Recently in truck photography Category

Sometimes you just know when something's missing don't you....? Having taken this photo of a windmill in Norfolk yesterday I just had a nagging feeling that it was somehow incomplete... Fortunately, (and somewhat appropriately as the cloggies drained most of East Anglia in the 17th Century) Iep Van der Meer has leapt to my rescue with this shot...yes what was missing was a TRUCK! (Well it's obvious when you think about it isn't it?)

And to see more of it click through here....

Well this picture of a smart new 18-tonne Isuzu should please the "non-distorted, minimum wide-angle" brigade. But at least it shows the truck working which is an important part of any truck photo - namely, showing what it's goig to be used for! Could it have been made any better? Well putting the driver behind the wheel (wearing a high vis-vest and hard hat of course) would have helped - and don't forget to turn the lights on too just to make them stand out.But overall it's not a bad a shot that can be used with a variety of editorial stories...now click through here to read what it was actually all about...

Here's another in the series from Biglorryblog providing helpful tips to get those top truck snaps. And so we come to number #472: the w--i--d--e angle. Doubtless this will annoy purists like Bobby Tuck who like a non-nonsense 3/4 front view but it's Friday and I can do what I like (well almost). And as I've often said sometimes the background, or the livery of a truck can be a bit hard to get excited over so you have to make a bit more of an effort. And in this instance the snapper has applied the tried-and-trusted method of worm's-eye-view, with a big dollop of wide angle and a touch of sideways tilt. Works for me. The angles on the front of the Premium cab are nicely exaggerated too. And for the record these shots go wih the news that chilled and frozen food distributor, Dennis Distribution, has taken delivery of two new Euro 5 Renault Premium 450 tractor units - indeed I hear that it's a important 'conquest deal' for Renault Trucks and its distributor, Thompson Commercials, as they're the first Renaults to join the company's 33-strong mixed fleet of Iveco and Volvo. Now click through here for another take on the same vehicle...

When it's wet and horrible it's not always easy coming up with an interesting shot...but don't be put off by that enormous puddle in the yard...use it! And this photo (which that young whipper-snapper James Keeler has sent me together with apress reelease on Fraikin)  is the perfect example. The mirror effect is perfect and probably the one time it's not a good idea to add a bit of 'dynamic tilt' to a shot I'd have darkened the sky a bit more with a filter (or photoshop), however, just to make it a touch more 'dramatic' . But all-in-all not a bad effort on a crap day! Not bad at all Now click through here for more Biglorryblog phototips....!

I thought it was about time I featured a few more shots from Gary Rowlands, Foden's ex-marketing supremo and now full-time photographer (his real passion in life) and you can see more of his work on this website http://www.garyrowlands.com or on www.flickr.com/photos/rolophoto/.

"Here are a few from the North East" says Gary - and the one above provides the perfect timely reminder about using the natural surroundings to help frame a truck... Now click through here for one more...

Having already mentioned ace snapper Gary Rowlands in my last blog on classic Foden photographs GR has very kindly allowed me to use a couple of his photos from the automotive section of his website including this wonderfully-atmospheric shot of a Mk I Alpha eight-legger belonging to (I think Miles?) Fox. Great truck and great gritty location too!

When he was PR and marketing manager for Foden, and being a passionate phtographer, Gary often used to pitch in and take publicity pictures himself including this great shot of a Blue Mk II Alpha, Cummins-powered (naturally) and I wonder if this was the demonstrator that also had an AS-tronic box in it too?

And to finish the classic Foden collection on today's Biglorryblog here's one of the publicity pix shot by Gary featuring long-time Foden operator (and I seem to recall dealer too?) William Armstrong. Again it's a Mk I Alpha. Which reminds me, when the Mk II was just about to be launched in the UK, knowing I was an ex-photographer, Gary very kindly invited me down to the 'secret studio shoot' for all the launch material and brochures etc which was handled by Bryan Winstanley, another of BLB's favourite truck snappers. I must see if I can find a few of them... Meanwhile you won't only find Foden on gary's websites, click through here to find out more...

