Tim Wallace

Welcome to Photo Finds, a feature where we point you to some of the best photography around the web.

UK-based photographer Tim Wallace was brought to my attention through Scott Kelby’s awesome KelbyTraining.com. It took little more than a few seconds of browsing Tim’s work to turn me into an instant fan.

I’m not a big car guy. My Saturn is nearly 9 years old, and is rickety to the point where my girlfriend calls it “the Jalopy.” I’ve never been into cars – couldn’t tell you the difference between a carburetor and a cam-shaft. Sure, I admire good-looking cars, but I don’t salivate over them like some folks.

Tim’s photography makes me want to change that. 

A shot from Tim's portfolio, showing a vintage Aston Martin

Cars are generally photographed well when they’re done for advertising, and if all Tim did was to make his subjects look good, there’d be nothing differentiating him from the hundreds of other car photographers out there. What makes his work unique is that his photography doesn’t really appear to be about the cars themselves.

Rather, Tim’s photos evoke emotion. Looking at the shot of the Aston Martin he did for their 2013 calendar (shown here), you get a definite sense of mood, of feeling. This silver dart sits under black clouds and a building that looks like a mechanical monster’s arms about to reach for it. You have this mental image that the car itself is alive, waiting for its passenger before it zips away from the monster’s reach, away from the black clouds, and into a steely sunset

One of Tim's shots for the 2013 Aston Martin calendar

*ahem*

Yeah, it’s like that.

Romanticizing hunks of steel, plastic, and glass isn’t easy. Tim’s love of automobiles definitely shines through in his work, and whether he’s shooting closeups of details, or sweeping landscapes of gorgeous roads with sleek cars on them, there’s a meticulousness and energy that breaks through the images to grab your attention. Even the vehicles that aren’t in motion feel like they are, like they’re full of barely restrained power.

Like I said, I’m not a car guy. Tim’s work makes me want to change that.

Meticulous detail on a Jag E-type

Fortunately for us, we can at least try. Tim is an instructor at KelbyTraining.com, where he has four classes on the subject of automotive photography. His portfolio can be found on his company’s website, http://www.ambientlife.co.uk/ and his blog is at http://inspiredpixel.wordpress.com/. He’s also active on Google+.

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That’s it for this week’s Photo Finds. As always, questions and feedback are welcome in the comments below.