Get Your Car In PHR, Here's How

You've spent thousands of dollars and years of your own time to build your dream machine, and now you're gonna grab your camera, snap a few shots and send them in to a big-time magazine. You know they'll love your car and want to feature it, if only they could see it. But did you know that magazines get baskets of reader's rides every month? Your car's going to have to really stand out to get noticed and most editors will only spend a second or two to look at your pix--if they look at them at all.

I want to show you how to gain the advantage, even if your photos are headed for some other magazine. When you're done reading this, you'll know most of the tricks used by the pros--including the tricks they don't want you to know about. It took me years to learn what I'm about to tell you, and that came with a heavy price that included lots of wasted film, lots of money spent on gimmicks that didn't work and lots of time spent pestering the best photographers in our business.

Grazing, or Driving?
One of the most common problems I see with photos sent in by readers is a car on grass. Cars belong on pavement, not grass. Cattle belong on grass. Pavement is the natural environment for a car unless you've taken an agricultural excursion by late braking at the hairpin turn. Gravel is another no-no. Try finding a large, open paved area to shoot your car. Even a road with minimal traffic or limited access will work, but a parking lot will do just fine. If you want to be a stickler like me, look for pavement without lines painted on it. The one exception for the pavement rule is for off-road vehicles. A 4x4 will look cool perched atop a big pile of rocks, but don't try this with a car. Try to put your car in its ideal environment (such as a drag car on the drag strip or a road racer on a road course).

Chop Job
Believe me when I tell you there are lots of people who send me half photos. I guess I'm supposed to just imagine what the other half of the car looks like, because the front or the rear has been chopped off. Sometimes this is the fault of the lab, in which case you can have the lab reprint them (provided you took them right to start with) at no extra cost. If you find yourself cutting off your car, take some more time to frame the car. This isn't a problem if you've got a digital camera with an LCD screen. You can see exactly what the final picture will look like ahead of time. If you've got an inexpensive film camera with a separate peephole that doesn't look through the lens, you'll have to account for the parallax angle to get the entire car into the picture.

The Amazing Three-Wheeled Car!
You may have noticed a lot of editors and photographers like the low-angle shot. Cars always look bolder and more aggressive when shot from ground level (especially from a distance), but there is one big thing to watch out for if you do this: don't turn your car into a three-wheeler. I had been shooting three-wheeled cars for many years until I talked to famed car photographer Scott Killeen. When Scott pointed my mistake out to me it was a revelation. You can shoot at an angle to the car; just avoid blocking the fourth wheel (the one in back) with one of the front wheels. With four wheels, your car will look more aggressive and meaner, like a big cat ready to pounce on its prey. This is a tip that many pros don't even know about--just pick up any car magazine and look. Having read this, you'll be spoiled forever and will never look at car photos the same! And one last tip: low-angle shots only look good if your car has the right stance. If the car sits high, or even worse, the front sits higher than the rear, you've got problems, both photographically and aesthetically--unless you own a 4x4.

Growing Appendages
Stuff growing out of your car is not good, but it happens all the time. Park your car in some random place and take a random photo of it and you'll probably have random crap growing out of it. Your car wasn't built randomly, so why take a random picture of it? Light poles, fence posts, trees, mailboxes--I've seen it all sprouting from cars mailed in. This is easy to remedy by just taking a moment to look at your picture before you snap it. Sometimes all you need to do is get a little lower or move over a foot or two to get the offending appendage off your car. Other times, you may need to move the car a few feet or even find a new location if the background is too busy. Unless you live at the country club, you'll want to find something less "fussy" than a residential street. The best places are empty industrial parks (pick a weekend or holiday), small airports, the back of a Wal-Mart or Home Depot (they owe it to us considering all the money we give them!), a quarry, a large country park (avoid city parks with lots of light poles and fences) or any other wide, open area.

On a related topic, avoid tangencies at all cost. A tangency is a line or curve in the background (often a wall, fence, roof or horizon) that intersects, grazes or bisects the edge of the subject--in this case the car. A tangency will kill the outline of a car, make it look misshapen, or change its perceived proportions.

Location, Location, Location
The old real estate motto applies to shooting car photos too. The ideal location is on level, high ground with open space facing west. You don't want buildings, trees, fences, signs, poles, utility wires or other obstructions blocking your light or creating unwanted reflections in your perfect paint. You want an open expanse to the west because you'll generally be shooting at sunset and with the sun not to your back. That's right, I said it, "don't put the sun to your back," but we'll talk more on lighting later. The main thing to remember with location is to take advantage of what's available in your geographic area. If you live by the coast, a shore setting might work (try sunrise on the east coast and sunset on the west coast). If you live out west, there are lots of beautiful open areas to choose from. East coasters have it rougher, because you've got to deal with lots of close-in tree lines and telephone poles that inhibit a good horizon line from reflecting down the side of the car. East coasters and mid-westerners: Head for treeless high ground!

Did I mention that you want a place that has a distant horizon line? Once you try it, you'll find that a good sharp horizon line down the side of your car will flatter the shape of the car and make your paint and body work look dynamite. A good horizon line at sunset will even turn an okay-looking car into an awesome-looking car. (Well-known automotive photographer Greg Jarem calls this a "billiard shot" because you're bouncing the horizon line and golden sunset light off the side like a billiard ball.) If you're selling your car and need to take a photo of it, this will make it look thousands of dollars better, so here's a trick that will literally put money in your pocket.

Dealing With Mr. Rent-A-Cop
One thing you'll learn in a hurry: rich folk own all the good property--and they don't mind telling you that with all their security, gates, fences and signs. The Bill Of Rights doesn't have an amendment guaranteeing photographers good places to shoot, so be ready to fight for good photos! Even public parks are problematic. Whip out a camera at a park in California and you can be slapped with hefty fines (yes!). Their dirty little secret is that states earn big revenue from selling photography permits, especially where the film industry is big. Whether you're shooting in the back of a Wal-Mart or at a big park, it's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission (because you'll rarely get permission). Another tip is to be polite and accommodate any requests made by security or police. Don't argue with the guy if you're being asked to move on (that's usually the worst thing that can happen). When all else fails, play dumb--I'm talking Forrest Gump dumb. You're sorry and just wanted to take "sum pikshurs" of your buddy's car. On the other hand, some security people and park rangers love cars and may even want to help you. Tip: If you know a cop, ask him to come with you to help out. Cops will almost always show professional courtesy to one another. I probably don't need to say it, but I will anyway: if you're on property that doesn't belong to you, don't get funny and start screwing around with the car doing donuts or burnouts. You'll be sorry. On the other hand, if the cops start doing burnouts...