Photography Research

The research done for this project was mainly taken from FastCar Magazine, MaxPower, Japanese Tuning and FastFord.

Each magazine listed above is a specific car magazine based around tuning and extreme car modification, essentially Custom Street racing cars.

Each magazine not only provides information about ‘cruises’, a collection of tuner cars on parade, but information on how to modify your own car but mainly it contains pages and pages of street racing, cruise and car photography which helped me greatly; especially on the layout of my InDesign piece.

Below are some examples of pages from the magazines -

Here is essentially where I got the idea for my double single photograph spread -

InDesign Mock up #1

Here is a InDesign mock up I have done for the Photojournalism project.

Photoshoot #4 - Essex Cruise Photographs

Photoshoot #4 - Essex Cruise

Recently for a photoshoot I travelled to Essex to a large cruise, essentially a massive gathering of tuner, modified and super cars. This time around I felt a lot less uncomfortable and much less anxious.
 
Overall I believe the shoot was quite successful although the amount of people made it difficult to get the true shot I wanted, however I managed.

Unfortunately I did not manage to get any actual street racing, due to a large number of Essex & Traffic Police.

Few simple shots from the day -

Photoshoort #3 - Contrast - Shots

The idea behinde this photograph was to show a contrast and a difference between the type of people that buy BMWs - Generally businessmen and people who want somthing simple that goes, but for a price - and the type of people that buy Nissan S15s and build them up personally for half the cost but double the performance.

While I think the shoot went quite well it could have been better but time constraints limited this. The final Photograph in this series I am going to recreate late a night at a set of traffic lights, possibly with tyre smoke.

Unfortunatley I did not have a QP card to hand so I used one of my models.

Photoshoot #3 - Contrast

Equipment -

Canon 550D DSLR

Canon EFS 17mm - 85mm Lens

Canon EFS 10mm Macro Lens

Canon 430 Ex II Speedlite

External 64 LED Light

External Softbox
Elinchrome Ranger Flash Kit

Lighting -

Flash
Softbox
Fluorescent Strip
Street Lamps
Xenon Headlights

Idea -

On this photoshoot I will be attempting to show the difference between the drivers of the modified cars and the drivers of more mainstream cars such as BMWs.

The idea was inspired by a computer drawing of two cars; modified Nissan Sylvia S15 and a BMW 5 Series M3. It was a shot from the rear with the S15 owner with his middle finger up out the window. Essentially saying ‘My car is built by me and twice as fast as yours’.

In light of this I am going to recreate the drawing as a photograph in the following locations –

At a set of traffic lights

Car Park – Parked & leaving

At a petrol station at the pumps.

Not my Photograph

The other idea was to show the difference, between the drivers and their cars. My idea was to have the driver of the modified car dressed in trackies and a hoody and the driver of a luxury standard car in a suit. I think it could show a contrast of the drivers and the cars.

Not my Photograph

Photoshoot #1 - Waterloo Shots

Photoshoot #2 -

Location -
TBA

Photoshoot #2 –
In the second photoshoot I will be trying to create more staged shots than before, using a better selection of lighting and equipment. It will be easier to photograph the cars as I will be in a more controlled, relaxed environment.

Ideas –

I have a selection of 2 - 3 cars to place and use within this photoshoot thought I do not know what they look like just yet. Therefore most of the ideas and creativity will come on the shoot day.

Equipment –

Canon 550D DSLR
Canon 100mm Macro Lens
Canon 17mm – 85mm Lens
Canon 430 EXII Speedlite
External Modelling Light
External Speedlite Softbox

Lighting –

Flash
Softbox
Fluorescent Strip
Street Lamps
Xenon Headlights

Photoshoot #1 - Waterloo

Photoshoot #1

This photoshoot will take place at a cruise in Waterloo, Graffiti Tunnel. The focus of this premlinary shoot was to get a feel for the type of photography needed, getting to know some of the drivers and earning their confidence for future shoots.

Location –

Waterloo Station Graffiti Tunnel

                              
Equipment –

Canon 550D DSLR

Canon 100mm Macro Lens

Canon 17mm – 85mm Lens

Canon 430 EXII Speedlite

External Modelling Light

External Speedlite Softbox

Selection of coloured lens filters

Ideas –
Motion Blur – Of tail lights and head lights as the cars speed away
Blurred background shots
Car Close Ups – Wheel arches, bonnet grills, vents, steering wheel
Full on views of entire car
Possibly a few posed shots of the drivers and cars
Dark backgrounds with the car light up sharply using flash

Lighting –

Flash

Fluorescent Strip 

Xenon Headlights

How it went/Outcome –

The outcome of this shoot was not as good as I had hoped. As I did not know what to expect the first time around, this led to technical problems – mainly due to lighting. Trying to balance flash against fluorescent and xenon lights was difficult as I only had control over the Flash. With some of the cars I essentially got the effect I wanted but the photograph itself was poor and not up to my standard. In light of this I will be attempting to set up a photoshoot using modified cars but in a far more controlled environment.

Documentary & Photojournalism Photography

Photojournalism -Due - 24/11/2011

My Idea -

Underground Street Racing -

This project is very different to anything I have done before and has taken me out of my comfort zone by photographing cars, a subject matter I have all ways found difficult.

Underground street racing will be an interesting project to photograph due to the legally grey area that surrounds it. From what I have learnt so far street racing can be segregated into 3 main parts;

Drifting

Racing

Cruising

I will attempt to photograph each section in such a way that it shows each section very strongly.

‘Drifting is all about getting the car sideways’ a quote from one of the drivers I met. The ‘drifting’ cars can be very different to the rest due to the fact that they are designed to be slid sideways at high speed; sometimes reaching speeds of up to 80mph. Normally takes place near large roundabouts and gently curving roads.

According to my sources the racing aspect has been becoming less and less in recent years due to a massive crack down by Kent Police. These cars are built more for straight line speed and tight cornering. This aspect will be difficult to capture due to the crackdown.

Finally the most legal aspect of Underground Street Racing, Cruising. Cruising is generally where groups of modified cars (from all the above) gather in pre-arranged locations around London and Essex to simply show off their cars to other drivers. Though there still is a competition element where drivers have ‘I.C.E Challenges’ some cars having speaker systems with over 4,500 watts RMS sometimes the subwoofer is 1000watts alone. This will be the easiest aspect to photograph due to the stationary nature, it also gives me a chance to see the engine bays and inner workings of these incredible cars.