Now pay attention at the back...having always blathered on in previous Biglorryblog 'photo masterclasses about  'dynamic' tilting, proper lighting, using the background as props, headlamps on, driver in the cab etc, etc, etc, the one thing I haven't talked about is the different kinds of format---or as we snappers call them 'portrait' (i.e. upright tall and thin) or 'landscape' (horizontal and wide). These two shots of the latest Daf XF105 tractors to enter service with Maxim Logistics show it off nicely....Now the landscape shot above does the job OK, and nice use of the bumoper on the left to help 'frame' the full shot on the right...but now take a look at this.

I'm not normally a great lover of portrait shots for trucks but in this instance it works better. Why? Look how the painted yellow line in the yard draws your eye straight into the main item--the truck....and with that depth in the frame it works to the best advantage....Of course you don't always have the room to use a shot like that and when that happens you crop out the foreground and end up with the landscape picture at the top...but it just goes to show what different formats can do in terms of framing and impact..Now click through here to find out why Maxim went for those Dafs...

Biglorryblog's man 'North 'o' the Border' John Henderson has sent me this fascinating black & white 'Picture of the Day' from Friday's edition of 'The Scotsman' (who I hope won't mind me using it) accompanied by the following caption: "Roger Mayne's evocative image 'Children playing on a lorry, Glasgow,' is on show in the exhibition '25 years of Photography' - Celebrating the Anniversary of the National Collection which opens at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. The show runs until 19 April and includes historic and modern photographs." Wel I wish I had the time to get up their John because it sounds marvellous. But for those of us stuck on the wrong side of Hadrian's Wall here's a weblink to the excellent Scottish National Portrait Gallery (I visisted it many years ago with Mrs BLB and we had a terrific time wondering around it) where you can see more of the exhbition on-line.

http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibition/5:368/6311

Meanwhile, John says: "Hello Brian, it perhaps makes this year's Eddie Stobart official fan club depot tours look a bit tame! Best regards,
 
John"
 
It also makes you wonder what the owner of the truck--James Hemphill--thought about all those kids swarming over it! (For a pie what is it?) And Health & Safety..? what Health & Safety?! That nipper just climbing onto the top of the cab couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. They bred them tough in those days. But could you see it happening today? 

What am I always telling you about when it comes to taking good truck photographs? Make the most of the immediate 'props'! And what better way to show that this truck is on container work--than to surround it by containers! It's not rocket science. Now add a touch of dynamic tilt, put the headlights on and a driver in the cab (with high-vis vest naturally) and you've got a super stock shot to use anytime you're writing about container transport--and that's what separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to PR photo and an editorial shot with good recycling power. Meanwhile, Biglorryblog can tell you that European sea carrier Containerships Group has taken delivery of no less than five of these smart new Iveco Stralis 44-tonne tractor units from North East Truck & Van (NETV), as part of its fleet replacement programme. Now click through here for more....

At the risk of pouring petrol on the dying embers of the 'Straight ¾ front vs "artistic" wide-angle'  truck photograph debate here's something for everyone....Personally there's no competition as Biglorryblog prefers the 'artistic' shot above----and once again it goes to show what you can do with a puddle!  Meanwhile, apart from winding up a few BLB readers the purpose of this post is to say that Iveco has just delivered this brand spanking new Iveco Trakker 8x4 mixer to Flintshire-based R Wynn Plant Hire, which operates a franchise for Hanson delivering readymix concrete across North Wales and Cheshire.

Boss Robin Wynn, has an interesting tale to tell regarding the response whyen he contacted five local commercial vehicle dealers requesting a quotation and detailed specification for their most suitable vehicle. "I asked each of them to post me a quotation for the vehicle, together with a brochure and full specification," he says, "I was amazed that despite putting a potentially high value vehicle sale in their hands, I only heard back from two of the five dealers. One of those was [the Iveco dealer] Chatfields, who proved incredibly efficient and recommended the Trakker AD340T41K mixer chassis.  I was impressed with the Trakker's specification and liked the look of similar Ivecos I'd seen operating locally. We've also operated a number of Eurocargos in the past and they have been strong performers, so I felt confident purchasing another Iveco," says Robin.

