Amy Shore is best known as an automotive photographer and a Nikon ambassador, but she shoots a wide range of subjects, has a passion for travel and works with an impressive list of clients.
We caught up with her via Zoom video conferencing to hear how she captured her favourite image of Goodwood Revival and picked up her top tips for photographing events.
Interestingly, Amy’s first venture into the professional world was as a wedding photographer, and this has influenced her style as an automotive photographer. It’s the atmosphere of automotive events and the people who attend them that inspire her rather than the challenge of capturing speeding cars on the track.
Consequently, her go-to combination for photographing events is the Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 and the Nikon D5 with the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4. That’s also a popular lens pairing for wedding photography – the 35mm for the wider images and environmental portraits and the 85mm for tighter portraits.
You can hear Amy’s thoughts on her favourite image from Goodwood Revival and get her tips for event photography in the video below.
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Amy Shore’s tips for capturing events
1. Speed is of the essence
Assume you have next to know time to get a shot. If necessary fire the first shot with the subject at the centre of the frame. Once you’ve got that in the bag, you can think about shooting an image with better composition.
2. Focus and recompose
Speed is vital so it’s often better to stick with the central autofocus (AF) point and use the focus-and-recompose technique. This avoids the need to move the AF point around before firing off your shot.
Handily, the central AF point of a DSLR is also the most sensitive, so it helps you get the subject sharp in low light.
3. Shoot in manual exposure mode
While the aperture setting and the depth of field it produces is often Amy’s primary consideration, she usually shoots in manual exposure mode to give her full control. It enables you to determine the zone of focus and whether movement is frozen or blurred.
4. Shoot what you love
To get the best images of an event, you have to immerse yourself in it, understand the key aspects and all the timings. You have to be ready for anything and chase photographic opportunities. That all comes much easier if you’re interested in the subject.
5. Look for the light
Amy cites her father as a major influence on her photography. As an artist, he taught her to look for the light in a scene. That helped her developed her style for wedding photography and it’s continued into her automotive work.