meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
B&H Photography Podcast

Car Photography, from Advertising to Motorsports

B&H Photography Podcast

Jill Waterman

Arts, Visual Arts

4.82.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2019

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is one of the more informative and hands-on practical episodes of the B&H Photography Podcast that we have produced in some time. Obviously, it helps if you are "practicing" car photography, but the insights provided in this episode are useful for a wide range of photo disciplines, and touch on techniques for making better images of moving objects, reflective and non-reflective products, tight interiors, and how to photograph large items in a studio or on location.

For this wealth of information, we must thank photographer Nate Hassler, who joined us to talk about his extensive work photographing cars, whether for advertising, editorial, or for personal projects, a.k.a. fun. Hassler is accomplished in each of these areas, and his advertising clients include Toyota, Honda, Lexus, and Mercedes. He is also a respected motorsport photographer who shoots for Road & Track Magazine. We find out that Hassler grew up around photography, helping in his parents' photo studio, but developed a love for cars all on his own and seems to have found the perfect career that blends his two passions. We learn a bit about the automobile advertising business, but mostly we discuss capture technique, including the rigs and gear he prefers, tips for shooting moving vehicles, stabilization, bracketing, back-lighting, lens distortion, and post-process.  

This truly is an educational and entertaining episode, and check out the B&H Photography Podcast Facebook Group for an image of Hassler's "Franken-Instax" camera that he created to make instant photos with a Schneider lens.

Guest: Nate Hassler

Photograph © Nate Hassler

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Greetings and welcome to the Bean Age photography podcast.

0:03.6

Today's topic is automotive photography and joining us via Skype from his Los Angeles

0:08.8

studio is Nate Hasler, a Los Angeles based photographer and director who happens to

0:13.8

specialize in shooting stills and video of cars from magazines and advertising.

0:18.9

His clients include Toyota, Honda, Lexus, and Mercedes.

0:23.3

Welcome to our show.

0:25.0

Good morning guys.

0:26.0

Thanks for having me.

0:27.0

It's a pleasure.

0:28.0

So, I'm going to start right into it.

0:30.7

When did you start photographing cars and, and, and, especially, how did you easel your

0:35.1

way into the first car assignment?

0:37.0

Were you qualified or did you fake it?

0:38.5

I mean, had you do this?

0:40.0

Well, I did fake it at first.

0:42.9

We all did.

0:43.9

I started.

0:44.9

I started off shooting at my dad's photo studio in Portland, Oregon actually.

0:51.9

He was doing a lot of product photography.

0:54.5

So I worked there in my early 20s and I began to shoot cars because I liked cars and

1:01.4

I had a modified Honda that I wanted to take pictures of to put online.

1:07.4

It was in that weird time before social media was really out, but I didn't have the opportunity

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jill Waterman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jill Waterman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.