Meanwhile for those of you who prefer a more 'traditonal/for-the-record' shot there's this. The new Trakker was delivered with a McPhee mixer body, replacing a seven-year-old ERF with a Hymix body.  It's expected to remain on the fleet for a similar length of time, operating up to six days a week including occasional night-time work manned by a second driver. Now click through here for more....

Following Biglorryblog's recent 'How to take a good truck photo' postings reader Peter Davies sent me back this interesting comment thus: "Creative truck pictures might be all well and good for impact in magazine stories but to truck enthusiasts they are a waste of time. You can't beat a good 'let the dog see the rabbit' three-quarter front view in an appropriate setting. In the long term it is the latter that becomes the valuable record for the future." But what do the rest of you think?

Meanwhile, here's a good example from BLB's popular phto tips namely 'If you can't shoot it low down---shoot it higher up". Thus a set of step ladders can be a very useful tool for the pro truck snapper. And what better way to show of the fact that long-time Volvo customer JT Butler has taken delivery of one of the first 'new generation' Volvo FH tractor units in the East Anglia region. The agricultural transport specialist will use the FH-480 to move arable produce, mostly on local and regional routes around the company's base at Saxmundham, Suffolk. Now click though here for more...

Hmmmm..not bad says Biglorryblog passing on yet another of his famous photo tips. Nice set up, front truck with a nice angle on the trailer, bit of a tilt (you know it makes sense) and a line up of waggons in the background. But that telegraph pole and the wire is bothering me. You really don't want that distracting you from the new Widdowson Stralis now do you? But what can you do about it?

You remove it..there now, doesn't that look better? And it's all very easy. The 'pros' will use photoshop but I find that opening the jpeg in 'paint' and doing a bit of fiddling works just as well especially when you're not using the pictures big. Use the eye-dropper icon to choose the colour you want to duplicate then click on the spray can icon and have a go yourself.

Meanwhile click through here for another good truck photo tip...

Spare a thought for the snapper who just HAD to come with a picture in this lot. Pouring rain, cramped streets, wandering cones....still it's not such a bad effort. And West Midlands ready-mix concrete specialist Accumix is obviously "...laying the foundations" for future success - with a little help from its new Mitsubishi Fuso Canter which, with a Schwing SP500 pumping unit and hopper, works in tandem with volumetric batch or drum truck mixers. And the question is what's behind the Canter?

This guy (or gal) obviously got a better break with the weather---and blue sky that matched the blue of the truck too---in this case one of the 12 new MAN TCX 26.440 BLS tractors which have entered service with bulk liquid hauliers, Groupe Samat UK. And the company is apparently delighted with fuel consumption, stating improved figures compared to SCR fleet counterparts. Throw in a bit of camera tilt, nice lighting and a non-distracting back ground and you've got a winner...

Big fleet line-ups are all very well but after a while the all get to look a bit 'samey' as this shot of seven of the 50 new Renault Premium 370.26 rigids entering service with Shawtrack services shows...

Whereas one Premium on its own, in its natural environment, it works much better..don't you think? Moral: Less is more...

Anyway, here's this week's Biglorryblog PR picture silver medal winner----anyone who can make a truck tyre look 'interesting' deserves a gong....! Now click through here for the gold...

And what better way to make it interesting then the nice placement of an everyday item like a pallet, forklift and a man with a clip-board and shot from ground level too. And this is a great picture for a magazine like Commercial Motor because it works on a number of different levels. For example there's the actual reason for the picture in the first place---that parcel delivery company, XDP Express, has taken delivery of four new Renault Premium 450.18 Privilege tractor units with Optidriver gearbox. Then we can use it as a stock shot for 'goods inwards' or load management, or fork truck safety and yard` workers, or even to illustrate a story about Chep Pallets!  And that's the art of a good PR picture 're-usability'. Now click through to see the last one in the series... 

