umbrellas or diffusers. For the most part I used two of the flashes to light the side of the car and one on either the front or rear depending on what angle I shot from. On this shot though, One was placed inside the car and the two others on either side of the car.
Never tried to shoot this car without modifiers on the flashes, but I may have avoided some of the umbrella reflections you see here had I tried.
As I said before, this car has evolved to a full blown race car over a short periode of time. This might not be all that obvious from the outside, but this picture with the rear door out of the way shows what I’m talking about…
I’m really pleased on how the pictures came out, and it looks like AutoSalon was to, as they ran several of them in a 8 page article in their December issue.
The pictures ran with little or none postprocessing in the magazine, but I gave them a quick edit each before I uploaded them to flickr today. You can check out the pictures on flickr by clicking them, and I you do happen to live in Australia you can probably pick up a copy of the magazine at your local newsagents.
I’ll try to get a link to the cars project thread from the owner and post it here later, so be sure to check back in here if you’re a Scooby fan.
Playing an old tune
With the snow falling outside I can’t help myself longing for the summer. seeing as it’s only december and the snow won’t disappear until say March/April this might just be a long winter…
Anyway. I keep going back to the photos I took of the silver A5 that I’ve posted several shots from here already. This was my first time shooting into the sun and some of the shots came out really good. And some not so good of course. This one I initially rejected, but I’ve developed a taste for shots like this lately and sat down with it today. There isn’t much editing done to it really. I just bumped the contrast on the car a bit, the rest is the result of pointing Canon’s 70-200 2.8L lens into the sun. Not to sure about how I like it so I’d be happy if you guys left a comment on what you think.
Check out the photo in 1280X853 on flickr by clicking the picture.
Red Rabbit
More snow here today so I went through some more shots from when I did Cato’s incredible VW Mk1 Golf, or Rabbit as it is called stateside. The car started out as a 1,5 LS in 1978 but now has a carbed 16v engine in it. So the little thing both moves and looks great!
All these shots are taken with Canon’s 24-70 L lens on my Canon 50D and are lit by three flashes. More info on that on flickr. You can get there by clicking the photos.
I have several other decent shots from this shoot, but I feel they don’t really work together as a set because of the difference in ambient lighting. Just take a look at the picture below. It’s taken just 30 minutes before the two shots above and no more than 20 meters away. Despite being lit the exact same way with flashes it really has a lot harsher lighting to it. I did exaggerate it a bit in the post processing, but still…
I might post up some of the other shots later, until then these are available on flickr in higher resolution if you want to take a closer look.
Passing time
Just passing some time editing one of the A5 shots from earlier this year and thought I’d share it here.
The photo is taken with the Canon 50D and a Canon 10-22 lens. Car is lit with two Canon 430EX’s on the rear and the sun on the side. Click the photo to view it larger on flickr.
Detailed
Berhard who’s great looking Passat I shot some time ago is as I mentioned a professional detailer and does all sorts of cool cars. He called me up last week and had a small assignment for me. He was detailing a B5 Audi RS4 and wanted some pictures taken of it with it’s owner. Having the owner in the shot might sound peculiar, but take a look at the pictures below and you’ll probably figure out why ;)
The RS4 in question was black and I had an idea of lighting it bouncing the light of the roof in the workshop, but that didn’t work out so the car is basically lit the same way you would light a non black car. Worked out better than I had imagined actually.
I had a hard time doing detail-shots as I had not brought my 24-70L and the 50mm prime I had inteded for the detailshots was busted after my backpack dropped from a height the other week. That left me with the 70-200 or the 10-22. Beeing confined in the garage limited the use of the 70-200 and the 10-22 really isn’t ideal for those kind of shots. Here are two taken with the 70-200 though.
Now for the owner shots Bernhard wanted… This car shots with people in them is really new to me, but Nina Marie was a great sport and really fun to work with so she made my work easy. Great practice and great fun :)
As I told you in my last post, the snow has started falling here in Norway so outdoor shots are kinda limited at the time, you can see why below. But Nina Marie and I agreed to do a new shoot with the RS4 come spring, and I think we’ll shoot her pink (!) Mini Cooper as well, so stay tuned.
All pictures opens on flickr when clicked where they and several other from the shoot can be viewed in higher resolution.
Dub Wagon, Rolling On Dubs
First of all, sorry for the recent lack of updates. been really busy moving houses and swamped with work so I’ve had almost no time for shoots and other fun stuff.
This weekend things calmed down a bit and seeing as I had talked to Bernhard about a shooting his car for a while we made some hasty arrangements to do a shoot.
As you can see, Bernhard rolls around in a family friendly Passat Wagon which fits both his kids and girlfriend. How they feel about the not so family friendly 20″ TSW Holstens I’m not sure about. What I am sure about though is that the wheels really sets Bernhards 1.8t Passat apart from the crowd. Paired with a millimeter perfect lowering and subtle modifications this sure is a nice ride.
Oh , also one can’t miss just how shiny this car is, which is because Bernhard passes his spare time doing detailing jobs on cars. I don’t know how many coats of wax this car has received during the season, but it might just be more than other cars sees in a lifetime ;)
Enjoy the pictures. Check them out in higher resolution on flickr by clicking them or visit my photostream to see even more ;)
Cato’s 1978 Golf LS
Today I had the pleasure of shooting this extremely clean 1978 Mk1 Golf for the calendar I wrote about a couple days ago.
We went to a total of three locations and this shot is from the last one. Just wanted to share ;)
The photo can be viewed larger on flickr by clicking the image and choosing all sizes.
