Hey, sorry it took longer to get back to you than I intended.
My best friend used to work at MotorTrend as a full-time photographer and would do shoots for the other magazines that MotorTrend Group owned. After he left the magazine, TruckTrend would still hire him for their Pickup Truck of the Year issues. when TruckTrend decided they wanted 2 photographers for their 2019 Pickup Truck of the Year issue, they asked him if he knew anyone who could shoot the issue with him and he recommended me. At the time, I had only shot my own car once while in photography school and assisted on a bunch of shoots for him and another photographer. I had no automotive portfolio and would have been out of luck if they asked. But just on my friend’s word that I could do it, they hired me.
This is where my years of photography school and general practice with the technical and creative aspects of photography paid off. I shot the 2019 Issue with my friend and they had me back to shoot the 2020 issue with him since they now knew me and liked my work. A month or so later the person in charge of photography at MotorTrend wanted to hire a freelancer for TV shows and reached out to the editor in chief of TruckTrend for recommendations and he recommended me. That’s how I got my start. In December of 2019 I shot for my first show, which was Hot Rod Garage. I got assigned to different shows and each time I had a good attitude and worked quickly to do my best. Gradually different producers only wanted me to shoot for their shows. I heard numerous times from different hosts about previous photographers that would take a long time and keep them from shooting the episode, which they understandably hated. Those people never got work again.
I wasn’t that great and I don’t think I’m that great now, but attitude and hard work goes a long way and I’m always getting better. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to produce good work, be easy to work with and fun to have around. People will hire someone like that over a better photographer (or any creative) almost every time.
I’m certainly not saying you should go to photography school, or even take classes, although you might find it useful. Maybe just watch some YouTube videos from trusted photographers to pick up some tips and tricks if you haven’t already. But either way, you do need to practice as much as possible.
My basic automotive photography advice would be:
Shoot earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon / early evening. The sun is more directional, so you have more versatility with where shadows fall and how you show dimension. With mid-day sun you have no options. No matter where you point the car, the lighting will be the same. At the beginning or end of the day the sky also looks better and it gives you the option to back light if you want dramatic shadows or cool flares.
Shoot low or high, general eye level looks less interesting.
Use a polarizing filter to reduce or eliminate distracting reflections.
Be mindful of your background and try to position yourself or the car in a way that hides unsightly elements.
Get as good as you can with editing software, like Lightroom and Photoshop. You want to do all you can when taking the photo to set yourself up for success, but that only gets you so far. Once you have a sold starting point, post progressing can really bring your photos to life and help develop your style. Use it to get rid of things you don’t want or add new elements and lighting. All the best photographers use some or a lot of post processing. I use Lightroom for all of my photos and the ones that really need something I can’t do in Lightroom go to Photoshop.
Don’t be afraid to try different things. Whether they work or not, you’ll learn something. Sometimes with a small tweak something that didn’t work might turn into an interesting shot, so don’t stop exploring.
As I said before, practice as much as you can. Nothing will help you more than actually doing it and growing.
I looked through your account and you are already doing some of these things and I think showing a lot of promise. I really like some of your detail shots! Keep it up.
As for the business side of it:
Your best bet is to do what you are currently doing. Reach out to people and make yourself and your intentions known. Meet people at the car meets you go to and let them know you’re available to shoot their cars. Your best chance is networking, making contacts and friends. A lot of times places won’t advertise for a position, they will just ask people they trust for recommendations.
Getting into editorial work is extremely tough, but there are a lot of big and small publications / websites that use freelancers. If you really want to pursue that, you might consider contacting them to see if they have anything for you. Obviously you would first want to have a portfolio of work you feel matches or exceeds what they are publishing.
You probably know this better than I do, but if you can also do videos, you will be even more in demand. I don’t do any video, but if you have any interest in that, I would encourage you to build that skill too. Certainly not easy, but there would be more opportunities.
Sorry I went on for so long, I really hope things work out for you. It’s definitely not easy, but I wish you luck! If you want to reach out in the future, please feel free.