1978 Ferrari 308 GTB – All that’s missing is my Magnum PI mustache.

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I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot a 1978 Ferrari 308 GTB after Thanksgiving Lunch/Dinner (Linner?) this past week.

With full bellies and a turkey induced tryptophan high, we set out to find a good spot to photograph this beauty. This Ferrari is not just an inanimate object – it is very much alive. I felt the personality come through as I drove onward. She doesn’t like to be shifted quickly, but rather slowly and deliberately with a good amount of time between gears. If you didn’t give her enough gas off the line, you are reprimanded with a good shake from the drivetrain (what were you thinking?!). The pedals are biased towards the right and are so close together that my foot would sometimes graze the brake when I pressed on the accelerator. Not the easiest thing to drive, but would you expect a vintage Ferrari to be low-maintenance when you’re behind the wheel? Part of the allure of driving this beautiful machine is the fear of her biting back!

We wandered off 290 a bit onto some country roads and eventually found a suitable spot that didn’t have any traffic, and spread all the gear out to get started. I had the d700, two flashes (SB600 & SB900), Nikkor 105mm VR, Nikkor 24-85 and my rig set up.

I shot first with the 105mm. It is fantastically sharp, and focuses so quietly. I shot the interior with the SB600 at 1/4 power on the side of the driver’s seat pointed at the footwell and the SB900 on the passenger’s seat pointed at the ceiling.

For the exterior static shots, I placed both flashes at 1/4 power pointed at the front and rear wheels and shot multiple exposures until I had the entire car covered. I like this method much better rather than using lots of strobes since I can “paint” the light where I need it. In retrospect, I wish I had pulled the flashes further away from the 308 so that the light wasn’t so harsh. I was working with the D700 in flash commander mode, so my range was severely limited. Damn, I need some wireless triggers!

With the weather deteriorating quickly, I affixed the 24-85mm (along with 2 polarizers stacked on one another…I need an ND filter badly) and set up the rig. As this was my first car to test the working rig on (no pressure, right?), I was basically guessing as to what would be good placement for the Avengers. My first test shot seemed to turn out well, so I set the D700 at aperture priority (f22) and set the timer. I sat my girlfriend in the driver’s seat and told her to do her best “cornering at 120 mph” face, clicked the shutter and ran like crazy to the back of the car and started pushing. After a few tries, I got one that looked like a keeper – which was fortunate because I was out of breath and tired from pushing the damn car around for the past few minutes. You can see the unedited shot of the rig here.

As I was setting up the rig for a rear shot, the skies opened up and we aborted the rest of the photoshoot and scrambled to get all the equipment back into our trusty “chase car” (my girlfriends CR-V). We tore home in the deteriorating weather, trying to get the precious Ferrari out of the rain before it melted. Unbeknownst to me, there was a secondary headlight switch under the dash, so after trying in vain to turn on the headlights, I was forced to drive home with the hazards rapidly blinking, mimicking my thumping heartbeat perfectly.

Not a moment too soon, I arrived back at the owner’s house and nestled the Ferrari back in the garage, where it belongs. I bumped my head on the low-slung roof while getting out – surely it was the 308 scolding me for having her out in the rain.

I really enjoyed this shoot. While newer supercars may be stunningly beautiful and striking to the eyes, they lack the soul that cars like the 308 possess. This car is not that fast by modern standards and has many quirks that have since been smoothed over by newer models, but all that is forgotten with just one look at it.

Enjoy the photos,

Theo

A video of the clown horn on the Ferrari. People probably worried seeing someone in a Ferrari laughing crazily while honking the horn repeatedly.

And a terrible video of driving the 308. Probably should’ve concentrated more on driving…