CREATIVE ENGINE

Peter Fenech joins Phil Hay to discover the skills required to capture product shots of luxury cars

- Phil Hay

As photographers, we can often be heard bemoaning how much we spend on photographic equipment. Though in general, we love buying new gear, perhaps we’re less impressed with the price tags associated with the most recent high-end camera kit.

One possible solution to cheer ourselves up might be to browse the pages of a car magazine. While the likes of the Nikon Z 9, Canon EOS R3 or Sony A1 might seem expensive to most of us, they are unlikely to rival the latest Ferrari or Porsche for the impact on your bank balance.

This topic of conversation doesn’t take long to materialise today at NVN Motorworks, a premier car detailing service near Wembley in northwest London. I’m here to join photographer Phil Hay on a luxury car photoshoot and upon laying out his gear, we cannot help but laugh. Even the cumulative cost of this professional’s kitbag is somewhat overshadowed by the gleaming machines in the car detailing workshop, beyond the office windows, many of which could be traded for an average three-bedroom terraced house.

Shooting luxury sports cars seems a rather niche profession and so I’m curious how Phil came to work in the genre.

“I’ve always loved cars and motorsport, so I knew I wanted to focus on that,” he tells me as he sets up for the shoot and we observe the team at NVN masterfully rearrange the cars on display to accommodate the lighting requirements.

“I got a job with a prestigious car dealership doing their stock photography. This came to an end after the Covid-19 pandemic and while my old boss was great in keeping me on the furlough scheme, I used the opportunity to go self-employed afterwards.”