Do you want to know how I photographed this Bristol 404 at Worsley Old Hall? Yes. Same here - Welcome to how I photographed this Bristol 404 for Hampson Auctions.
Hampson Auctions
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Before I Photographed This Bristol 404
In early December, I got asked, "could photograph a client's Bristol 404 potentially for the upcoming Hampson Auctions sale in February?" I said, "sure?"
Then Laurel emailed me, "roughly what's your rate for the Bristol 404 shoot after the winter holidays?" I replied, "here are my rough estimates for videography and photography for the Bristol 404 shoot".
A few weeks later, Laurel messaged me, "The owner of the Bristol 404's (Geoff's) is on holiday, so could we schedule the photoshoot around early February. Please can you give some provisional dates for the shoot?"
I replied to Laurel, "I'm able to photograph the Bristol 404 from February 1st to February 8th. Please let me know if we need to get shots of the Bristol 404's service history to provide authenticity to the car?"
Laurel emailed me a briefing on photographing Geoff's Bristol 404 ready for the photoshoot in early February. "Here's what we'd like for the catalogue":
Exterior shots of the Bristol 404
Interior shots of the Bristol 404
Detail shots of the Bristol 404. I.e. engine bay and speedometer.
Document images of the Bristol 404.
I replied to Laurel, stating, "thank you for providing me with a briefing for the Bristol 404 photoshoot in February!" Laurel gave me Geoff's phone number and email address to arrange logistics for the Bristol 404 shoot.
I watched the weather to do the Bristol 404 photoshoot on a sunny/overcast day. I asked Geoff, "could we do the Bristol 404 shoot on Wednesday at 10 AM at Worsley Old Hall?"
Geoff said, "could we do the Bristol 404 shoot this Wednesday at 10:30 AM. I'm doing some errands in the morning." I emailed Geoff back with, "excellent, can't wait to photograph your Bristol tomorrow".
Jonny and I charged the batteries for the Nikon D850, Sonny A9/A7III GoPro Hero10's and Ronin SC-Gimbal. Ready to photograph and film the Bristol 404 tomorrow.
How I Photographed This Bristol 404
Jonny and I arrived at Geoff's house around half 10. Jonny placed the Sony A9 onto the Edelkrone HeadPlus on the van to get some rolling footage of the van before we headed to Worsley Old Hall.
We said "hi" to Geoff and his partner. We headed off with Geoff and his partner, ready to Worsley Old Hall for the photoshoot. Exciting! Geoff Parked the Bristol 404 in a place with minimal distractions to get clean and consistent subject shots.
I started by a:
Side profile.
Front.
Front three quarter.
Rear
Rear three quarter.
After those shots, we had a van in the way, so we placed the Bristol 404 in a different location for another side profile, rear three quarter, and front three quarter.
Next, I got my flashes ready for interior shots of the Bristol 404 to highlight the details of the 404 and for consistent lighting.
I placed one of the flashes below the seat and got Jonny to hold the second flash in my driver's seat picture of the Bristol 404.
I took the camera off my tripod then switched my camera to manual mode for more control when getting a steering wheel shot of the Bristol 404. After that, I did a speedometer shot of the 404 with some subtle lighting from the flashguns.
I moved to the passenger seat for another angle of the speedometer shot of the Bristol 404. Then I did a passenger's seat perspective shot of the 404 for a first-person interior view.
I brought the tripod back for the front passenger seat perspective shots of the Bristol 404. So I can get more consistent shots of Geoff's 404.
After getting interior shots of the Bristol 404, I filmed the interior of the 404 for a cinematic walkthrough. Then I did some exterior establishing and detail scenes of the Bristol for a tour video of Geoff's car.
We placed the Sony A9 on the van for footage of the Bristol 404 driving home, ready for engine bay shots of the Bristol. Halfway back to Geoff's place, we had to swap the focus mode from manual to AF-C to focus on the Bristol.
When we arrived at Geoff's house, we opened the bonnet of Geoff's Bristol 404 to get engine bay shots of the Bristol with flashguns. Then, we got some specific engine detail shots of the Bristol for potential clients, and we finally got documentation pictures of the 404's service history.
How I Edited The Photos Of This Bristol 404
After getting all the required pictures of Geoff's Bristol 404, I imported the pictures onto my laptop to subtly enhance Lightroom Classic. Fantastic!
I had to balance vibrancy and draw the buyers attention to the Bristol 404. I also had a deadline to send Laurel the pictures of Geoff's Bristol 404 on the Hampson Auctions website.
I edited the pictures of Geoff's Bristol 404 while sorting out a place to eat on my Dad's Pixel. Who says multitasking doesn't exist?
Conclusion
How many days did it take me to take pictures of this Bristol 404? 90 Minutes. Nope. From sorting out logistics with Laurel and Geoff to prepping the Jonny and I's equipment, it took 60+ days to photograph this Bristol.
Outro
What's your favourite angle of this Bristol 404? Let me know in the comments below, and share my article on your social media channel/s if you've learnt about the car photoshoot process.