Last year, I hosted an airfield runway photoshoot featuring over 20 performance cars to mark five years of pursuing automotive photography professionally. This year, I wanted to do something different, but just as special.
I’d started exploring options just weeks after the 2025 runway shoot, getting in touch with several different venues, including race circuits and other airfields. I eventually settled on my prime candidate: the Yorkshire Air Museum.
After our initial discussions, the museum – situated on the grounds of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a World War II RAF Bomber Command station – offered me a slot during the winter, while it was closed to the public. Being in the UK, a winter date wasn’t ideal, but I was willing to give it a go. Invites were sent out, and follow-up conversations were had, but it soon became apparent that this wasn’t going to come to fruition. There was a distinct lack of interest, with most people having their cars in storage at that time of year.
Undeterred, I went back to the museum and managed to settle on a summer evening, as I’d initially wanted. I also came up with a name for the event: The Aero Collective.
Unlike the runway shoot, where the focus had been on getting a big, organised group photo, this year I wanted clients to have a much more personal experience, featuring photos of their cars alone alongside the array of historical aircraft on display at the museum. I quickly realised that hosting and shooting 15+ cars individually wouldn’t be viable on my own – certainly not without people getting bored very quickly!
I therefore invited two other photographers to join me: Dan Knight and Rex Helley. A visit to the museum a couple of days in advance allowed me to visualise and plan the logistics of how the event would run.
I split the museum into three zones and assigned one to each photographer. The car owners were also split into three groups, and a schedule was devised to allow each group to have a different photographer in a different zone. Every 40 minutes, both the groups and photographers would rotate.
This allowed for a healthy mix of photos for each car present and ensured every owner received their own unique set of images.
The day finally came, and everything ran smoothly. The museum kindly kept its café and some of the buildings open, allowing clients to enjoy the museum while waiting for their turn to shoot. The lighting was perfect from a photographer’s perspective, with cloudy skies providing ideal soft light before giving way to a spectacular sunset towards the end of the event.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, and there was a great, relaxed atmosphere – and, of course, some stunning cars.
My thoughts have already turned to next year and figuring out how I can do something fresh, different, and just as special. Stay tuned!
