Jaguar

Crown Jaguar F-Type Client Event at Dali Museum St Petersburg Florida Photography

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Guests arrive to pose in front of the new Jaguar F-Type at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg event photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg was host to an event put on by Crown Jaguar for guests to come and see some of its cars, including the stunning new Jaguar F-Type Coupe (see above).   This was my second time working for Crown, as I photographed the Audi A3 premiere event back in April too.  This time they hired me to photograph all the guests as they arrived in front of a F-Type.  This was my first time doing this kind of arrival portrait photography actually.  The shooting began just before sunset so early arriving guests got a colorful background like in the above portrait.  Soon night came and the background became just a few distant lights.

My setup for making guest arrival portraits a speedlight in each broody and my camera tripod mounted so I got the exact same framing and background for each shot - photo made by iPhone 6

This was my setup for all the portraits.  My camera was on a tripod so every shot was in the same framing.  I advised people to stand in front of the front wheel of the Jaguar F-Type Coupe to further insure similar photo results.  I had two speedlights each in a brolly and kept the one to frame left constant, but as night fell moved the one to frame right to also light the car more.  Unfortunately, the provided lighting for the car was not very bright at all.  I compensated for that by moving one speedlight and tweaking a few camera settings.  I ended up pleased with the results of night portraits using just two speedlights with a large background object (the car).  

Some guests at the Crown Jaguar F-Type Dali Museum event arrived in costume - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60th - tripod mounted with cable release - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

Some guests wore costumes as Halloween was just three days away.  It was interesting to look up and see who might appear before my lense each shot.  Many people joked asking if this photo was their opportunity to win the car or something like that.  I only ever replied simply, "umm, no."  

From dusk to night shooting guests arriving in front of the Jaguar F-Type at the Dali Museum St. Petersburg Event Photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/30th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

The Jaguar F-Type Coupe received universal praise for its looks by everyone.  As of the time of shooting, Crown Jaguar did have this particular F-Type for sale!  

The Jaguar F-Type coupe made for a stunning backdrop for portraits at the Crown Jaguar Dali Museum in St. Petersburg - event photography - Nikon D300 tripod mounted with cable release Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 320 1/60th - Strobist: SB-800 & SB-600 both in brolly

It was a fun and challenging evening of photography, my favorite kind, and I got to stare at a beautiful car the whole time too.  Two Crown Jaguar employees helped make sure each guest would receive their print of the photos I made by writing down the photo number as I shot, thank you ladies!

1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III V-12 Convertible Tampa Car Photography

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1974 Jaguar E-Type Series V-12 Convertible photographed for RM Auction in Tampa - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/200th tripod mounted with cable releaseIn June I was hired by RM Auctions to photograph a 1974 Jaguar E-type Series III V-12 Convertible.  I was not allowed to publish any of the photographs I made of the car until it went to auction.  I was happy to see that it sold for $82,500!

The interior of a 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III V-12 Convertible in Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/40th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly above car & SB-600 in car facing dashboard

I was given a shotlist by RM Auctions of exactly the exterior angles that wanted photographs of.  However, with the interior I had a little more freedom for choosing details to highlight along with the required engine and ID plate shots.  Thankfully the car was in an air conditioned room to start with as I had to photograph the Jaguar around 1pm in the afternoon on a hot Florida Saturday afternoon.  

The V-12 engine of a 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III Convertible in Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly above frame left & SB-600 under the right wheel housePhotographing an engine with lighting just from above, no matter how powerful, was not enough to bring out all of its details.  So I placed one speedlight right on the floor under the engine (beside the tire).  Again, it was nice to be in a climate controlled room as I worked out the best lighting setup.

Profile view of 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III Convertible in Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160thMoving the car outside for the exterior shots of course very quickly became hot work, especially since the car was not in running condition and needed to be pushed.  Plus, there was a very finite amount of space to use so I could not simply just walk around the car in a 360 getting the angles RM Auctions requested.  For each shot the car had to be pushed around again, and the top taken up and then down.  

Steering wheel of 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III V-12 Convertible Tampa Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly above right & SB-600 in passenger footwellI used three different lenses to photograph the Jaguar.  For this detail shot of the steering wheel, I put on my Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens to go for maximum detail and very shallow depth of field.  This was one of the shots where I had a choice on which interior features to highlight.

Trunk emblem of Jaguar E-Type V12 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in brolly to frame rightIt was exciting to work for a high profile client like RM Auctions, whom I have seen featured on car shows I watch regularly like Chasing Classic Cars.  There is not much I like to photograph more than a great car.  I hope they have more cars in the Tampa Bay area for me to photograph for their next auction.