As part of a recent sales effort I mailed out almost 1500 advertising mailers to Michigan and U.S. based companies that have automotive interests.
If you are visiting because of the mailer you recieved, please leave me a post and let me know what you think about the mailers or my web site.
Or if you are really impressed, you can hire me to shoot a job for you!!!
Thank you for visiting,
David Freers
Here is brief recap from 2009 until the present. 2009 of course was very difficult for anyone in Michigan, especially people who rely on the auto industry for their lively hood.
Lots of photographers and studios in the Detroit, MI area did not make it, or choose to try something else. I will be honest, I started to explore other options myself after GM and Chrysler went through bankruptcy. But, somehow I made it through the very slow summer and fall of 2009. There was very little automotive photography work, if any.
September 2009 finally brought a break in the drought. I was called to work for Ford Motor Company shooting their new 6.2 Liter engine. Later that month Ford called again I shot the new F 350 pickup truck in the studio.
October 2009 Ford hired me again to shoot a new technology called Noise Vision. This was very interesting technology because it allowed the use of multiple cameras and computer technology to actually see where the outside wind noise comes from. This took place in Ford’s wind tunnel facility. When the test was done there was a photo record of the entire interior of the car and where the noise was the worst. October also brought a great opportunity from Motor Trend magazine; I photographed and helped to test the Lamborghini Balboni with Frank Markus, technical director for Motor Trend. We did all the usual shots for Motor Trend, including car to car and rig shots. A rig shot is where I mount the camera to the car and shoot slow exposures to capture a photograph that creates a sensation of great speed.
November 2009 was a very busy month. For Ford I shot the new 5.0 Liter engine in a Red GT Mustang. John Bailey and Associates hired me to shoot for Dupont. We photographed several cars for a paint study. Then things got really interesting. Ford wanted me to shoot the new Fiesta. There was only one of these cars in the country and they wanted to be sure no one saw it or photographed it. The solution was to shoot at night. We rented an outdoor shopping mall that had store-lined streets and closed it from 11PM until 6 AM. An all night shoot is never fun, but we had nice weather (for November in Michigan) and got very good results. Later in the month I invested some time and money to shoot some “sample” images for my own use. I also post these images to my stock photography company Transtock. Check it out at www.transtock.com If I am lucky I can make a few dollars selling my images as stock photography to anyone who might need an existing image. The cars that I photographed were; a new BMW Z4, Mercedes 300C, 2010 Taurus Limited, and 2010 Mustang.
December 2009 was no holiday. I was very busy shooting the new 2011 Lincoln MKX for Ford Motor Company in their Dearborn, Michigan studio at World Headquarters. Later in the month Hot Rod Magazine hired me to shoot a story about Ford’s new 5.0 Liter engine. We shot the engine in parts and fully assembled, and then we shot portraits of all the engineers who worked on the engine. Very interesting shoot. John Bailey and Associates hired me to shoot an event put on by ORAM Sylvania. It was at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Top Detroit big three designers did judging, and awards were presented to the students who produced the best designs for vehicle lighting.
Ford Motor Company need more photographs of their 5.0 Liter engine, so I shot some specific parts and finished with a show engine on a stand. Hot Rod called again in December to shoot a very interesting vehicle. They had me shoot a 1934 Ford with a brand new EcoBoost engine for a power plant. Old meets new!! The month ended with more Ford work. I shot a new technology called sound tagging. This allows the customer to tag a song they hear on the radio, then later at home they go to itunes and the tagged songs are waiting to be downloaded. Pretty cool.
January 2010 kept the momentum going. GM offered Motor Trend Magazine an opportunity to shoot their 4 concept cars to be unveiled at the North American Auto Show the next week. I got to shoot the Cadillac CTS-V, Chevy Aveo Concept, Buick Regal GS Concept and a Denali production vehicle. After that the 2010 North American Auto Show began. I was hired as the official show photographer and I hired two other photographers to cover all aspects of the show. Roy Feldman helped me cover all of the press conference “reveals” of the new cars. My other photographer Vaughn Gurganian covered the chairmen and committee member’s activities during the week, and there was lots to shoot… for all of us. After the week was done and the show was closed and cleaned up I counted over 8, 000 images we shot during the show. Have a look at our work at www.naias.com. Ford needed my services again in January to shoot the new Shelby GT Mustang, this was in the studio, as the weather outside was very snowy. One more Ford shoot in January was of the Transit Connect vehicle. A white one was shot to be retouched for a new version in 2011. Finally, the last assignment in January was a very cool one. I shot for Motor Trend Classic, Yes; Motor Trend is bringing it back!! Great news and a sure sign the economy is recovering. For the re-launch of the magazine I shot 4 classic Dodge vipers. The original concept vehicle, the #11 production vehicle off the line, a test mule vehicle called VM-01 and finally a GTS Coupe Prototype. A two-day studio shoot with smoke and fog machines, special effect and more rig shots! Very cool.
I was very happy with what we accomplished in two days. I need to thank my crew. Lowell, Pete and Jim did a great job and endured some very long hours including a 16-hour day. The last big event for January was the launch of my new web site. Please have a look at www.freersphotography.com. I am very happy with it, but comments are always welcome. My old web site www.davidfreersphotography.com is now down, but all traffic will be linked directly to the new site.
February 2010 started with a little time off. I used the first week to help drive my parents to Florida and spend a couple days in the sun. The sun was a no show and I watched it rain for two days, but it was good to spend time with my parents. As I am writing this I got a call form Ford, I will be shooting a Transit Connect Taxi Cab version for them at a very posh local hotel in Rochester Michigan….The Royal Park Hotel. This will be shot tomorrow; I will post the results for the shoot in my next blog.
Stay tuned…….
This is it, my first Blog entry.
Now What?
More to come, after I figure this out.
Dave