OK I've been a bit economical with the truth---strictly speaking it's a dam rather than than a bridge but it's still pretty specatacular and it does link one piece of land to another so it gets to be included on Biglorryblog's say-so. Of course the real question, for a pie, is: "Where exactly is this dam and hydro-electric scheme that was used as part of the original new Scania launch in 2004?"  And for the record it's an R580 Topline on the dam...I wonder if we can find out more on the photo shoot from BLB's anorak army. Like who actually did it and whether they used portable flash to fill in the front of the truck what with the sun coming in three-quarters from the rear...Tom C--know anything about it?

And here's another shot from the original 2004 photo shoot of a new Scania tanker pumping water into an irrigation system. I've a feeling this may have been shot in Namibia but I'm not sure...now click through here for two classic Scania golden-oldies including a most unusual one. (Oh yes there's a pie quiz in it for you too!)

I rather like this picture. Why? Because it shows that with the right frame of mind (and the right frame for the picture) you can turn a rather dull looking background into an interesting foreground and end up with a nice shot. Those red top cannisters set it all off rather nicely...too. So what's it all about Biglorryblog I hear you ask? Well the picture goes with the pres release that tells me that "....world-leading industrial gas supplier, Air Products, has just chosen Masternaut Three X to supply a ground-breaking web-based satellite tracking solution for their UK and Ireland cylinder gas business (Packaged Gases). Following a highly successful trial of the Masternaut real-time service, the company has rolled out the solution across their delivery fleet. Masternaut will enable Air Products to optimise its route planning, reduce its carbon footprint, and provide a highly secure, fully automatic seamless lone-worker safety system." Whatever that means...

So there...of course in my day this was the kind of truck that delivered for Air Products (one for Pete Lynch) which begs the question what's the one hiding behind the bottles above? And click through here for a slightly older Air Products truck too...

I thought it was about time we did another posting in our infrequent Biglorryblog series of 'How to take a nice truck picture.' And why not start with this one. Got the truck 'titled' for a dynamic approach, interesting angle on the trailer, nice bright coloured truck too (can't go wrong with bloe and yellow) moody sky (probably 'helped' a bit by a filter but that's OK)....all-in-all a nice shot. The only thing missing I'd say is to put the headlights on for a bit more 'drama' but that's just me... OK enough of the photography master-class, what you want to know is what's that nice TGX doing with Ainscough crane hire. Answer: Because the UK's leading crane hire and contract-lifting specialist has added 14 new MAN TGX 33.480 6x4s to its expanding fleet of ultra-high specification heavy haulage tractors. And it says that MAN's EGR 'Add Nothing' engines (at least not AdBlue), remains central to its continued acquisition of MAN trucks.

Now picture number two--shot in what looks like a rather cluttered yard---so why not  make something of it by putting this interesting bit of pipework in the foreground---works for mke and what am I always telling you about working with what the Good Lord has given you? I'd still put the headlights on though! Now click through here for more....

Following on from the mayhem caused by that young whippersnapper Will Shiers who asked Biglorryblog's anorak army to suggest the 10 bridges you've got to drive across in a truck. What madness! Look at this one! And the curvy bridge behind it too. This is from a recent photo-shoot of the new FH16---it's actually a '540' (pah...couldn't pull the skin off a pickled herring etc...) Perhaps one of my Scandinavian readers can tell me where this bridge is? Maybe even that towering titan of Volvo PR Nigel Hanwell knows...or then again perhaps Agent Reg has the inside track on it?

Obviously it's best to drive over it when the tide's out! (And not when your wipers have packed up either) And you can see that curving bridge a bit more clearly. Wouldn't want to get it wrong up there on an icy day with 44-tonnes...would you?

Another one from what I suspect is a series of bridges further down the road from the one at the top...the seas not so rough down here...and for those that don't suffer from vertigo click through here for one more...