It's behind you!

Last month’s excellent Truck & Driver magazine featured a free giveaway poster shot in Gothenburg two months ago for the launch of the new Volvo FH range. The brief was to capture a flavour of the event itself, the technical details and key changes, as well as more creative stuff. Oh, and a front cover and poster. Myself, T&D’s editor Will Shiers and Volvo’s ever-helpful demo driver Jorgen Hellberg had minutes to find somewhere suitable. No location finding companies, no art directors. But if you want to shoot a Volvo without incurring the wrath of the natives, Gothenburg is the place to do it. I got the feeling we could have parked this thing in someone’s front garden and wouldn’t have been a problem. Anyway, minutes after leaving the rendezvous point we stumbled across a fantastic yacht marina - which turns out to be partly (or wholly) owned by Volvo! The raised footpath was just the job. A small hut, a lighthouse and Gothenburg’s trademark rocks. Perfect. We had almost wrapped up for the day when I decided to go walkies. Turning around from the jetty I was perched on revealed this shot - the shot of the day. We had our cover already - now we had the poster shot too. Sorted. For the techies amongst you, it’s shot on a Canon EOS 1D MKIII with a 70-200 f2.8 lens (at 78mm). ISO 100, 100/sec @ f5.0 and an exposure compensation of +0.7. The background (only) is HDR.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

History repeating...

Trawling the picture archives of manufacturer’s websites (as is my want of an evening), unearthed this collection of Scania design gems. There’s something deeply moving about designers sketches. I always reckon it’s history in the making - in any form. It’s interesting to see the evolution of ‘bonneted’ models in the bottom left designs, or what the T cab could have looked like had it not been axed a couple of years ago.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Fed up with H&S? I am.

I was chatting me old mate and top CV journo Bob Beech the other day about effin’ health and safety. There may come a time, we thought, when a trip to the local supermarket requires the wearing of a hi-vis vest with the word ‘SHOPPER’ written on the back in thick bold type. The trolley would be fitted with a reversing bleeper and have an orange flashing light. The contraption would also have a sign which read, ‘CAUTION, TROLLEY’. It’s all gone bonkers.

I don’t really give a s**t what the HSE says, I’m sick to the back teeth of being mollycoddled by do-gooders. Call me irresponsible, but I actually want to live in a world where there’s a degree of danger. Here’s been my long serving argument: You’re a HSE man. You’re on £40K a year with a Vauxhall Vectra 2.2 turbo diesel thrown in. You’ve got a nice final salary pension scheme, oh and BUPA healthcare too. But you’re working in an ultra-safe environment. No accidents recorded. What do you do now? Well as far as I’m concerned, you keep inventing stuff. Over and over again.

You may laugh, but Bob and I raised a rather worrying prognostication: How long will it be before climbing into a truck cab is classed as working at height? Think about it. Truck drivers may have to wear a harness, not to mention the obligatory hard hat and goggles when entering or leaving the cab. Call me a clever dick, but I’ve got the very solution: Someone should invent a sort of Stannah Stairlift for trucks. With a remote control (and from a safe distance), the driver’s seat would descend to ground level. He would then strap himself in and begin the lift, but not before a klaxon sounded and a booming voice announced, ‘CAUTION, DRIVER ABOUT TO GO UP IN THE AIR... CAUTION, DRIVER ABOUT TO GO UP IN THE AIR... ’.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

They don't make 'em like they used to...

If you look hard enough, it’s possible to find the strangest items at events such as Truckfest - and I’m not just talking exhibits. Early on Monday morning, Commercial Motor’s ed-in-chief Brian Weatherley and myself headed off to in search of some used vehicle stock, a practice becoming more and more popular at events like this.

