cars & landscape photography + motion Jan 2015

Charlie Mainardi is a car photographer and commercial director based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has a degree in architecture and has worked for almost every car brand for more than three decades in Argentina and around the world.  He has worked in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and North and South America.

Charlie has received all kind of national and international awards such as Cannes Lions, Clios and at Fiap for his work as a photographer and director. He is also a consultant for many magazines and agencies and has produced two feature films and worked as director for the action unit in a third highly-acclaimed film in Argentina about car races.

Charlie is now working for Movil, a car magazine and in different campaigns for local car brands. He is represented in Chile, Colombia, Miami, Spain and Mexico.

Based in Sydney, Easton Chang is two time Australian Advertising Photographer of the Year through with his portfolio of advertising car photography. His recent list of clients include Cadillac, Mazda, Ford, Hugo Boss, Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Audi, Hyundai and Porsche, among many other commercial, PR and editorial projects across Australia.

With over one million followers of his work on Facebook, Easton’s work and style has become incredibly viral and prominent in the social media community.

A busy 2014 wrapped up with the launch of the new Lexus LF-C2 Concept global campaign photographed by Eric Micotto.

Eric was born in California and raised in New York where he began his career in still life photography, photographing predominantly fashion still life for brands including Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein and Tahari.

He relocated to Tokyo, Japan in 2009 where he continues to work with his team shooting automotive, still life, and fashion/portraiture for clients including Lexus, McLaren, Vogue, Bang & Olufsen and Hasselblad.

Eric brings an edge to his automotive work with qualities from his background in still life, fashion and portraiture - delivering images that inspire emotion and are anything but sterile.

While based in Tokyo, his range of work from ads, to car reveals, to social media campaigns take him all around the world, from the biggest studios in Tokyo, to the beaten tracks of Nurburgring, all the way to sunny LA.

*Bilingual in English and Japanese
*バイリンガル（英語＆日本語）

Born in Japan, Isamu Sawa (or ‘Issey’ to his friends) immigrated to Australia in 1982 and began his professional photography career in 1996. Based in Melbourne, he is one of Australia’s most in-demand advertising photographers, specialising in cars and having shot numerous national campaigns for clients including GM Holden, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, BMW, Mini, Toyota and Mitsubishi. His other commercial clients include Jack Daniel’s, Lindeman's, Penfolds, Domaine Chandon, Harrolds and more.

As a major career highlight, in 2014 Issey was commissioned to photograph a one-off Mercedes-Benz SL-Class along with French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier, who designed the unique vehicle with his signature blue stripes as part of his exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

Issey is represented by one of Australia’s leading creative management agencies Hart & Co. and together can provide full in-house production services.

All his life Ken Brown has loved cars.

Always technical, and before the Internet provided instructions, teenage Ken dismantled the rear end of his Jeep just to see how the gears were put together... twice.

After graduating from film school, Ken picked up photography which took him to NYC where he worked on shoots for the world’s biggest fashion brands. Later he combined what he saw in fashion to his own technical work, shooting cars while working in the art department of a classic car museum.

Now, Ken is an award-winning car, still life, and landscape photographer in SF.

Lou D'Angelo is a specialist automotive and advertising photographer. Previously based in Milan and London, he now calls Melbourne home.

Renowed for his cinematric approach to lighting and composition, Lou has attracted an impressive porftolio of clients including Audi, Honda, BMW, Nissan, Holden, Mercedes-Benz, VW, Mahindra and Blackmagic Design, to name a few.

Follow D'Angelo on Instagram for all his latest commissioned and personal work. He is represented in Australia by Coco Productions and in India by Nimax Films.

Mark Bramley finished a successful 2014 by winning the Car Advertising category of the International Photography Awards. The stunning images were commissioned by Eagle Cars UK for its exclusive Low Drag E-Type car. The shoot was staged in a decommissioned jet testing facility outside of London.

Other notable shoots that Mark has just completed include the new Aston Martin Lagonda campaign, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Mercedes UK, Bugatti Automobiles as well global campaigns for Princess Yachts.

2015 is already off to a flying start with further commissions from Aston Martin and Hyundai.

Mark is represented in the UK by the Miss Jones Agency.

Migs is a specialist in automotive imaging and is one of the few commercial artists who can combine the best qualities of photography and CGI. He has ventured to some of the furthest corners of the world in search of striking imagery for prestigious clients such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Lamborghini. 2014 added new clients such as Audi India, Skoda, Shanghai General Motors, and most recently, Tesla Motors Global.

Ad agencies include JWT, Y&R, BBDO, Havas, Grip Limited, and McCann. When he is not working on advertising commissions, Migs is also found shooting for editorials. He also finds time to focus on personal projects shot in Iceland, the UAE, and different parts of Asia. Originally from Toronto, he is now based in Hong Kong.

Migs' awards include 11 placements in the One Eyeland 2014 'Best of the Best Photographers', as well as being a consistent finalist in the famed Hasselblad Masters, plus other awards from Applied Arts and CAPIC.

