The making of a cover shot…

I remember seeing this cover on the stands once and wondering how the shot was achieved… well I stumbled across this earlier today and I thought I’d share. It’s funny how before I got into photography I took shots like this and a lot of other editorial work for granted (like most people I’m sure), and now I spend a lot of my time looking to these shots for inspiration.

Although I have seen more complex shots, this is one of the more creative automotive shots I have ever seen. It just goes to show how much thought and creativity can go into the pictures we see every day.

This shot was taken by Steve Demmitt who no surprise is one of my favorite automotive photographers, and I’m sure many of you have seen his work and didn’t even know it was his. Check out Steve’s site and blog to see more of his work! More of Steve’s work to come on CIB!

The is a before/after of a shot he said on his blog was for the cover of Sport Compact Car magazine. Basically the shot was taken in strips, 1. car jacked up with rear wheel in air, 2. front wheels spinning, 3. rear wheel spinning, 4. He said he had one other shot of the side of the car not seen here, and 5. the shot of the track. All of these shots were then layered together in post processing to create the final image seen below!

Now I’m not sure if it ended up on the cover of Sport Compact Car or possibly another magazine I saw on the shelves. If anyone remembers or can find a pic of the cover just let me know.

About the Author

Dave Tormey

Dave is a co-founder, editor, and photographer for Canibeat and currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey. He's a business man working in corporate America by day and freelance photographer and do everything guy for Canibeat by night. Also enjoys traveling, collecting sneakers, and organizing events like First Class Fitment.