After a short walk we came across a stand selling old copies of truck magazines. Of course they had plenty of sought-after CMs. Brian lifted a copy from one of the displays. “Who was the editor in that year?” I asked. “Err… I was!” he replied. Weighty contractual obligations forbid me from stating exactly which year. All I can say is that journalists generally used type writers and photographers shot on transparencies. Anyway, here’s a shot of the man himself holding… err.. a shot of the man himself.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Sir Stirling Heads Historic Convoy

Can I be brutally honest for a moment? I’ve got no time whatsoever for half-baked, tantrum-throwing D-list celebs and every inch of fame they stand for. My main problem is most of them didn’t actually do anything. But today my faith in humanity was restored.

Today I had the pleasure of working with none other than Sir Stirling Moss OBE. I’ve actually photographed him a few times before, but his calming enthusiasm never fails to impress. He’s an absolute sweetheart and every inch the motoring legend.

Sir Stirling was called upon to drive the famous Long Nose D Type Jaguar, 393 RW, from Bradford City Centre, to Albion Mills, Greengates, Shipley to open Speedmaster’s new motoring conference centre.

The D type was followed by C Type NDU 289, the first Jaguar to win the Le Mans 24-hour race. This particular car also took part in the 1953 Mille Miglia and has represented Jaguar worldwide.

Following close behind was another famous car, XK120, NUB 120. Privately owned and campaigned by Ian Appleyard from Leeds and his wife Patricia, William Lyons’ daughter, who acted as navigator. It missed victory in its first ever event, the 1950 Tulip Rally by the slimest of margins - a quarter of an inch!

Tony O’Keefe Curator of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Museum told me:” It is not often that people get the chance to see famous cars like this actually driving together. The fact that Sir Stirling will head the convoy in the famous long nose D type that won the 12 hour race at Reims in 1956 will make history in its own right.”

Speedmaster’s new Greengates showroom and conference centre is a fascinating place, where potential buyers can see the likes of a Mercedes McLaren SLR rub shoulders with a Ferrari F40 or a 1929 Lagonda.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

CV Show Blog - Day Four (the home straight)

I often have times when I say to myself, “all I have to do is get to the end of this week and everything will be okay… ”. By 7.30am I’m back in the now familiar surroundings of the media centre. Once again I’m the first member of the press through the door. It’s starting to feel like home… Volvo need an empty stand shot, and this looks like the only time I’m going to get it.

I bump into Andrew Dunsmore, a fellow snapper and owner of The Picture Partnership. Andrew seems to be suitably enthralled by the pair of EOS 1D MKIIIs sat beside my laptop. “They’re a lot lighter than the MKIIs,” he confesses. It’s now day four and neither of them have been anywhere near a battery charger. On shows a shot count of 721 with a remaining 76 percent of battery life, whilst the other shows a shot count of 1023 with a remainder of 52 percent. I’ve been previewing everything too. Come to think of it, I haven’t touched the flashguns either. They’re driven by AA rechargeable batteries, boosted by a pair of Canon power packs. At this rate, you could go a whole week on one charge.

If I had to pick a favourite bit, it’s got to be the two designers on the Volvo stand. In previous years we had a woman (who when she wasn’t outside having a fag), dropped down from the ceiling on what looked like a flimsy piece of net curtain. The year before we had a bunch of guys beating the hell out of old oil drums. It’s only a matter of time before the turn is something a great deal more sinister. Anyway, I digress. This year saw an altogether more sensible exhibit. Designers Miles Waterhouse and James Dex normally pound the graphics tablet at Volvo’s Gothenburg HQ, but for one week only they were the star attraction at the NEC. Most entertaining it was too. You gave them an idea for a futuristic truck design, they drew it.

It’s been great to catch up with a load of the other journalists and photographers I hardly see from year to year. It’s funny old world, the media. We’ll quite happily poke fun at each other’s egotistical verbal broadcasts, often to the point of ridicule. But we’re all guilty of the same crime - each and every last one of us. I’ve always thought it comes with the job. It does with me anyway!

