10 unusual lifestyle photos of cars from a British photographer
Tom Koehler is a British freelance photographer specializing in automotive and lifestyle photography. He has already worked with Aston Martin, Bentley, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Lamborghini. With the ability to film and produce projects large and small, Tom brings clients' ideas (and his own) to life in his own unique style. And with the Russian Photo magazine, Koehler shared what is really needed for cooperation with large companies for an advertising photographer.
Shooting for automotive brands is a responsible task, it is important to demonstrate the car to the audience, “fitting” it into the right surrounding context, which would emphasize the advantages of the car and not distract from the subject. Subaru, for example, Tom shoots in cloudy weather on the ice, Land Rover on the black beach (volcanic sand), and Lambo on the sunny roads of Sardinia.
The photographer uses photographic techniques such as panning, color as a compositional tool, the golden ratio, and others. The image seems concise, simple, but stylish – this is what the author achieves.
A car is a symbol of movement, travel, speed, so it is important to shoot a metal hero as a tasty morsel. To do this, you need to control everything: from the cleanliness of tires, body and interior to the reliability of the rig (pipe), with the help of which shooting has already become fashionable. By the way, Tom himself also loves to travel, move, search for new locations. His favorite friend is the Volkswagen T5.
“We covered 1,500 miles last week, now we are on the coast of Italy… Can't wait to get back on the road… Our T5 was awesome this weekend: 710 miles in 4 days,” says Tom in various Instagram posts.
In 2020, the Briton spent 119 days traveling – this is a third of the year. And this is a fairly comfortable mode for Tom: he likes to spend part of the time in his office, where he works with images, plans other projects, and also creates such a feature for the audience as presets that allow you to make cool portraits of cars.
“Some of my travels were for work, and some were on my own initiative,” says Tom.
On his channel, Koehler advises subscribers on how to find clients and travel for free. You can go to the customer and sell him your idea, arrange the so-called pitching. The most important thing is to have the same “charged” portfolio as Lambo. The second point is the website. The photographer must have a set of worthy works for presentation to the customer and must demonstrate them favorably.
“Even if ten brands say no, keep going,” Tom insists.
The photographer himself remained creative even in isolation: he built a studio in the garage, shot a video for subscribers, showing how you can photograph a person with a minimum set of light. Now Tom is preparing for further projects and travels: 4×4 and go!
