Dodge Challenger Shoot – US

Recently AmbientLife was over in the US recording and shooting some client work and whilst we were there we did some test work for a automotive company based in Clearwater near Tampa Florida.
Our task was to create a hard hitting image of a new the new Dodge Challenger.
The Challenger is a muscle coupe with a mix of retro style and modern performance. Designed to tie together the past and present, the Challenger competes with its classic rivals, the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro.

Although the Challenger was on hiatus for three decades, it was a muscle car from the start. The Challenger has remained true to its roots, its two generations spanning a three-decade hiatus yet still looking, driving and performing closely enough to recognize it at the same model. It has always been a great car to shoot photographically and we look forward to spending possibly more time with Dodge in the future to shoot this true American icon of motoring.

The Challenger started production in 1970 and has only seen two generations of production due to a 30-year hiatus from 1978 to 2008. The original offered four hardtop models: Challenger Six, V8, T/A, and R/T. A convertible was offered in 1970 and 1971 only. Engines ranged from a 225 cubic-inch six to a 230-horsepower, 318 cubic-inch V-8, a 340 cubic-inch V-8 and the 290-horsepower 383-cubic-inch V-8. All models came standard with a three-speed manual transmission except for the 383 cubic-inch V-8, which was only available with a TorqueFlite automatic.

The R/T featured a 383 cubic-inch Magnum V-8, rated for 335 horsepower initially, but later 300 horsepower. The R/T could also be upgraded to a 440 cubic-inch Magnum, a 440 cubic-inch Six-Pack and a 426 cubic-inch Hemi. The first generation of the Challenger ran from 1970 to 1978.

The current generation of the Challenger was reintroduced in 2008, with a simplified lineup and engine range: the SE, a base V-6 model with 250 horsepower; the R/T, with a 5.7-liter HEMI rated at 375 horsepower; and the SRT8, with a 6.1-liter HEMI rated at 425 horsepower. This new range was styled to look much like the classic Challenger, though it has grown considerably in size, weighing over 4,000 pounds and featuring 17 to 20-inch alloy wheels. Nevertheless, it provides classic muscle-car feel and performance, with an available five-speed automatic or pistol-grip six-speed manual (manual available on R/T and SRT8 only).

Interested in learning how to light and shoot car and automotive photography?
Why not join us here to enjoy over 4 hours of video tutorial classes on car photography Tim Wallace – Kelby Training Instructor

Profoto Magazine Germany – News and Features with Tim Wallace

This month the work of commercial car and automotive photographer Tim Wallace was featured in the German Profoto News Magazine. The magazine features each quarter a cross section of work from cutting edge professional photographers from around the world and we were very proud to have Tim’s work showcased in the magazine as well as being held across the front page of the Spring edition of the magazine. In the feature Tim talks about his work, his views and his lighting within his role as one of the top commercial car photographers in Europe today.

Profoto Germany Interview and Magazine Feature

Tim Wallace shoots cars. That is the short explanation. But it is somewhat misleading because looking at Tim’s images you get the feeling that he not only shoots what is in front of the camera, but also what is hidden underneath the body of the car – its heart and soul.

“For me it’s all about creating an emotional image,” says Tim. “I mainly work in the prestige end of the car market, and such brands as Bentley, Jaguar and Aston Martin aren’t sold with reason but with passion and emotion.”

But as we all know, cars are not actually emotional. They are lifeless objects made of plastic and aluminum. So, how do you capture the passion and emotion in something like that?

“First of all, I spend very little time in the studio,” says Tim. “Personally, I don’t believe cars belong there. They belong on the road. That’s where they come alive.

“It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to shoot the entire car to show its personality. Sometimes shooting just a tiny detail is enough, like the rear light on an Aston Martin DB5 or just a fraction of the grill on a Morgan Aero. I remember that when I first started working commercially, a lot of people told me that what I was doing was too much like art. But to me that was a positive thing, because like art, a really good car image should evoke an emotional response. Today, the most common compliment I get paid by my clients is … that it looks like art…

“Finally, light is fundamental. The camera is, of course, important. The lens is important. But when it comes to building up an emotion, nothing is more important than light.”