Talking of broadcasts, don’t forget to catch Road Transport TV at www.roadtransport.com/rttv. Both Brian and Andy did a fantastic job putting the whole lot together.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

CV Show Blog - Day Three (no you stupid boy, it’s Mam as in ham)

The official opening day often passes in a blur, but today should be a tad more relaxed. With a combined area of 90,000 sq m, the nine halls take some walking. Both myself and fellow RBI comrade Tom Lee are starting to feel the effects of shoe wear. Once of these years I’m going to bring a pedometer. The other thing I’m going to bring is sleeping pills. Shattered from the day before, it was a 3.30am start. I have a funny feeling it’s going to be a long day…

Renault has a new product to launch at the CV Show, so by the time I reach the French Quarter it’s a positive hive of activity. I’m not normally a fan of these types of images, as the creativity always seems somewhat lacking. But from the comfort of the floor I manage to capture a reasonable enough shot with a few of the all important stand visitors.

By lunchtime everyone is in Princess Anne mode. Her exact whereabouts and subsequent movements are meant to be a secret. I explain (in the nicest possible way) that in order to photograph someone I need to know where they’ll be - and when... Royal or no Royal. My request appears to be plausible enough and I’m furnished with the top secret timetable. I’m not at liberty to divulge its contents, not even at this late hour. Mum’s the word… ehh… or maybe that should be Mam’s the word? We’re also joined by Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers MP. I haven’t a clue what she’s like as a person, but from a photographer’s perspective she’s just the job: great body language and a nice smile.

I’ve got another gig tonight down at The Motor Heritage Centre at Gaydon. I’m not normally the sort of person who gets involved with this sort of project, but I quite like the Gaydon facility - it’s one of my favourite places to visit. The client is trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull, and they’ve booked none other than TV’s Quentin Wilson as after dinner speaker. By the time the whole thing wraps up it’s gone 11pm. These are the days when you wished human beings could function without sleep.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk
www.roadtransport.com/rttv

CV Show Blog - Day Two

I normally find myself eating a cold buffet breakfast in an otherwise deserted hotel dining room. But today I don’t even have time for that. The boot’s loaded and auto pilot selected. Shortly after 7 am I’m firmly embedded in the NEC’s media centre. Accredited photographers and TV crews get access to all exhibition halls from 7.30 onwards, a whole hour before the show officially opens. It’s a quick run through the shot list with the guys Motor Transport before firing off a test e-mail to Hayley Pink on the publication’s picture desk.

In addition to the shot list required for the client, I’m always lookout for that golden shot - the shot that screams ‘loads of people at a large automotive event’. The available light varies hugely from stand to stand, as does the colour temperature. Dark or heavily shadowed areas can be enhanced by strategically placing one or more of the Canon EX580 II flashguns around the scene, using the Pocket Wizard radio triggering system to control the action.

By 10 am it’s back to the media centre for a frantic edit and download session. We’re well looked after in here, with an endless supply of tea, biscuits, sarnies, telephones and high speed data cables. Once the finished selection has been uploaded, you can, in theory at least, relax.

For some strange reason, we’re having real difficulty shoving my camera’s 6Mb images down the NEC’s wires. With the clock ticking, we reduce the file sizes down to 3Mb and have another go. With the help of Motor Transport’s editor Justin Stanton (who I’m sure has better things to do), the first of the images make their way down the wires. With Motor Transport’s precious deadline out of the way, it’s on to securing coverage for the likes of Renault, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Schmitz Cargobul, Michelin and Vauxhall.

Fellow RBI snapper Tom Lee (who’s providing images for Commercial Motor) take a few minutes to reflect on the high (and low) points of the day. The sheer amount of walking is definitely one of the lows! But there’s no let up on the pressure, with tomorrow looking as busy as ever. As patron of road transport charity Transaid, we’ve got HRH Princess Anne with us, so plenty of opportunities for photocalls.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk
www.roadtransport.com/rttv

CV Show Blog - Day One (Dress Rehearsal)

I think I’m right in saying it’s my fifth year of covering the CV Show. As opposed to a normal editorial or commercial brief, the planning that goes into the event (from my own personal perspective) is actually quite intense. Ad hoc is not the way I’d best describe it. Come opening day, I’ll be shooting the event’s coverage for Motor Transport, Renault, Volvo, Michelin and Vauxhall.

