Recent PR Work – 2015 Skoda Fabia Combi
Client: Škoda Ireland. Intent: PR & Social Media. Date: February 2015. Location: Waterford City & County, Ireland. Further Information: www.skoda.ie
Rain, Cobbles & The New Škoda Fabia
You have thought that by living in Ireland all my life, at some stage I would have gotten used to the rain. As it turns out I haven’t and I probably never will. However, I’ve always been of the opinion that if it’s going to rain on a shoot day, then it has to rain. I guess I should have been careful what I wished for… When I picked up the new Fabia from the amazing crew at Automotive Team, the skies were threatening but I thought we might just get away with it. As it turned out, I was quite wrong. Exceptionally strong winds brought rain shortly after collection and in turn, completely changed the dynamic of the shoot. Luckily though, I think it actually worked in my favour. When the weather can’t make its mind up and you get showers followed by brief sunshine followed by more showers, you end up with inconsistency in your backgrounds and more often than not, dirty and grungy looking roads with random dry spots. But when the rain comes and decides to stay, it brings out a whole new colour palette from the city’s streets. You get reflections and shine that you don’t get on a dry day. You have consistent soft lighting throughout the day and the benefit of water droplets beading off the paint work. The only issue on this shoot was the strong wind, which kept rocking the tripod and made the task of getting sharp exposures quite difficult, particular when trying to drag the shutter out just a little longer to blur those passers-by. The car itself? Well, pretty much like the rest of the VAG cars, you know it’s going to be a good one before you even drive it. I really liked it. This particular car featured a 1.2 […]
Two Weeks, Two Skodas.
As I alluded to in my recent 2013 round up, I’ve become determined to carry out more personal work in the coming months. When you’re working week in and week out photographing all sorts, you can easily go into autopilot mode, doing whatever it takes to get things done. This can lead to staleness in the workflow, as you go through the motions to make sure deadlines are met. These situations can become a sort of vicious cycle, which can drain you of creativity and motivation. A dangerous combination. This thought has been nagging away at me for quite some time. Last month, I got in touch with the very nice people at Skoda Ireland who rather kindly donated two cars for me to photograph at my leisure. With no deadlines, no brief and most importantly, no pressure, I set about shooting each car over the course of two weeks during whatever spare time I could free up. With Ireland in the winter being Ireland in the winter, it was a challenge in shooting outdoors at the best of times. One second it would be wet, overcast and windy whilst the next the sun would be parting the clouds casting some much deserved sunshine on our little green island. My aim for both shoots was to create something a little more polished than I usually would. Maybe not quite commercial quality, but something approaching it. Quality over quantity as the saying goes. First up was the Octavia Combi Elegance 4×4 TDI. Skoda’s reputation of old is long since gone. However, it’s one thing to acknowledge this fact and quite another to experience it. The vehicle’s specification was overflowing with more than enough gadgets to keep me entertained during my week of ownership. In particular what I liked (and was fitted to both […]
Circuit of Ireland
Last weekend gone saw Northern Ireland play host to the annual Circuit of Ireland rally which was also the third round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. After years and years of listening to relatives talk about the Circuit of old, I was looking forward to the challenge of my first rally in nearly a year. This is a pretty hefty post, so if you’re using 56K (does that even exist anymore?) you might want to go and make yourself a cup of tea. Full detailed coverage is available on Speedhunters …
