Professional automotive photographer and talented retoucher Willie Botes’ vocation was birthed out of a lifelong passion for motorsports. In the span of his relatively new but undeniably impressive career, Willie has worked with legendary manufacturers such as McLaren, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, and even Pagani. We caught up with Willie ahead of our upcoming car photography workshop to dig into his industry insider insights into the most important things newbie car photographers should know about this genre of image-making and the gear that makes the creation of such extraordinary photographs possible.
If you want to see more of Willie’s utterly mind-blowing automotive photography and retouching work, you can check out his Instagram.
Orms: Tell us about the birth of your passion for automotive photography. When did you start shooting cars, and why?
Willie Botes: I have always had a passion for motorsport and used to race cars and bikes myself. Because of my love for cars and bikes, I started shooting videos and taking photos of my friends’ cars and bikes. It started as a hobby and just for Instagram 2018. A friend owned a studio and asked me to come and take images of a special bike he built. These images then went and made it into a local magazine and later abroad and I got offered money for the use of these images. I then realized if I can combine two of my passions (cars and photography) I can see myself pursuing it as a career. I got asked to shoot a couple of bikes and cars for various people but then the COVID pandemic hit and it all came to a standstill. I decided to use this time to improve my post-production skills as much as possible and learn from the best in the industry. In less than 3 years I have worked with brands like Rolls Royce, McLaren, Aston Martin and Pagani to name a few.
Orms: Do you have a favourite car that you have captured? If so, what is it, and why was it your favourite to photograph?
Willie Botes: When it comes to having a favourite car to shoot, one brand that really stands out is Pagani. Pagani motorcars are seen as automotive art pieces more than just supercars. They only build a few of them a year and they are unique in so many ways. The lines and shape of the car are like no other and the sheer detail in the build of the car is absolutely world-class. Everything in the car is hand-built and they use the most unique and expensive materials making every car one-of-a-kind. The car can be shot from every angle and has breathtaking details inside and out, making it unique to any other car. Currently, there are only 2 in South Africa and I have had the privilege to shoot both of them.
Orms: What are the 5 most important things new photographers need to know about this genre of photography before they get into it?
Willie Botes: These are my top pieces of advice…
- It’s all about lighting, shadows and reflections, so shooting at the right time of the day is important.
- Create images! Try to tell a story with your images instead of just taking a photo. Find your style, look and feel.
- Practice, practice, practice… shoot as much as possible whether it is a friend’s car or just cars out in public.
- Know your gear and invest in the right gear. Learn to use Photoshop if you want to take your images to another level.
- Find your style, look and feel if you want to be unique so get creative and create your own automotive art.
Orms: What gear is essential for automotive photography? What do you have in your kit bag?
Willie Botes: I agree with the saying that gear is not everything. For example, I have a friend that’s an international photographer who uses old cameras and sometimes his phone to shoot images, it’s for his own creative style, look and feel. In saying that if you want to shoot commercial quality images (whether it’s for yourself or for a portfolio) you need to use the right equipment.
I personally use a Sony A7R IV. The reason for using a Sony in my opinion is because it’s really easy to operate, had amazing dynamic light capabilities for pulling info out of the shadows, and for the megapixel size the camera offers.
When it comes to lenses I use a Sony 24mm – 105mm F4 for 90% of my work and a Sony 55mm F1.8 for detail work. Both lenses are very affordable and give amazing quality images. On the odd occasion, I use a 70mm-200mm F2.8 for a different look and feel to the images when it comes to compression in the images and to get a bit creative.
I also make use of drones on occasions to get another perspective and angle. It is absolutely vital to have a quality tripod for long exposures in low light conditions, HDR or bracketing and for composition work. A remote trigger is also essential or you can use Sony’s app for remote firing when light painting. And then the most important piece of extra equipment is a polarising filter if you are trying to get flare and reflections out of your images or get them to a minimum for cleaning up in post-production.
Automotive photography is truly so much fun and will take you to the most exciting and beautiful places in the world, and you do it in amazing cars.