The bulk of the stuff will be shot using two Canon 1D MKIII bodies, a backup 1D MKII body, as well as EF16-35 f2.8L, EF24-70 f2.8 and EF70-200 lenses. An EF300 2.8L will also be on hand just in case I need a few long shots - especially outdoors. In addition we’ll be armed with three EX580 II flashguns, which can be fired via the wireless Pocket Wizard system if necessary. But the most important piece of kit is undoubtedly the trusty Sony laptop, without which, precious upload deadlines would be missed.

Today is officially the morning before the day before, and I’ve decided to have a wonder round the NEC’s cavernous halls – dodging the army of stand erectors, joiners, electricians and carpet layers. It’s always wise to know where you’re going, how long it will take to get there and what you’re likely to find when you arrive. The stand contractors are hard at work, so there’s rolled up carpets, cables and general joinery paraphernalia everywhere. With pen scribbles covering the stand guide like a five-year-old’s doodle, I’m fairly sure I know what I’m doing - sort of. The unofficial first day also hosts a series of press conferences. Always a good place to get talking head shots of senior people, even if it’s only for client stock.

By early evening it’s back to the hotel for the familiar ritual of battery charging. In order to charge everything at once, I reckon I need somewhere in the region of 15 to 20 power sockets. I have, in the past, been sat there like Billy No Mates with every available power socket (including the tele) unplugged to give me enough charging capacity.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk
www.roadtransport.com/rttv

24 hours and counting…

By this time tomorrow I’ll be joining fellow media types for the annual Commercial Vehicle Show at Birmingham’s NEC. If you’re even remotely interested in what us snappers go through at such an event, then this is the place to catch the… err.. action. For the public and trade, the whole thing kicks off on Tuesday morning at 8.30am.

In addition to the usual host of print media, Brian Weatherley (pictured above) plugs himself in with RTTV.

For all the show highlights and news why not visit the RTTV/Chevron Global Lubricants special webcast www.roadtransport.com/rttv.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

New stuff makes for light work

We’ve now got two brand new Canon EOS 1D MKIIIs in the kit bag to replace the old MKIIs, and I have to say, they're proving (thus far) to be the mut’s nuts. The MKIII is packed with lots of new features aimed at making the pro’s life a little easier. One notable change is the fact the custom functions are now grouped together into sections connected to each other - and not in the random style of the old models. Brought forward from the consumer EOS 400D, the Integrated Cleaning System actually works too. Okay, it doesn’t remove the hardiest of dust particles, but you can spot the difference of a before and after self clean. There’s also an option to plot dust at a later date with Canon’s software. Clever stuff. Another revelation is the battery life. They’re lighter, take a jiffy to charge and seemingly last forever.

Coupled to the two new cameras is a trio of 580EX MKII flashguns. I’d always thought Nikon had the edge when it came to flash, especially when using ETTL in difficult lighting conditions. But no more. This lot is every bit as good. We’ve also got a new 16-35 f2.8L MKII to replace the battered old 17-40 f4L. The new wide boy doesn’t deliver a life-changing experience, but for a wide angle zoom it’s pretty good. There’s still the niggling aberrations at the edges (particularly visible at wide-open apertures), and I’d much prefer to use a fixed focal length lens for quality-critical big shots. But if you want a lens for multi-purpose wide angle work, you won’t go far wrong with this model.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Reality check

I’m not about to bang on endlessly about road safety, but when you come across a scene as horrific as this, the reality of being caught up in something really nasty hits home. It was an otherwise uneventful Monday morning when the traffic ground to a complete standstill on the M180’s eastbound section. Minutes later I hear the whirling blades of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Half a mile or so ahead, on the westbound side, lay total carnage. I wondered the fate of the black Ford Ka driver, embedded under the truck in lane one, or the truck driver over itself on top of it - as the momentum of the trailer has almost completely ripped the cab off it’s mountings. Grim stuff indeed. It may be ever so slightly hypocritical for me to point this out, but clearly visible in the centre of the image is a TV camera man, no doubt filming yet another 'fly on the wall' documentary.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Under paid, over worked and over ‘ere

