High Octane Automotive Photography with Alex Bernstein

When two passions merge, something incredible happens: which is precisely Alex Bernstein’s story. Fast cars and photography meet in Alex’s world, and the results are a thrilling visual experience for the photo-gazer, especially if you’re a car lover. Alex Bernstein’s photography seeks the smooth moulded metal lines of fast automobiles.

Crisp automotive photography

Alex speaks with Phase One about his inspiration and passion for capturing the sleek beauty found in sports cars, and the preferred equipment he uses to create his modern masterpieces.

The Man Behind the Machines

A graduate of journalism and photography from the University of Hartford, Alex worked for several years as an editor and photographer in prominent New York-based automotive magazines. As his passion for photography grew, Alex made the leap to professional photographer and now, based in L.A., he specializes in fast cars, and seeks out modern architecture and vast landscapes in his work.

“I’ve been obsessed with fast cars since before I can remember. Back then, though, I had no idea I’d also fall in love with photography, and never in a million years did I imagine that I’d marry these two things to spark my career. It’s been an amazing two years, and I’ve been involved in some incredible projects – from shooting clouds out of a helicopter for a ‘First Flight’ campaign with Infiniti’s new Q50, to producing a personal project with a million-dollar hypercar I’d been dying to shoot since its release; the Porsche 918 Spyder.”

The Equipment

“Along the way, I’ve found love with a camera system, too: the Phase One IQ3 100MP Digital Back, the seamlessly integrated XF body, and the seriously, epically, mind-blowingly crisp Schneider Kreuznach 35mm LS f/3.5 Blue Ring lens. A fitting state of the art camera to capture one of the world’s fastest and, in my opinion, most beautiful new automobiles.”

The Camera System Meets the Car

“Unlike a big production, once this car was found, and once its owner trusted me enough with the code to his garage and the keys to his hyper chariot, I handled this shoot without any help or assistance. I just wanted to be alone with the car, doing an angle study in person, finding what felt right and where. The result is a three-shot set, using mixed light in a stark, modern architectural environment.

The quality of these photos, the clarity, the color depth, the sheer range – they are seriously phenomenal. In printed form, there is an almost tactile feel, like you can reach out and touch the spokes of the magnesium wheels. On screen, the 100% crops are unfathomably clear. Visible pixels? Noise? Soft focus? No, not here; not with this medium format masterpiece.

Safe to say, I’m sold. I don’t see the need to use anything but the IQ3 100MP Digital Back. Having just got off a three-day shoot with a gorgeous German car in an abandoned warehouse, where I shot with the Blue Ring 80mm, I can say with total confidence that these lenses, paired with the IQ3 Digital Back and XF body, are totally unrivaled in the field.”