If I had to label myself, I’d say I’ve become one fine (up and coming) automotive photographer, even though it was a genre I never thought I’d get into that much. When I think about where I am today though, shooting down on track at Rally cross and Auto cross events, being invited to shoot one of the biggest charity car events in Washington state, being asked if I could capture images at a memorial held for a Giant in the automotive community, and (for my own personal reasons) snapping photos of my grandfathers Morgan to be remembered forever. It still blows my mind, that it all started by going to a random Friday night car meet, with a random person I met on Facebook (thanks for the invite Alex).
But I can’t say that my love for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and pretty much anything that has an engine and can be driven, started at that Friday night meet up. I’ve had a long seeded love for automobiles, even as a young kid. I remember my grandfather talking about his own younger years, racing M/G’s, Morgans, and Triumphs over in Europe. I can pull memories of when I was about 12-14 years old, walking next door to my neighbors house, and not only talking to him about cars, but helping him work on his 1960’s Ford Fairlane 500, 1950’s Chevy 5 window C100, and an old 1969 Mustang he called the “Moss-tang” (as it sat out in a field for about 2 decades). I have so many memories of my own cars as well, one of my first (it was actually my girlfriend’s car at the time) being a 1967 Buick Skylark GS that I restored from pretty much nothing much to look at to a land yacht that people kept asking if they could buy. I also fell in love with my VW Golf R, an all-wheel drive, turbo charged, hatchback monster that confuses the hell out of people when my 6’4” body jumps out of something that looks like it’s made for people a foot shorter than me. Like I said, I have been quite deeply immersed in the automotive world for years, decades at this point.
I’ve never been able to put my finger on what it is exactly that draws so many in to the automotive community, and really I feel like it has to be more than just one thing that draws us all in. Like the countless automobiles that we all love and devote so much time to, there is probably a different reason for every person, a different story as to how or why we got into whatever genre we are drawn to (which is also awesome that there’s so many genres out there for everyone to enjoy).
I said above that if I had to label myself, I would label myself as an automotive photographer, even though I never thought it would be a genre I’d get into that much. But I’m so glad that I’m here, capturing photos of cars flying around a race track or out in the dirt and mud, cars sitting still and looking gorgeous doing so, cars burning rubber, and cars that are waiting to move under their own power once again. Even if I did just happen to stumble across this amazing opportunity, I hope it only keeps getting better and better as time goes by.
Thank you to all those I’ve met in the car community, and to those I’ll met in the future. I hope you enjoy these photos I’ve captured, and until next time. Keep the Rubber Side Down!
Andrew Hoyle - Grimlock Media
