Sweat the details. Be patient. Keep your goals in mind. In order to capture an image in exactly the way you think is best, it’s almost never going to be an instant snap. Thought has to go into placement, light, configuration. Each image has the capacity to be a piece of art. I don’t have this level of patience or attention to detail for photography, and I genuinely believe it is what separates the hobbyist from the artist. I have been lucky and been in the right place a few times for a decent photo, but Mr. McCauley (capturingthemachine if you’re nasty) creates his own luck.
His book “Waiting For The Sun To Go Down” brings a new perspective to car photography. By using shadow and natural sunlight in a variety of different ways, the images become more vivid and a little bit ominous. Is the shadow consuming the car? Is sunlight freeing it from the bounds of dark void?
“I’m after something different. Over time, my personal work gravitated toward something more ambiguous. Scenes where the automotive subject is somehow hidden, or abstracted, or blurred. I still aim to create a beautiful image, but one that works because of the shapes, colors, and setting that I’ve chosen. An Arrangement I’ve composed, rather than simply, “here is an expensive car,’” says McCauley.
“The scenes I find the most fulfilling to shoot are ones exploring an interplay between cars and shadows. With this series, I have tries to create automotive scenes that are just as much about the natural light and shadow as they are about the car.”
Kevin says “sunlight is like a living thing” in the closure of his book. It’s astonishing how right he is. Next time you’re looking to create high-drama images of your car for Instagram, wait until a couple of hours before sunset when the light is at its most dramatic and angled, creating high-contrast zones between light and shadow. Or, you know, go to Houston, Texas and pay Kevin to take the photos for you.
I have been friends with Kevin for years, so long I don’t even remember how we met. A few years ago, when I was the director of a car museum, I approached Kevin about running an exhibition of his photos and asked if he had any ideas for what he’d like the show to be. The idea he had back then was what would eventually become this book. I’m so excited that his work is out there in published form for people to hold in their hands and cherish. It’s a beautiful book that deserves a reader/viewer who will take the time to appreciate each image, to be as patient an observer as Kevin was in capturing the image in the first place.
I pre-ordered my copy directly from publishing company Carrera Media as soon as it opened, but there are still plenty of copies left for you to buy your own. Grab a fantastic hardcover packed with fantastic photos for $49.99. Considering what an art print goes for these days, This would make a pretty good non-generic car-person gift, in case you were wondering what to buy for the car fanatic in your life this holiday season.
The book is 130 high-quality pages of hardbound beauty. You’ll pick up some insights from the chapter leads, but it’s more about looking at the interplay between the living sunlight and the passive cold metal and glass of a car. Does one breathe life into the other? What’s hiding in the shadow, and what does it want? Buy the book and find out for yourself. I can’t recommend it enough.