As you might have guessed, Tim does not just photograph cars. He also teaches others to do the same, and being a self-taught photographer himself, he very much believes in the learning by doing methodology.

“Cars are difficult to light,” admits Tim. “They’re large, they’re reflective and they’re multi angled. So, I always say to those who are getting into the industry and want to learn the craft that the best thing to do is to get the best equipment you can and start shooting.

“Start with one light and experiment with the power, proximity and positioning of that light. Don’t read books. Don’t try to copy other people’s work. It’s like riding a bike. You need to fall off a couple of times to learn what works and what don’t. It’s a part of the process, or the journey, if you will.

“But the beginning of that journey is to have consistent lights. That’s the only way to be certain that it’s the power, the proximity or the positing of the light that causes whatever changes you observe. You need lights you can trust. And for me, Profoto is that light.”

Nikon Pro Book – Spring Edition

Nikon launch their Nikon Pro Book for Spring 2013 featuring some photography recently completed by Commercial Car Photographer Tim Wallace during a shoot in Los Angeles using Nikon based equipment with the infamous Aston Martin DBS

Nikon Pro is a very highly successful publication that in the past few years has won five industry awards. It is aimed at working professional photographers and agencies across Europe and demands the highest quality work in its features to showcase the work of professionals from around the globe. Its current readership levels exceed 75,000 and it is also a source for advanced technical information as well as new products that are soon to be available, reports and reviews.

Tim – “I’m delighted that we have had some work chosen for this years exciting Spring edition of Nikon Pro and in many ways its a great honour as I know that Nikon actively choose each year the photography to include from quite literally a global pool. In my work as a professional commercial photographer I use both medium format (Hasselblad H3 / H4) and DSLR (D3s / D4) camera solutions to best adapt and work in what can often be a changing and demanding field of photography. Since the onset of the ‘digital age’ we have heard many voice concerns about if digital holds the quality of film and in my opinion digital as a whole overtook film for dynamic range and quality approx 3 years ago. Nikon is a brand that I am very familiar with having used these camera’s all my life since my first Nikon, a rather battered FM that still resides on top of my book shelve in the office, and for me they are a valuable addition to my high end medium format equipment. I think the comparison between DSLR and medium format will always be made but for me its quite simply a case of what is fit for purpose for the shoot in question. I will never be looking to get 14 frames a second from my Hasselblad but on the other side of things I would not expect to maintain the noise control and speed of my D3s and D4 if it attempted to reproduce the fine definition and resolution from a Hasselblad. In essence each has their role and each has their strong points, as a professional working photographer my only comment would be that its not productive to believe that you must ‘choose’ between either, use what works for you and if that means working on both a DSLR and medium format then pick the best ‘tool’ for the job at that point”

Filming in the US with Tim Wallace and Kelby Training

This week Tim and the crew started shooting a series of new training video’s in the US for Kelby Training. The crew are out in Washington and Florida for just over two weeks and its an exciting programme schedule with 3 brand new classes being completed to compliment the 4 that AmbientLife and Tim already have available with Kelby Training as well as two new in-depth face to face interviews with Tim talking through his life and what inspires him as well as a separate master class on business and how to redefine your view of your industry and your position within it.

