Pure – The 2014 Toyota Yaris
Making a living as a car photographer is honestly not even half as glamorous as some would believe. Yes, there are amazing perks and if you happen to love cars, it never really feels like work. You get to drive a vast range of cars from complete opposite ends of the spectrum. On the other hand, there are the early mornings, the cold nights and the wet days when you have no other choice but to get things done. Shooting the Yaris was a perfect example of my little hypothesis… There’s something quite pure about the new Yaris that I like. Whilst it retains most of the features you would expect in a new car (air conditioning, bluetooth, iPod integration etc.) and some that you wouldn’t (reversing camera for instance), it presents everything in quite a simple and direct way. All of your multimedia needs are taken care of via a touchscreen head unit, there are the usual heater controls beneath this and in front of you, you have your speed-and-tach-ometers. And that’s pretty much it. There’s nothing complicated, all the controls can be learned at a glance and you never find yourself reaching around blindly looking for something. The particular model I photographed was the Sol version, which adds some nice features for not much more over base RRP. The one litre engine was perfect around town and even proved its worth on the motorway whilst remaining frugal. A refill with unleaded cost me less than €50. I though the pump was broke such was my surprise. With a light foot, your €50 should see you easily past 600KMs and probably past 700KMs. It’s hard to argue with that. Toyota afforded me quite a lot of time, almost two weeks, to shoot the Yaris. It was a good thing […]
Welcome to Quattro Country – The 2014 Audi S1 Quattro
At the time of writing, I’ve been working freelance longer this year than I had been as a contractor. It’s only a small amount of time, but I’ve learned that it has been important to enjoy every victory that comes my way. Other victories that I welcome are invoices that are paid on time and messages from Audi Ireland to come and collect another ‘S’ series car… The S1 quattro is the latest new ‘S’ car to be introduced to the Irish market. Whilst it shares its name with the iconic Group B car, the similarities between the two are limited. As the top tier A1 model, the S1 features some impressive numbers and statistics: 230hp, 370Nm, 0-100 in 5.8s and an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h. All of which is transferred to the road via its quattro four wheel drive system. The model I had the pleasure of shooting was the Sportback variant, featuring an extra two doors over the three door hatch. Perfect for loading camera equipment into then. If you’re reading this from outside of Ireland, you might not be aware that – for a change – we’ve been enjoying a rather spectacular summer here. The downside to the great weather is that the rest of the population has the notions of going outside and visiting scenic venues dotted around the country. This makes finding a location quite difficult indeed… I collected the car on Friday morning before heading straight back to Waterford. With a harsh sun shining on the south east, I took this time to clean and prepare the car for an evening shoot. With any car, I’m always careful to ensure the paint is kept in its best possible condition and even more so with a brand new car. This means using cleaning methods that are […]
The 2014 Kia Optima
Last month I was commissioned by Kia Motors Ireland to shoot some quick images for PR purposes of their new 2014 Kia Optima. The car was located in a dealership in Tipperary and I only had a couple of hours to get the images photographed. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to scout out viable locations on Google Maps using street view. Whilst the first two locations weren’t up to scratch, a third location turned out to be perfect. Located on Lough Derg and just outside Nenagh, Dromineer is your a-typical picturesque Irish village. As this shoot took place on a week day, the area was nice and quiet which allowed for a hassle free shoot. With a certain amount of urgency involved, I made a shot list in advance which I could easily reference as I was shooting so as to keep track of everything. With two strobes off camera to provide some fill, I stuck to a choice of three lenses on a Canon 5D MKIII – 24-105 F4 L IS, 70-200 F2.8 L IS & a 35 F1.4 L IS. The images were delivered to the client next day, although the examples below have been since edited further to give them a more stylised look and to remove the registration plate (neither of which were required at the time). I’ll have more work with Kia that I can share shortly. Kia Motors Ireland
