Cars & Couture

Cars & Couture 2014 Car Owners Gathering Event at Dimmitt Automotive Group Pinellas Park Florida

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McLaren 650S in black at Dimmitt Automotive Florida during Cars & Couture Car Owners Gathering event - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI was invited to an event at Dimmitt Automotive in Pinellas Park, Florida for a special Car Owners Gathering thanks to Dona who organizes many great car events under her Cars & Couture brand.  I brought along eldest friend Terry to help out with some of the photography.  As you can see from the above photograph, Dimmitt is a MacLaren dealership.  There were several Mclaren 650S supercars in the showroom.  It was my first time to see this update to the McLaren MP4-12C in person.  The 650S is a much more striking looking sports car in person than the 12C, mostly thanks to a new front fascia inspired by the McLaren P1 hypercar.

Guests at Cars & Couture Dimmitt Automotive stand next to a MacLaren 650S in black Clearwater Car Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 in shoot-through-umbrella to frame rightOften there is not much space to photograph cars at such events, but there was a black McLaren 650S kind of off by itself in a separate area of the showroom.  This allowed me to setup two speedlights and shoot through umbrellas and not only photograph the car itself in great detail (subject of an upcoming blog post), but also to invite guests over to be properly photographed next to the supercar.

The new MacLaren 650S supercar in yellow at Dimmitt Automotive during Cars & Couture event - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRIf you happen to prefer yellow, there was also a McLaren 650S in that color looking right out the front windows inviting you to come in and put a deposit down on her!  We got there early to be able to photograph the cars before there were too many people mingling about..

Yours truly with my friend Terry who assisted with the shots at Cars & Couture Car Owners Gathering 2014 Dimmitt Automotive - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 in shoot through umbrellasFor the last shot of the evening, Terry and I stepped out from behind the camera and the lights for a self-portrait with the black McLaren 650S.  It took a little configuring using the self-timer to position myself symmetrically after pressing the shutter, but I am glad we made the effort to get ourselves both in the shot and add another photo to our scrapbook that now spans almost three decades.

Guests wanted to pose with the MacLaren 650S at Cars & Couture Dimmitt Automotive Clearwater Event Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 in shoot through umbrella to frame rightOne last shot to show how well the McLaren 650S photographs, especially when bookended by willing volunteer models!  Thank you Dona for another great car event and to Terry for assisting in the making of these photographs.

Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa International Jet Center Florida

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Cars & Couture 2013 new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-esposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseFor the second year in a row I was given a media pass (thanks Dona) to Cars & Couture 2013 at the Tampa International Jet Center.  It is a charity event featuring supercars, models and private jets.  This time there was only one car I had not seen before, the brand new C7 Corvette Stingray (I have more photos just featuring that Corvette coming).  

Inside Cars & Couture 2013 at the Tampa Jet Center with Lamborghini Gallardo Spider - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThe light was not as good as last year, especially inside the hangar, which meant it did not take long for me to shoot the event.   

Private jets & supercars were featured at Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa Event Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI did talk to a representative from ExecuJet and may soon be photographing their line of private jets.  It would be a great opportunity to photograph a new subject matter.  The jet center at sunset time provides a great backdrop too.

Ferrari 458 Spider in the foreground of Cars & Couture 2013 Tampa Event Photographer - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThere was no formal Ferrari presence this year, just three total, and they were all the exact same model, the 458 Spider!  That has long been my favorite car actually, but seeing three together almost made it seem common in my eyes!  Subsequently, I am now all about the Lexus LFA!

McLaren MP4-12C stylized HDR profile view Tampa Car Photography

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McLaren MP4-12C photographed in Tampa Florida on digital background - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR

Back in October I received a media pass to the Cars & Couture event in Tampa where I had the opportunity to photograph the event as a whole, and some supercars in particular like the above McLaren MP4-12C.  As is usually the case at car shows, all of them were parked pretty close to each other and there were people and other objects around in the background.  To focus just on the car I try to compose a view minimizing the background, and in this case, just remove the background altogether.  

The actual background of the McLaren MP4-12C shot from Cars & Couture event in TampaCoincidentally, I think I saw this McLaren parked in a neighbor's driveway just this past weekend!

Cars & Couture 2012 Tampa International Jet Center

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Ferrari 458 Italia & Ferrari FF at Cars & Couture 2012 event in Tampa - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable release

  • If I took your photograph at this event, CONTACT ME for your portrait!

I was given a media pass to the Cars & Couture 2012 event at the Tampa International Jet Center that was held to benefit the charity Autism Speaks.  Being an avid supercar fan, I was very excited to have the opportunity to photograph some of my favorite cars in a cool setting.  In the above photo, you can see my absolute current favorite car, the Ferrari 458 Italia on the left.  This was also my first chance to get to see the new Ferrari FF (on the right) in person.  I thought the FF looked smaller than I thought it would being a 4-seater with ample cargo space.  

An Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione looks out over the Tampa International Jet Center airfield - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable release

I arrived at 6pm as the sun was getting low in the sky allowing me to catch some of the sunset mixed with the hangar location of the event as seen in the above shot of a very rare Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.  I like the design of this Alpha quite a lot.  It was given the best spot, perhaps because it arrived late!

Cars & Couture 2012 in Tampa featured private jets too! - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI must say that an airplane hangar makes a great venue for showcasing cars and allowing guests to have both an indoor and outdoor experience, especially when there is a big view of the Florida sky at dusk as a backdrop.  It was a little hot inside the hangar though as even this late into October Florida refuses to acknowledge that it is in fact autumn.

NASCAR was even represented at Cars & Couture 2012 in Tampa! - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseI had a great time at this event and am very thankful I was given a press pass.  My supercar itch, is for the moment, somewhat scratched!