Larry’s garage at the AMMO NYC headquarters is a palace of clean, and you never know what will show up. Still, when he called and said he had a Rimac Concept One coming in from Manhattan Motorcars, I was pretty surprised. It’s not every day you get to hang out with a hyper car of this caliber.
The Concept One is most famous for its crash on The Grand Tour with Richard Hammond at the wheel. Aside from that unfortunate claim to fame, it’s also one of the fastest cars you can buy, and it’s all electric.
There was just one rule. The car can’t move outside of the garage. How did I make it work?
No plan, all prep
Having shot in the garage multiple times before, I knew the confines I’d be up against. But the garage has that amazing wall of purple lights, and when combined with the beautiful blue of the Rimac Concept One, I knew I could achieve something special.
I waited until night fall to shoot this, as I knew I’d want to light paint. I then had Larry and Dan from Turn7 Auto Care break out the pressure washer to wet down both the car and floor. This took some time – the floor needed to look clean for everything to work. I then had the guys leave out the water gun for an experiment…
Spray me down
I’ve spoken before about photographer’s haze, and it works well. But, I forgot it, and I had access to that pressure washer. So I wondered if I could get a cool affect if I shot the car with the brake lights illuminating the water spray.
Alas, the water came out much to fast and atomized for the effect to work as I had envisioned. Still, it’s always worth a shot (literally) to try something new.
Short on time
Time constraints are always at the forefront of a shoot, and this one was no different. One quick shot of the interior, with all controls illuminated, was all I had time for after the exterior. My 6’1 frame could barely fit in the car, but it was awesome to “hear” the electric motor engage, and have the car lower itself on its suspension.
Still, I needed one final poster image. While shooting this one, I kept the foreground in mind – I wanted it illuminated so that the pools of water were clearly visible. Same equipment as always, which is to say a Westcott Ice Light and a Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm attached. Multiple exposures were combined in Photoshop for one seamless image.
What’s next on Larry’s list of exotic cars? I can’t wait to find out!
Special thanks to Larry, Dan and Manhattan Motorcars for providing the opportunity. This car is currently for sale as of this writing.
Commissions may be received for product links on this site, so help out if you can. I only write about products I use and believe in.
I use Nikon camera bodies and lenses, a Westcott Ice Light 2, Manfrotto tripod, B + W filters and an iMac Pro to make the art you see here.
Email me at mike@machineswithsouls.com with any questions.
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