Those of you who tuned in to Trevor McDonald’s Tonight programme on Monday past will have been treated to none other than transport journalist, industry expert and close personal friend, Bob Beech. Bob was amongst the people rounded up by ITV’s researchers to give comment on the prog’s theme, Killer Lorries. Tonight's Quentin Wilson was charged with exploring the dangers of the thousands of foreign registered left hand drive trucks on our roads. Often piloted by tired, over-worked drivers with no grasp of the English language, daily accidents involving foreign nationals appear to continue almost completely unchecked. Quentin also drove T&S Transport’s left hand drive Volvo F16, the very same left-hook F16 we photographed for Truck & Driver magazine back in December. If you didn’t see the programme in question, you can catch it again by logging on to: http://www.itv.com/News/tonight/episodes/KillerLorries/default.html.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

We've got it covered...

Modesty normally forbids me from celebratory trumpet blowing, but on this occasion I’m going to throw caution to the wind. We’ve got not one, but two cover shots on the nation’s newsstands this week. Commercial Motor’s dynamic art-editing duo Steve Gale and Tim Noonan chose our shot of Bulmers DAF XF105 to grace the cover of the newly relaunched weekly road transport organ. On the other side of the Reed Business Information office, Truck & Driver’s head-of-all-things-visual, Phil Brooker, picked our Magnum for their cover.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Green... Moi... ?

I often joke with my clients (or maybe I’m being deadly serious… ?) that the business should become more ‘green’. Yup, we’d paint some flowers on the side of the Wolfsburg wonder, wang a ‘Save the Whale’ sticker in the back window, plant a sapling in the garden and hey presto! What’s wrong with that? We could charge more too. Fifty quid on top might be a good enough starting place. After all, it’s for the environment - who would argue? I haven’t a clue what my personal carbon footprint is, but having worked in Shanghai recently, I’ve got a funny feeling theirs is more than ours…. Anyway, I digress.

It turns out I operate a sort of green/could be greener business. The Wolfsburg wonder is a frugal diesel vehicle, I use energy efficient rechargeable batteries where possible, wine bottles go to the bottle bank and I recycle the Marlboro packets. Oh, and I’ve never knowingly flushed a goldfish down the toilet - before you ask. I always travel off peak - or as much as possible. Okay, that bit’s more down to the fact I hate sitting in traffic. It’s hard to see where else one can make meaningful improvements. I read somewhere recently that solar powered cameras are on the way, but a quick mental calculation of power drain left me thinking they’re talking consumer rather than pro.

With 160,000 on the clock, maybe it’s time for the Wolfsburg wonder to find a new home. Greater efficiency, that’s what we need. Then there’s Health & Safety - the other great blight of my otherwise harmonious life. I’m thinking moped-derived trike… hard hat… unsecured load area… with me so far?

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Glorious Mud

I’ve always had a (some might say weird) fascination with all things mud. After all, it’s nothing more than earth mixed with a load of water. Then there’s the beauty properties too. Anything that can make the back of a bus feel like she’s Heidi Klum can’t be all bad. But to be fair, it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when the sign above the door read ‘photographer’. Alas, it’s all part of the daily toil. None more so than this particular location, in fact.

It often amazes me how much the old VW Golf (aka the Wolfsburg wonder) copes with such arduous conditions. It certainly makes a mockery of the 4x4 set. I’ve got the nice people from ATS Euromaster to thank for this particular escapade, sending me to a Hull-based demolition operator who will be featured in a forthcoming PR story.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

It's no go for the world's most famous tough terrain rally

It came as a bolt from the blue when motorsport newswires carried the story to start 2008 with a big shock: “Dakar Rally cancelled over safety fears in Mauritania”. The world’s most famous tough terrain event cancelled? It seems so. Fears after the deaths of four French tourists and what can be best described as suspected Al-Qaeda involvement all added to the pressure. It’s probably no coincidence that the organisers of the are also French.

