Truck Show

[Jeff Blakemore]

One question I do have for you. Do correct the vertical in wide shots or do you see the slant being more attractive?

I just realized on the way home that I forgot to answer this question. My bad.

From an advertising perspective (couldn't help that) It really depends on how their marketing dept wants to convey the current message or the company's overall branding, and you can find many examples of both that are used in trucking advertising. A shot with WA distortion is usually going to imply more speed and helps it "drive" off the page. A compressed shot will have more of a classic trucking aesthetic. OEMs will definitely use compressed images to represent their equipment as accurately as possible. A logistics company might use WA to give the feeling of very fast service. It will also depend on the type of vehicle. Tractors with 53' trailers work well when shot wide. Shorter and sometimes smaller trucks like "box" or "straight" trucks (also called medium duty sometimes) can be used if wide sometimes, but may be better compressed just because they may not be immediately recognizable for what they are. Vans, like cargo and sprinters, are much better compressed unless shot wide for a specific reason, like implying speed.

The past couple of years I've been changing how I shoot them. I used to shoot very wide but not because I knew what I was doing... I did it because I had very little room to move around in truck lots. At the time they worked well because I often only used one truck at a time in the material I would build. Now, I try to keep myself at a minimum of 50mm, but I like to shoot them even longer if possible. Although, I'd rather shoot wide than not get the shot. My reason for shooting longer is because recently I've started creating more ads with several trucks composited together. When all of them have WA distortion it makes it much more difficult to match all the angles.

[Sam W]

I just realized on the way home that I forgot to answer this question. My bad.

From an advertising perspective (couldn't help that) It really depends on how their marketing dept wants to convey the current message or the company's overall branding, and you can find many examples of both that are used in trucking advertising. A shot with WA distortion is usually going to imply more speed and helps it "drive" off the page. A compressed shot will have more of a classic trucking aesthetic. OEMs will definitely use compressed images to represent their equipment as accurately as possible. A logistics company might use WA to give the feeling of very fast service. It will also depend on the type of vehicle. Tractors with 53' trailers work well when shot wide. Shorter and sometimes smaller trucks like "box" or "straight" trucks (also called medium duty sometimes) can be used if wide sometimes, but may be better compressed just because they may not be immediately recognizable for what they are. Vans, like cargo and sprinters, are much better compressed unless shot wide for a specific reason, like implying speed.

The past couple of years I've been changing how I shoot them. I used to shoot very wide but not because I knew what I was doing... I did it because I had very little room to move around in truck lots. At the time they worked well because I often only used one truck at a time in the material I would build. Now, I try to keep myself at a minimum of 50mm, but I like to shoot them even longer if possible. Although, I'd rather shoot wide than not get the shot. My reason for shooting longer is because recently I've started creating more ads with several trucks composited together. When all of them have WA distortion it makes it much more difficult to match all the angles.

That is very interesting and makes perfect sense. Thanks so much for the detailed answer. I'll be looking at trucks in a whole different way. Best regards - Sam

[IzzieK]

I prefer both but the Black and White is so different there...It was really a WOW! image.

Thank you so much Izzie. On image #2, it was one of my first B & W images. I think most people would prefer the color version (below) Best regards - Sam

[thegman]

Great series Sam, number 2 is my choice , the mono conversion is great, great details.

[Sam W]

Great series Sam, number 2 is my choice , the mono conversion is great, great details.

Thank Gerry - I'm glad you liked the B & W.