How To Photograph Your Car

I had the opportunity to share some techniques and pitfalls when photographing your car. I’ve been a member of the BMW Car Club of Ottawa since 1997 and gotten to know many auto enthusiasts and amateur snappers, so it was a great opportunity to share vision, creativity and tips and tricks.

What exactly are some of the things to watch for? There are the usuals such as background distractions, dissecting lines and poles or trees sticking out of rooflines. Other gotchas related to cars are unwanted reflections, including your own, windows overly reflective or not as the desire may be and distracting stuff on the car: stickers, license plates, holes, dirt and more.

Making a car photo compelling requires a few considerations: shoot no lower than the lowest part of the body, or shoot from headlight/wheel hub height or driver height. If none of these provide a compelling shot, then go high. Simply put: do not do the ‘walk-up’ shot.

With permission of the authors, I’ve included a few photos of the great stuff that came out of that morning shoot.

I also have to thank Chris and John of WCD and the Carp Airport for the use of their facilities, hanger and sticky buns. Chris Wilton supplied the aircraft.