Tim - “It’s been a really manic first week out here in the US and currently we are shooting down in Florida with pretty long days to make sure we try to stay on our production schedule, that said its been absolutely fantastic and it’s always a real pleasure to work with the crews from Kelby with some days on set and location where we do really enjoy ourselves and have a damn good laugh even though we are working flat out, true professionalism and a great team I think. I have been working with Kelby for abut 2 years now and this new series of classes were pretty much born from the successes of the first 4 that we recored. The CEO of Kelby Training, Scott Kelby, asked me a few months back to come up with a series of additional classes that would complement what we already had out there with Kelby. During this visit into the US we are recording 3 classes, Lighting a Car with just one light!, squarely aimed at those who may only have 1 speed light. We also have done a class on shooting Motorbikes, this was a really big shoot with lots of Pro lighting gear not to mention a one off customised Harley Davidson from New York and a whole heap of scaffolding! Lastly we looked at shooting Car Interiors, and this was a personal class with Scott himself, again using Pro lighting equipment and looking at just what you can achieve in camera. We have also been filming some interviews, business and personal which have had a great reception so far from those that were on set and in the control room on the days of filming so I personally am hoping that these really inspire people.
It’s been a great first week and I guess we are well on our way to completing the filming on time so thats good news indeed and even before we are ‘all set’, we have already had talking with Kelby and another series of additional classes has already been planned for 2014.”

While Tim is in the US he is also filming several interviews and appearances from Kelby’s ‘The Grid’ to other spots that will appear over the next few months. Below is a recording of his recent appearance on ‘The Grid’ earlier this week in the US were he talks in general about his work but also discusses the benefits to finding your ‘niche’ within your photography commercially.

Project Rapide – Aston Martin

This week commercial car photographer Tim Wallace spent 3 days on a project for our client Aston working on a series of photographic work of the new Aston Martin Rapide. The work is bound for marketing usage within Europe but also was completed towards additional work for a major one year that AmbientLife and Tim are working on with Aston to produce all the photography for the Aston Martin 100 years Centenary Book that is due to be published and launched in London later this year. The Aston Martin Rapide is a four-door ultra-luxury sedan that borrows styling elements and mechanical components from the brand’s elegant sports cars. For the latest model year, Aston Martin has upgraded its sleek sedan with a more powerful V12 – now boasting 550 horsepower – along with freshened styling and a number of new interior options packages. Aston also changed the name from Rapide to Rapide S to reflect the significant nature of the revisions.

Interested in learning how to light and shoot car and automotive photography?
Why not join us here to enjoy over 4 hours of video tutorial classes on car photography Tim Wallace – Kelby Training Instructor

2013 Seminar Events with photographer Tim Wallace
Check out our events booking page and our main seminar page here at AmbientLife

Elinchrom Launch Featured Portfolios

Elinchrom is a worldwide lighting based company and brand with it headquarters based in Switzerland overlooking Lake Geneva. Elinchrom has been at the forefront of photographic lighting technology since the earliest days of studio flash manufacture with its products being used by the world’s leading photographers and this week they launched two new featured galleries of the work of commercial car photographer Tim Wallace of AmbientLife.

The two new featured portfolio’s can be viewed at the main Elinchrom website here or by visiting http://www.elinchrom.com

Morgan – Gotham City…

The Morgan Motor Company is quite possibly England’s last great independent Motor Manufacturer.

We were approached several years ago by Morgan to shoot several of their superb models for new brochure designs, including the Aero 8, SuperSport and the prototype EvaGT.

Ambient Life photographer Tim Wallace spent time working with Morgan to produce the work for mainly for use within their brochures and web presence however some of the work is planned to be used in the main Morgan area at the various international Motor Shows such as the recent Geneva show. It is at this time that manufacturers traditionally launch new models and demonstrate their prototypes for the future.

Hasselblad Pro Gallery

Hasselblad recently launched a series of online pro photographer galleries featuring some of the professional work of those photographers working with the Hasselblad system within the industry.

This week our own dedicated page on the Hasselblad website was updated to showcase the recent work of Ambient Life photographer Tim Wallace.