The harsh reality of entering such an event invariably means an untimely death for some poor soul, although we guess preventable is the clear distinction from accidental. TFB was out in Dakar last year and saw the grim reality of how cheap life really is in this particular part of Africa. To be honest, we saw numerous road traffic accidents which did result in fatalities (one was perilously close for comfort). Personally speaking, people driving shockingly under maintained vehicles will always be my biggest fear, not the dark forces of Al-Qaeda. Here’s some memories of the 2007 event from the TFB archive.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

HDR and Tone Mapping

A number of people have asked me about high dynamic range (HDR) and tone mapping. So, as if by magic, I’ve plucked two images from the TFB archive and wanged ‘em through Photomatix Pro, the software we use for such extravagances. You can also attempt the same process in Photoshop (it’s much easier in the latest CS3), although Photomatix replaces and automates the sometimes convoluted procedure of blending three differently exposed images together, then tweaking the tones to create the same effect. Both images look quite extreme - which probably represents the higher end of what’s possible. More subtle results are easily achievable.

Sure, it’s not for everyone, and fine art it may not be. But the ability to lift or transform an image so quickly has got to be an option when the need arises.

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

It's turned out nice again...

Attempting outdoor automotive photography in the height of the British winter can be a bit of a lottery - it either works spectacularly well or ends in disaster. I always think if you’re going to practice your craft in the UK, then you’ve got to put up with it. Having said that, it’s not all bad. Why not look upon winter weather as an advantage? Icy cold days can bring a mixture of valuable blessings: An ultra-low sun angle combined with a clear sky can, in some cases, yield stunningly warm tones. Then there’s the ability of being able to see for mile after uninterrupted mile.

Renault Trucks recently commissioned us to shoot a wide range of editorial images for their excellent in-house periodical, Optimum. Getting the operator or end user on board is often a skill in itself, but on this occasion MiT’s Chris Milner came up trumps. Working flat out from sunrise to sunset, he kept us going with an endless supply of tea and bacon butties, not to mention a fantastic selection of locations. You can’t beat local knowledge.

So here’s my top tip: Plump for a clear day and don’t let the cold put you off, work as the light rises or falls, and try look at every negative as a positive!

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

When bravery knows no bounds

We’re not into laddish sexism here at TFB. Oh no no no. It upsets the karma of an otherwise harmonious existence. We love everyone. Anyway, moving on… One thing that did give us a little chuckle was the sign displayed in this plucky (or should that be downright ill-advised?) driver’s front window. One hopes both wife and dog made a safe return without too many readies changing hands. Or maybe the sign guy is busying himself with a sequel… “Truck driver missing - reward for privates’ in glass jar”

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

"Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful… "

As we don’t have any white stuff of our own yet, I thought I’d dig out a few snow-covered gems from the archive. If there was such a thing as a ‘people’s choice’ award for the thousands of images I’ve taken, Scandinavian trucks in the snow would be pretty high up on the list.

Back in 2005 Volvo sent yours truly and a group of other media types up to northern Norway. When I say northern, I really mean northern. The assignment started far away in Hammerfest (four flights from London), which is also the most northerly town in Europe, they tell me. During the day temperatures regularly hover around -25, but after sunset it drops to a teeth-chattering -37. Surprisingly, and with a massive big-up to Canon, the cameras worked perfectly.

A couple of days later we travelled by road to Alta, before boarding a nine-seat private plane down to Gällivare (Lapland Airport), a small but very friendly mining town in the north of Sweden. I distinctly remember the in-flight service was a bag of sweets produced from under the pilot’s seat. The whole experience was a complete blast. Which reminds me… Please Mr & Mrs Volvo, can we have some more?

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Almost not the City of Discovery... !