Peter Burgstaller is a Viennese-based advertising photographer who works worldwide. His goal is not to have the biggest CGI-backplate archive, but rather to work to the philosophy that it is more about the quality and uniqueness of the shots.

Peter's experience as a car and motorcycle photograher allows him to create outstanding high-end backgrounds from around the world. Proving the quality of his work, he created the third CGI image featured in this Spotlight together with recom, one of the leading post-production and CGI companies.

Clients include BMW Motorcycles, Porsche, Volkswagen, Telekom, Austrian Tourism and Unicredit Leasing.

"As a professional photographer, I’ve been taking pictures for a very long time now, (over 20 years in fact), and have split a large chunk of those years living and working in Canada, the USA and Australia. As a result, I have come to know a thing or two about this industry and can offer a uniquely global perspective. And some pretty cool accounts have used my images along the way, including Mercedes-Benz Canada, Mercedes-Benz USA, Volkswagen USA, Lexus, General Motors, Volvo, Subaru, Peugeot and Peterbilt Trucks.

"The global village allows me to collaborate with amazingly talented colleagues and digital artisans from around the globe, with whom I have met and come to know. Together we can bring just about anything you can imagine to life.

"We do our very best to create outstanding visual content and achieve results that are sensitive and responsive to the needs of our clients. We strive to provide them with outstanding quality and value. These aren’t just words we put here to impress prospects, but an ethic we live by - because first and foremost we are all artists, and as artists, we are always seeking opportunities to make outrageously good work. Just because..."

Los Angeles based automotive photographer Richard Thompson III draws on a life-long love of cars to create high energy, atmospheric imagery for his clients. Trained at the Savannah College of Art and Design, his background combines elements of film, photography, and visual effects with a genuine passion for all things automotive. Raised in a family of car lovers, early experience in the racing world enables Richard to shape photographs bearing the essence and character of each car.

2014 was a very busy year for Richard, creating imagery for clients including Bentley Motors, BMW, Chevrolet, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Pagani Automobili.

Scott Gilbert had a busy fall completing a series of images and TV commercials for the Maserati Ghibli. Additionally he also completed a series of shoots for Providence Hospital Systems, as well as a portfolio of images for Heico Aerospace.

Scott is currently in China directing a mini movie for the BMW X1.

More of his latest work can be seen at his website.

Sean Klingelhoefer closed out 2014 with strong campaigns for Cadillac’s latest Escalade and Lexus’ all-new NX F-Sport. In addition to his work on the Escalade, Sean was commissioned to shoot a series for Cadillac Magazine on the ELR Luxury Plug-in Hybrid.

The highlight of the holiday season was a personal series about professional rally driver and Internet legend Ken Block and his latest creation – a custom built 845hp Mustang.

The incredible vehicle dubbed the “Hoonicorn” is the star of Block’s latest viral film
Gymkhana 7, which had been viewed over 20 million times at the time of press. The series was subsequently picked up as a special feature in Japan’s popular Motorhead magazine

Hamburg-based transportation photographer Thomas Motta has shot images of the Volvo range in the beautiful winter landscapes of North Sweden. Thomas has also been shooting images for a Blohm + Voss book on shipyards.

Recently, Skoda invited Thomas to shoot a catalogue in Monte Carlo. Images can be seen after the car presentation at the Geneva Motor Show 2015.

Recent clients include Volvo, Skoda, Ferrari, Blohm+Voss.

Visit his website for more examples of his work.

Thomas and his team (Michael Compensis, Max von Eicken, Luise Aedner and Jesse Posch for Postproduction) produced all of the studio shots for the new BMW 1 out of the Munich Sirius Studio last autumn (Agency: Serviceplan Hamburg).

After that, Thomas and his team went on location to do some personal work, developing a technic to integrate typography or pictures into a photo directly.

Here are the first results from these new tools!

"I've been working in the industry for the past 21 years and have had the fantastic opportunity of working with some iconic brands, including Landrover, Jaguar and Bentley.

"2014 was a great year, and I think the best so far with a wide range of work shooting Sir Ben Kinglsey, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Strong for the Jaguar campaign in the UK and then spending the rest of the year shooting in the studio, Vancouver, Chile, LA, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. We rounded off the year with a great job for Bentley in Miami (images to follow soon).

"The Triggershoots Team are also set up with two optocopters and are fully licensed for any job in any location and can shoot anything from stills to motion. Keep an eye on the site."

Vasco Estrelado is a professional photographer who has found his vocation in photography. A self-trained artist with a strong level of dedication and online training with the biggest names in the industry, Vasco is based in Lisbon from where he delivers a full service, from pre- to post-prodution across various specialties.

His expertise is in automotive photography and environmental portraits, but Vasco also works across real estate and commercial photography. His images have featured in Portugal's leading car magazine Revista Turbo as well as with private clients.

"Dragone Classic Motorcars and Dragone Auctions has used many photographers in the US and Europe, but Vasco has done some of the best automobile photos for our auction catalogue that we have ever seen." Manny Dragone, Dragone Classic Motocars, USA.