I began my career in photography with the intent to photograph people. Be it celebrities, athletes, teachers, or construction workers, I have a genuine interest in the human form and human condition. From time to time I would get people that would ask if I would photograph their car, but I always maintained that I was a portrait photographer. This all changed when I was in college and a friend approached me and asked if I would photograph his car collection which included many exotic cars that most of us can only dream of seeing in person. I went into this shoot, not with the intention to make a bunch of money, but the intention to create some images that I could put on my wall. It just so happened that my early love of lighting and my fondness and knowledge of the car designs made for some great photos. It wasn’t long before my name and work caught the ear of clients and almost overnight I was, “Blair Bunting, car photographer.” While I didn’t mind this new found status, I still wanted to photograph the collections of some of my friends, not just because of the cars they had, but also because of the fun we had doing the shoots. However, time got pressed and I found little motivation to do any shooting when there wasn’t a budget (this is one of the biggest dangers of doing this for a living).
One evening this changed. I stopped my my friend’s hangar where he keeps his collection and we sat down for a glass of wine and to chat about Formula 1’s current stories. It just so happened that a large monsoon had rolled into the valley as I was beginning to leave, forcing me to stay for a bit. Whether it be out of boredom, devine influence, or maybe just the wine we decided to photograph one of the cars and wait for the storm to pass. The car we chose was a Ferrari 250 GTO.
Now everyone knows someone with an “expensive car”. Sometimes it’s a Porsche, a Mercedes, perhaps a Ferrari. However, most of us denote an expensive car to be around $250,000 (and rightfully so). Sadly this car’s value is over 100 times that (around $30,000,000.00 if not more). I have to admit that price is mind numbing, but when one views this as a piece of art with significant historical value, the price is a little more…. oh hell, it is still insane.
Very cool story. Yes, I can’ t even wrap my mind around that price. Especially for a car.
I love the soft lighting, fluent and even all the way through. This pushes me to progress more and more.
The first image..Two lights from the left and right?