The brief for Freestyle Event Photography is usually to take photos of people, most often at an event, though we do portraits and a range of other types of people photography too – sometimes even babies.
This time, we were asked to photograph the new Suzuki Swift for AA Directions, the magazine of the New Zealand Automobile Association.
The photos were to support two reviews of the car for the magazine. We were asked to photograph not only the vehicle but the two reviewers as well, both in and out of the vehicles. We had to arrange the location and communicate with the reviewers as to where and when the shoots would take place.
We suggested Cornwall Park, as this is a place where the car could be photographed on a road in a green and pleasant setting, with very little traffic around, and where we wouldn’t get in the way of other drivers. It was up to us how to position the driver and the vehicle.
We used a polarising filter for these photos, which reduces the glare and reflections that are common on vehicles.
And yes, some of the photos we took suggest that the car is moving along the road, but, don’t tell AA Directions: the vehicle is stationary in all the photos. A tip we don’t mind sharing: You get a better photograph if there are no moving objects.