For the strobists out there, lighting information can also be found on flickr.
Chevy Again
Just a quick post to say hello and tell you I’ve been super busy and show you another picture of the Classic ’55 210 Chevy I shot last month.
I wish I had my Skyports for that shoot, because everything is so much easier with them. My lighting improved the moment I started using them, and together with some new studio gear that I bought the other day lighting cars is suddenly “easy”. Looking forward to showing you some more shots with taken with the Skyports and stuff, but I have to wait until the pictures are published first.
Anyways, the client picked up his Chevy shots today and was really pleased, and I hope you liked them too.
Cheers.
Finally, Skyports!
Last week I finally got my Skyports. I had been waiting for the supplier I use to get both the Set with both transmitter and receiver and the separate receiver in stock I decided I couldn’t wait any longer and bought two sets with transmitter and receivers.
I even got myself a dedicated Suitcase for all my Strobist gear . Still need to cut out some more room for the rest of the stuff, but I wanted to share anyways :) The china triggers have no cutout as they just double as hotshoe mounts at the moment. New stuff is on it’s way from FlashZebra and should arrive sometime next week.
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With the weather being bad and heavy rain pouring down every night since I got the Skyports I got the chance to test them yesterday. I was out shooting the launch of the new Polo for Treffpunkt magazine and VW Audi Club Norwegen, and stopped on my my way home to test the Skyports. Not having any pictures of my own car since I lowered it another inch i decided to take it to a location I had scouted several weeks ago. Normally i wouldn’t “waste” a good location on my own car, but I’m glad I took it there, because although I thought the location looked cool from a distance, it just wasn’t that exciting when I got there..
Although not quite pleased with the location I went to was delighted with how well the Skyports worked. The range is greater than can see my self needing any time soon and the best part; -they fire the flashes every single time! After struggling with the unreliable china-triggers I can now focus on getting the lighting right, not just getting the lighting to light. The picture is available in higher resolution on flickr. Get ther by clicking the image.
White Scirocco
Did a quick photoshoot with this beautiful Candywhite Scirocco tonight. With just a handful tastefully selected modifications this car now looks insane. The front looks so aggressive you just want to pull over and let it pass instantly when you look at in the rear view mirror like I did on our way to the location of the shoot. Now, I’ve seen this car on several occasions since it belongs to a friend of mine, but when we arrived I still had to take a minute to admire it.
Having finally sorted out some parts problems and fitted the huge Porsche Cayenne brakes behind those exquisite Porsche 997 19″ wheels the car has reached a new level and is by my standards Norway’s best looking Scirocco.
Check the pictures out in higher resolution on flickr and judge for yourself.
1955 Chevy 210
Had a nice Friday afternoon outside shooting this really good looking 1955 Chevy 210 with a client today. Had to move some concrete barricades to get to the location, so we were clearly trespassing (again). But security was cool about it when they found out and let us stay there and finish the shoot without having to rush.
Anyways, here are two of the pictures so far:
Also, the owner of the car was kind enough to supply me with a “behind the scenes” shot. I’m posting it here as I do get a lot of questions on the flashes I use. Three flashes was used in both shots above. The picture, where I graciously kneel and pray to the photography Gods to let me make the shot, is the setup used for the rear shot of the Chevy.
You might notice the blog plug on the pictures. I really do not want it there, but I’ve had a lot the images I’ve posted here and on flickr pop up all sort of places without my knowing.
Now, I don’t mind my pictures being hotlinked and ending up in a thread on a forum or two. But when they start popping up in advertisements and whatnot without my permission I suddenly mind. I’m glad people enjoy my images, but please, do not use them without my permission. And if you can’t be bothered with asking me, at least link back here when you post them elsewhere.
With the above in mind, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but both images are available in higher resolution on flickr. Just a click away…
The perfect photoshoot ?
Today was the day everything was going to go down well. The shoot I did with the Audi A5 Cabriolet today was scheduled booked in in good time, the weather forecast had been consistent in showing a slight overcast with the sun promising to peek out from behind the clouds. I had scouted the location way ahead of time and checked all my gear before I went to bed last night. I had even sketched some of the frames I wanted on paper including lighting diagrammes. What could go wrong? Nothing, right?
Well for starters, (and I know I should have learned by now) the weather forecast can’t be trusted. Sure enough, the slight overcast had transformed into rain and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately the location was an abandoned parking garage so I decided to go ahead with the shoot seeing as we could stay inside. I told the client to stop by the car wash adjacent to the parking garage and packed some microfiber cloths and some detailing supplies before I headed out there.
I arrived on scene ahead of schedule and started setting up my lighting gear only to find out I had forgotten the batteries for my main camera… A bit bummed out about that, but really happy I had brought a backup camera I decided that the old 400D would have to do. Apart from this the shoot went down pretty good, and when I opened up the pictures on the computer some 4 hours later I was delighted to see that the 400D indeed had performed well. Seeing as how the shot below is one of the outtakes from the shoot you might agree ;)
Strobist information can, for those interested, be found on flickr by clicking the picture. You’ll also find a larger version of it there :)
A friend stopped by with his Mk3 Golf when I was shooting the A5 and I couldn’t resist snapping this shot when we walked down from the above parking level where we had wrapped up the A5 shoot. I think it really shows of the cars insanely good looking stance with it’s FK Coilovers and Porsche D90′s. 7 and 9 inces wide front and rear respectively.
Some flash work was involved, details of which can be viewed by clicking the picture and accessing it on flickr. Wallpaper sized version is also avalible there for those die-hard Mk3 fans out there.