Be it for your photo album, the Instagram community or simply because it’s fun: photographing your car is part and parcel of being a petrolhead. But it’s not always as easy as it looks. Despite sophisticated technology and modern software, the final picture is often not the one you had in mind when you pressed the shutter release. Photographer and BMW M connoisseur Frederick Unflath has been a fan of fast cars and perfect camera angles since childhood. He tells us what it is about cars that fascinates him and gives some tips about how to get the most from your photos.
How did you come to specialize in photographing cars?
That began early on. I grew up with cars, thanks to my father who works at ABT Sportsline. I actually started with film rather than photography. We were a small freestyle ski crew and I started shooting our days in the mountains to make little films for the Internet. Later on I trained as a graphic designer and after a few stops along the way, including studying business administration, I came to photography through my work at BMW M.
Cars trigger emotions. I see them as works of art.
One of your favourite shoots?
The BMW M5 LCI, the current facelift of the M5 in the daylight studio. That was spontaneous, it was really meant for my private portfolio. INMOTION Studios asked me if I’d like to try out their studio after a visit.
You shouldn’t bury your creativity in classic camera angles. At the end of the day, it’s also about how you want to interpret the vehicle.
What about paintwork reflections: What should one look out for here?
They’re often made out to be worse than they are. But if the reflection masks an important detail or destroys the optical form, you should think about positioning the car differently.
Bothersome reflections on paintwork, how do you get rid of them? On location with a polarizing filter for example or later on with editing software?
A mix of both. The polarizing filter can make editing much easier afterwards. And Photoshop of course has that great Clone Stamp tool - a lot of fun!
So we could say: petrolhead yes, adrenalin junkie no?
Yes, you could say that, but of course 100 km/h in an open boot can also be pretty exciting. I love cars, but I always see the design first and then the performance and the technology behind it.
Use the camera you feel most comfortable with.
How would you describe your style?
Graphic, colourful, moody. But I also love black and white. Generally speaking, playing with shadows is my thing. I like both hard and soft shading. Depending on the atmosphere I want the pictures to have.
Trend question: portrait or landscape?
As we say in German: Fährst du quer, siehst du mehr, which more or less means landscape will give you more to look at. For what I do, the good old landscape format is better and I’m better at it too.
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