How to Start Car Photography as a Complete Newbie

Stacy, your fellow car photographer.

Now that Stacy's got her camera and she knows the basics of car photography (camera settings, car angles, shooting techniques, etc.), she frustratingly asks, "OMG HOW DO I FREAKIN' FIND CARS TO SHOOT?"

She doesn't yet have enough experience to book a shoot with a stranger and she doesn’t know anyone with a cool car, sooo what is she to do???

"Do not worry Stacy," I say, "I had the same exact questions when I started. And I’m gonna share the things I did to get my toes in the water and things I recommend trying out. :)"

Overview:

1. Shoot your own car

2. Go to car meets/ cars & coffee

3. Visit an exotic auto-shop

4. Message local car photographers

1. Shoot your own car:

Now this one is a little obvious, but I wanted to cover it because this is where every car photographer starts.

Here’s what my first car photos looked like:

Yikes, I know lol.

Now we want to do this just to get familiar with the feel of shooting a car. To see how cars look through your camera and really just get comfortable with it.

If you don’t want to shoot your own car, for whatever reason, ask to take photos of a friend's car, family member’s, or ask a rando at a gas station (haha I’ve done this before BUT they had a cool car and I had my camera on me. And if you do this, don’t forget to offer sending the photos over).

2. Go to car meets/ cars & coffee:

These are from some of the meets that I've been to in my area (In order from latest to first)

I usually find them on Instagram. Type in “[your city] cars and coffee” or “[your city] car meets.”

Now, there different ways you can go about this, (to get exposure) you could:

• Walk up to the owners of the cars and ask if they’d like to set up a photoshoot for free (I’d recommend doing this once you’ve had your portfolio started though)

• Keep an eye out for Instagram handles; take the best photos you could of those cars and DM the owners afterward (and if you’re feeling frisky, offer a shoot in the DMs)

• Obviously post them on your Instagram (and tag the car meet page)

• Send the photos to the car meet host for them to post

Here's more photos I got from various meets :)

Now this one was a little daunting especially for me because "um I have to willingly walk in a crowd of people with a camera and take photos of their cars? I’m sorry WHAT? " Haha. When I started a few years ago, I was usually the ONLY one in a FAT group of strangers swinging a camera around and it was SUPER uncomfortable omg.

But it’s normal now, everyone’s a car photographer these days. So it should be better for you now. I do recommend going with friends tho, it helps out a lot.

3. Visit an exotic auto-shop:

My first photos of a lambo thanks to Diamond Autosport

A quick google search can help you find this one.

Some examples are:

• Diamond Autosport (Where I went)

• LoCo Exotics (Somewhere in Virginia)

• Earth MotorCars (Somewhere in Texas)

Stop by at a time you think they'd be less busy. Approach the staff (be super cooool) and let them know what you're all about. Then just shoot the cars they have there. It's most likely a bunch of supercars which are super-photogenic so you'll get good shots no matter what (unless ur like really bad at taking photos, which there's no way if you read my blog)

4. Message local car photographers:

On instagram, reach out to car photographers in your area and ask if you could tag along for one (or some) of their photoshoots. I haven’t done this yet personally, but I think it’s a good idea.

Say something along the lines of “hey ur photos r sick! im new to car photography and was wondering if i could tag along with u to one of ur shoots.”

Also when messaging people, expect them to say no and get familiar with rejection. And avoid coming off as needy lol.

Don't go to these

Conclusion:

These are just a few ways to get your foot out the door on your car-photo journey and actually finding cars to take photos of. Just to review you can:

• Shoot your own car or some one you know

• Get exposure through car meets/ cars & coffee

• Visit an exotic auto-shop

• Message local car photographers

This is how I started, I used instagram HEAVY to help me find and make connections.

But that’s all for today!

Feel free to leave a comment if I triggered any questions, and follow me on instagram to catch up on my latest work.

Good Luck!! :)

- Antonio