2011 BMW 1M Photoshoot

[cawimmer430]

I was invited by a member of this forum yesterday to accompany him on his journey of accepting the keys to his 2011 Valencia Orange BMW 1M at BMW Welt.

We had a great day and time yesterday, both with the car and in each others company. Car enthusiasts speak the same language.

The car is awesome. Great engine sound etc. It'll definitely be a future classic.

So here are some of the pictures I took yesterday. I still have to work on the detailed shots of the interior, engine etc. That requires time and I am very busy at the moment with my diploma work.


THE PHOTOSHOOT

INSIDE BMW WELT













REFUELING THE CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

BMW Welt PARKING GARAGE - BMW 1M vs BMW M3 vs BMW M3. The far right M3 is a US-spec model. Look at the license plate of the 1M and the US-spec M3 and tell me what you see...







Wimmer 2007 BMW 118i vs 2011 BMW 1M

CONGRATS ON THE CAR ONCE AGAIN!

 

[Mr Robert]

Christian, there are some really good shots there. Not that I tell if they are technically perfect or anything like that, they are just very visually pleasing. You could have saved the F20 I mean, it is obvious that you understand cars and manage to bring out what is there to see in real life. Too many times, I get a feeling that something is missing in PR shots today.

 

[south]

Amazing shots, thanks for posting! And congrats to the anonymous member on their new 1M!


Best regards,
south

 

[Zafiro]

Pekka sold his Cayman S?

 

[cawimmer430]

Christian, there are some really good shots there. Not that I tell if they are technically perfect or anything like that, they are just very visually pleasing. You could have saved the F20 I mean, it is obvious that you understand cars and manage to bring out what is there to see in real life. Too many times, I get a feeling that something is missing in PR shots today.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the kind words! I only used my Nikon D3s and an SB-900 Speedlight flash for the images. The rest of the editing was done using Photoshop and Lightroom and a few other programs. I worked seven hours straight on the photoshoot images.

 

[cawimmer430]

Pekka sold his Cayman S?

Nope. He still has his Porsche Cayman S. I'm looking forward to another photoshoot with his car ASAP!

 

[FC123]

Great shots! Now I want a 1M.

 

[EMpower]

Thanks everyone. I am the mystery owner of 1M. Had a great experience taking delivery at Welt. It was nice meeting up with a forum member. Thanks to Christian for taking and processing pictures.
I wanted to set a new record for laps at welt but the BMW folks got worried about emissions inside the building and had to stop after 7 laps. But there were quite a few onlookers.

 

[wookieecrisp]

Beautiful shots! The orange color looks great in many environments... this car's got character!

 

[cawimmer430]

Beautiful shots! The orange color looks great in many environments... this car's got character!

Valencia Orange is hands down the only color for the 1M, although white isn't bad either!

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Absolutely fantastic shots Chris! It's actually quite a challenge photographing a great looking car. People might think it would make the job a lot easier, but that's definitely not the case.

The angle of some of the shots is first class!

And to EMPower... congrats on the new purchase! Definitely full of envy....what a car!

 

[cawimmer430]

Absolutely fantastic shots Chris! It's actually quite a challenge photographing a great looking car. People might think it would make the job a lot easier, but that's definitely not the case.

The angle of some of the shots is first class!

And to EMPower... congrats on the new purchase! Definitely full of envy....what a car!

Thank you for the kind words.

The shooting was quite difficult from a photography point of view because I had to deal with the sun at its worst time (strong light, hard annoying shadows). I managed to compensate by using my SB-900 at FULL POWER which resulted in the device overheating (overheats very quickly in a hot summer weather) after about twenty flashes. And then I did the unthinkable: I disabled the overheating warning feature! Luckily my SB-900 survived the ordeal.

I really need to invest in another or even two back-up SB-900s. When one of the SB-900s overheats I can use the other one allowing the other device to cool down. I've read that the SB-800 doesn't overheat that quickly, but then again it isn't as powerful and easy to use as the SB-900.

By the way, all the images here don't have the original ground. The intense sunlight ensured that the ground was over-illuminated. So compensated for this by creating a new layer in Photoshop, added a full black color to it and under layer styles selected either overlay or soft light, then I decreased the layer opacity and fill. I then created a layer mask and proceeded to get rid of the darker areas I didn't want in the photos. This took forever since I had to zoom in and make sure that I didn't miss any spots etc.

Here's what I mean.


Original image after full editing, color contrasts etc. Ground is over-illuminated with sunlight - destroys the harmony of the image.



Image after receiving the 'Wimmer dark ground compensation Photoshop effect'.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Son of a.....biscuit!

That's an excellent way to overcome the harsh daylight over-exposing your shot. Now you've inspired me to get back into editing car photos with Photoshop (though I only have PS Elements).

Regardless of the fact that you used PS to enhance your photos, just the way you've captured the car is fantastic. The low-down shots, the motion shots indoor, the sharpness and detail, the varying depths of field, and the way you've filled each frame with the right proportion of car-vs-surroundings.... very impressive stuff!

Your photos can definitely be used by other members here (including myself) who have the desire to improve their car photography skills. You shots are like a 'this is what you want to achieve' lesson...and its up to us break-down the photo into its key basic elements... and then to keep practicing until we end up with a photo almost as impressive as yours.

 

[cawimmer430]

Son of a.....biscuit!

That's an excellent way to overcome the harsh daylight over-exposing your shot. Now you've inspired me to get back into editing car photos with Photoshop (though I only have PS Elements).

Regardless of the fact that you used PS to enhance your photos, just the way you've captured the car is fantastic. The low-down shots, the motion shots indoor, the sharpness and detail, the varying depths of field, and the way you've filled each frame with the right proportion of car-vs-surroundings.... very impressive stuff!

Your photos can definitely be used by other members here (including myself) who have the desire to improve their car photography skills. You shots are like a 'this is what you want to achieve' lesson...and its up to us break-down the photo into its key basic elements... and then to keep practicing until we end up with a photo almost as impressive as yours.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Photoshop is a must today for most images, especially for me in Germany. No matter where the location is, there will always be some kind of annoying object in the background. For example, in most locations I like to shoot there will always be some kind of sign warning about trespassing etc. (they have a real sign fetish here). Those usually have to be removed with Photoshop. Also, there tends to be a lot of distracting dirt on the ground which should be removed. And of course the car - dirt, scratches etc. have to be removed. And in the summer I have to remove a lot of dead insects from cars.