Part of what I do for a living has little to do with photography, quite the contrary, in fact. Of course it’s travel. The brain-straining ability to get off my backside in the middle of the night has become a fairly frequent exercise. Assignments on the other side of the world are often the easiest - as all I really need to do is make it as far as the airport. The pilot sees to the rest. No, the jobs I dread most are buried away in tiny corners of the UK, or in this case, Dundee. Once you get past the northern-most M6 stretch the journey is pleasant enough - unless you’re shooting at Silverstone the day before, it’s evening rush hour, and it’s a Friday.

Dundee is an interesting city full of history. So full in fact I couldn’t find any! By now it’s 11 am on the day of the shoot, storm clouds are gathering and a blizzard is forecast. I’ve also got my deputy editor’s words ‘must shoot’ still ringing in my ear holes. Finally, I managed to get the two trucks down to Discovery Quay and begun a two hour process of frantic lighting. Looking at the pictures however, you’d have to agree the heartache was worth it. Shot for Truck & Driver’s next front cover, the 500 bhp Volvo F16 is a splendid piece of 14 year old engineering - a truck way ahead of its time back in 1993 - in terms of living standards and power. I just love the lines of the grille, particularly the way the light dances in between the curves.

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Indestructible tyres… if only I could find a set for the car!

Photographing large truck tyres can be a bit of a hapless task. On the way to every shoot I regularly search the depths of my feeble little brain for inspiration. The tyre is only ever fitted to the truck, which is only ever in front of you. So there’s the conundrum: How do you avoid making every shoot look like the last? Luckily for me, the nice people at Michelin and GKPR keep producing ever inventive briefs. I’m frequently amazed just how much the Michelin product range extends beyond ‘round, black and holds air’; this shoot being a classic case in point.

Heysham Port has just taken delivery of six new Terberg RT222 tugs, and they’re all fitted with Michelin’s X-Terminal T tyres as original equipment, a product designed specifically for such demanding operations. In addition to the obligatory press and PR images, the client also wanted something creative…. Mmmm… The port’s maintenance manager, Phil Stride (bless him), managed to endure a full day of unrealistic requests from yours truly, and despite freezing cold temperatures, never once looked like throwing me in the briny!

http://www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Radial blur... I think not

What is it about photography, computers and large-scale tinkering? “You can airbrush that out”, is the common cry when something’s in the way of an otherwise perfect picture. Oh no we can’t! S**t in, s**t out, a straight-talking lecturer once told me. Anyway, I digress. Another popular misconception surrounds moving vehicles. On a recent shoot the client couldn’t believe that we were actually attempting a moving shot in-camera. The poor soul thought we used radial blur in Photoshop. In my (albeit humble) opinion, you can always tell the difference. So here’s an example to get your peepers round. On a recent Spanish jolly (err… sorry, tough assignment) for Truck & Driver magazine and Scania, we happened upon this very nice water run off / river bed near the coast. With no pesky traffic to worry about, my ex-girlfriend (aka - why are you not coming to bed?) driving the hire car and me in the boot, the whole thing worked a treat.

The truck in question, operated by Oxfordshire-based Coles & Sons, has got to be one of the smartest Scanias on the planet. Driven by custom guru (and proper nice bloke) Gary Coles, the thundering work of art spends much of its time carting furniture up and down to Spain, with ex-pat Brits being the main commercial target. You can read all about the company’s exploits in this month’s edition of T&D.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk

Welcome... to Truck Foto Blog!

Welcome to my newly constructed blog - and for prosperity, my very first posting on it. I’ve been featured in so many blogs before… I thought it high time I created something for myself. The posts may be erratic, but rest assured, they’ll be (mildly) informative and entertaining. I’ll be taking you through some of the photoshoots - including as much ‘behind the scenes action' as the clients' will suffer.

The image I'm kicking off with is a classic example of what can be achieved in favourable light conditions - and without any kind of artificial retouching. Dark clouds in front of me, sunshine behind me, perfect. This image is straight from the camera, with the addition of a little colour and contrast enhancement using high dynamic range (HDR) and a process called tone mapping.

www.tomcunningham.co.uk