The classic Porsche road trip I took to France earlier in the month yielded some great results. I got to take a lot of pictures I liked, lots I didn’t like but that taught me a few things, and also made a pair of great articles out of it.
One of them is a piece for Total 911 magazine on our road trip to Classic Le Mans: the driving, the drinking and the atmosphere. I met Jamie down there to shoot the pics and he did a cracking job.
Le Mans atmosphere research is straightforward enough: wander about, see the big guns, find out who’s up to what and make copious notes on everything. As the journo is responsible for setting the tone on a piece like this, it was my challenge to decide on the opener: that full-spread start picture that sets the tone and lures the reader in.
After a few days’ thought, I decided on a gaggle of 911s on classic two-lane blacktop: one of those tree-lined Frenchie boulevards, with stone farmhouses dotted either side of the road and peasants on bikes wobbling up the middle. Onion strings would be a plus.
Just up the road from my rented gite was the perfect location, spotted as I arrived in the Orange from Monaco on Thursday afternoon. One sunny morning, we took 4 of my housemates’ cars down to the perfect spot, briefed them on what was required and Jamie got the shot on the second run. As the car world’s number one snapper said immediately afterward: “if there’s one thing we do to the max, it’s nail a tracking shot!” Here’s a little video of lining the cars up before turning around and doing the business.
The mag may decide to go another way on how to lay it out, but this is how I saw it on location. Check the finished product in an upcoming edition of Total 911 magazine.
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