Daring To Try – My Attempt To Stand Out

My name is Adam Sewell, and I’ve been pursuing automotive photography for the past five years. So far, I have done it on a part-time, freelance basis; slowly growing my client base, learning new techniques and enhancing my abilities. My ultimate goal is to turn this into a full-time career. 

I wanted to do something truly special to celebrate five years of my photography…the perfect opportunity to realise my ambition of shooting on a runway. After months of back-and-forth communication with Leeds East Airport, I was able to get things organised.

Next, I needed photo subjects. I aimed to have 10-15 cars, so I got in touch with some previous clients as well as sending out hopeful messages to social media car accounts. I got a far more positive reception than anticipated. In the end, I had 23 cars in attendance, with estimated insurance values totalling in excess of £3 million… A little stressful, then!

On the day, people began to gather in the car park alongside the airport control tower. After I gave a quick briefing to all the drivers, I hopped in my car – armed with a radio from the traffic control tower – and began leading the convoy out onto the taxiways.

We were treated as aircraft by air traffic control and I had to ensure we followed their instructions to the letter. Seeing 20-plus supercars in my rear view mirror whilst driving on an active runway was a totally surreal experience, and one I will never forget.

Limited to a tight two-hour time slot, I dedicated the first hour to creating the group photo, using the second hour to get individual driver photos. This was important to me as I wanted to make sure everyone got their own photo of their pride and joy on such a unique occasion.

As you’d expect, arranging the cars took a long time; using a stepladder and a set of walkie-talkies, I got all of them in position – eventually. At last, I was able to get the photo I had been envisioning for so many months. I hope you’ll agree – I think it was worth the planning and stress. 

After letting everyone get their own photos of the formation, the overcast weather gave way to a torrential downpour, but I endured the rain and had everyone queue up for their photos. Some even feature a visit from a helicopter on a training flight.

With everything wrapped up precisely on the two-hour mark, I radio’d the tower to say we were finished and we were cleared to proceed back across the active airfield as a convoy. 

It was an incredibly special day and I am so glad it all came together. It’s not often I say this, but I am extremely proud of myself for pulling it off. Special thanks must be given to Ash at Aspect Performance for his assistance (it genuinely wouldn’t have been possible without him!) and Alex (DAC Visuals) for capturing some behind-the-scenes photos. And of course, thank you to every single person that came along – it was hugely appreciated. I hope you enjoyed reading my story – it isn’t over yet.