Tim -”The new online portfolio area that Hasselblad have built is a great collection of some of the finest photographers in the World today and I have to say that I do indeed feel very honoured to have my own work featured within it. I have been working in the Hasselblad high end medium format for a few years now and like many professionals I’m constantly aware of the need to strive for the highest quality possible as well as developing new imagery that can really wow my clients, Hasselblad systems give the ability to concentrate on the ‘creative’ aspects and not have to worry about output quality as I know that it’s always going to be at a consistently high level for both myself and my client.
Next month we start that first of our ‘Live Shoot’ seminars and we will be kicking off at the Land Rover plant in Birmingham with a very large two day event that promises to be very exciting and challenging. We will be fully supported at the event from Hasselblad and it will give our attendees an opportunity to shoot with the new H4 system and see for themselves in a live environment why so many professionals like myself choose Hasselblad for all round stability and precision.”

FOCUS on Imaging UK with AmbientLife

FOCUS ON IMAGING is Europe’s biggest annual imaging show, covering all aspects of photography from image capture through to output and beyond. Aimed mainly at the professional image maker and processor, as well as buyers of image making equipment and materials, the top manufacturers from around the World display their latest equipment and developments and this year UK commercial car photographer Tim Wallace has work on display from 3 of the very best, Nikon UK, Profoto Sweden and Epson UK at the show.

Tim -”It’s always great to have our work displayed at an event of this scale and notoriety, over recent years we have seen an increased interest in the work and photography that we create for our European and US based clients from the manufacturers and suppliers themselves which I personally feel is a real credit to the AmbientLife and the people that we work with each year that help us do what we do best, ‘inspire’ through quality photography. In the first few months of 2013 we have been working with Profoto in Sweden to record 4 distinct videos that talk about our work and our approach and are due to be launched globally on April 1st this year. We have also been working with Nikon UK to supply inspirational car photography that they have used across differing marketing campaigns such as the recent Nikon FX brochures released early 2013 and work that is due to be launched in the coming month through the Nikon PRO magazine. We have also had a long standing relationship with Epson UK and as we have done previously at UK and International events with them, we are once again supplying work that they are displaying in their event area as well as using this for large format test print samples to demonstrate their excellence within the professional printing industry. Its a great honour to work with these companies and not only support their drive within the industry but also the industry as a whole.”

Some of our work at the 2013 Epson event within Focus

Nikon FX publication work

Profoto Sweden

Location scouting in Switzerland

This week saw the team in the beautiful mountains and valleys of Switzerland as we worked too seek out fresh new locations within this dramatic landscape. Unlike some car photographers who find themselves based largely in studios for their shoots AmbientLife photographer Tim Wallace has always worked hard to try and stay in the ‘environment’ believing that this is truly where a car belongs rather than in a clinical white box.

Tim – “A lot of commercial work these days can find itself heavily in debt to CGI and composite work and techniques. With a ever changing industry and client demands to seek out ever more inspirational imagery for their campaigns its a tough role these days at times however I do still strongly believe that nothing can quite match the ‘real world’ and as such we invest time on a regular basis to seek out new locations, wether that be for a stills shoot itself or to capture an area for later ‘composite’ work where logistically its not possible to get a client vehicle in that chosen scene. I think its important to shoot as close as possible to the actual scene and get the very best from it that you can, I read recently that all car photographers are basically frustrated landscape photographers…lol, not sure about that but I guess I do both in many ways as I shoot some of the Worlds most intoxicating landscapes from San Francisco to The Alps of Switzerland, the only difference is that I will include a car in that scene and use it to build what I hope will be a image that sell the emotion of the car I am working with and the dream so to speak of its ownership, its really a case of creating an image that the viewer looks at and says, ‘wow I want to be in that car right there’, that’s what a good emotional commercial image has the power to do. The Alps and valleys of Switzerland are among one of my favourite places to shoot not least simply due to the sheer scale of the landscapes there, truly breath taking on many occasions and this week we have been looking at different new area’s to work in from Les Diablerets to Montreux in the south. I look forward to returning there in a few months again when the whole landscape will change again as we see spring make an appearance.”