Life with Top Gear is brought into sharp focus
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Caithness photographer JAMES GUNN took part in a car photo-shoot in Inverness and was given an insight into TV's top motoring series
I HAVE been a fan of TV’s Top Gear for many years and when Ffordes Photographic, near Beauly, advertised a car photo-shoot at Park’s Jaguar of Inverness, with tuition from Rod Fountain, one of Top Gear’s photographers, I jumped at the opportunity. There was also the bonus of a talk by Rod covering his Top Gear experiences over 16 years.
I arrived at the dealership early on a Saturday morning to be confronted by two Jaguars side by side, with white backdrops behind the front half of both cars and surrounded by lighting set-ups. The first was a classic silver Mark 2 Jag and the other a brand new, dark blue F-type. The cars occupied one end of the modern showroom.
There were five other photographers from all over Scotland, two professional models, staff from Ffordes and, unexpectedly, a table packed full of new top-of-the-range Canon cameras and lenses. Rod is a Canon ambassador and the event was sponsored by Canon. The stipulation was that their equipment had to be used and everything on display was free to try. A kid in a sweetie shop sprang to mind.
Camera equipment worth around £7000 was soon in my hands and Rod quickly started giving me tips on how best to take photos of the model using the cars as an accessory. This was followed by inspiration for eye-catching detail photos of the cars themselves.
The importance of light, leading lines, framing and small depth of field, down to a few millimetres in some instances, was all explained. This was in addition to the model’s pose, posture, expression, hair, clothing, arm/hand placement and body position. Quite a lot take in for a photographer who does not take portraits. Fortunately, the models were experienced and changed pose on hearing every click of the camera, so that two photos were not the same, unless asked to stay in a certain pose.
The other problem was unwanted reflections on the bodywork, due to people standing around, large windows with trees on the outside and room lights. This would not be an issue in a proper enclosed studio.
During the three-hour session, the dealership was open to the public and there were quite a few potential customers wandering around and stopping to see what was going on.
The talk took place in the evening and nearly 100 photographers filled a church hall to wander around various photography trade stands that all had special discounts to entice us to spend.
Rod explained the difficulties in taking photos in and around a TV crew of dozens, and TV stars with egos.
Rod explained how he stumbled across photography while exploring Australia in a truck for a year and realised an office job was not for him. He managed to get a job at the BBC and helped on the Top Gear programme by driving cars to different locations. One thing led to another and he became a freelance photographer for the show.
Rod explained the difficulties in taking photos in and around a TV crew of dozens, and TV stars with egos. He spent a lot of time hanging out the backs of cars, appropriately tied in, taking photos of moving vehicles, or quietly creeping among the film crew and not getting in the way. As filming always took precedence there were very few occasions for a proper car shoot with a full set of lighting gear. Using natural light, often shooting into the sun, was the norm. He always had to carry all of his camera gear strapped around his body, as there was never time to go back and forth to the back-up vehicle.
The Top Gear specials were the highlight, as filming took place in exotic countries all over the world, but they were also the most gruelling for Rod. There were no luxuries, with hard 16 to 18-hour days followed by a few hours' sleep in a tent in the middle of nowhere. Keeping everything dry and recharging camera and laptop batteries were the biggest challenges.
The most memorable special, for all the wrong reasons, was the infamous trip to Argentina. Jeremy Clarkson’s car had the registration number H982 FKL at which the locals took offence. They saw it as a reference to the Falklands War in 1982 and an angry mob stoned the cars.
All the crew took refuge in their hotel and locked their doors before getting the call to make a dash for the Chilean border. They had only a few hours to escape and it was a mad scramble to pack up, arrange transport and head for the border. Angry mobs were waiting at various towns and villages and so bumpy back roads were used. Rod took a taxi to the airport, but unfortunately the taxi driver drove away and stole his luggage. He lost most of his equipment and thousands of photos and it nearly ruined him.
On the face of it, being a photographer on Top Gear sounds the ultimate glamorous job, but it came across as very hard and challenging. I think I will stick to taking sports photos within an easy drive of Halkirk!
