Deyan Yordanov: The formula is perseverance, sleepless nights, trial and error, 1% talent and drive

His models come in non-standard sizes for a photographer. They are rarely under two meters – sometimes exceeding 30, but there are also some that are only a few centimeters. He photographs them with a passion typical of a hobby, for 11 years now. Because, despite his youth, he has managed to turn his hobby into a profession. We present to you the automotive photographer Deyan Yordanov.

"Perseverance, sleepless nights, trial and error, 1% talent and a lot of drive. It sounds cliché, but that's the formula for success," says Deyan Yordanov about his brilliant sessions, probably the only one in Bulgaria focused solely on this type of photography. He started professionally in 2012.

From hobby to professionalism

Deyan has always had an affinity for both cars and photography.

"In 2007-2008, I tried to photograph bees and flowers, but it didn't work out. Later, I saw that I was good at specifically photographing cars, motorcycles, and everything that moves – it has always been very interesting to me and a great passion."

So, between these hobbies, he chose both, finding their intersection and turning it into his profession.

"Things started completely by chance – a friend called me for photos at a well-known Bulgarian company. They didn't like me the first time, but after 6 months of attempts and practice photographing my friends' cars, they said: 'Okay'!"

The first car shots he considers good are photos from a drift competition in Pleven back in 2009. However, what he liked as a result then does not satisfy him today. Because like his models, which mostly move on wheels, professionalism also advances with experience and knowledge.

On the Road

Photographing moving models on wheels has too many specifics. The reason is that it is essentially product photography, but with much larger and more difficult subjects to shoot.

"It's not your typical round cup that you know how to shoot. Each car has specific features, many people are behind the design of this thing, and you need to present all these lines that the designer wants to emphasize. You shouldn't hide them, but enhance them."

At the beginning of October, in Dynaphos studio, Deyan demonstrated how he does it with the most widely used technique in the world for this – Image compositing. Its core involves shooting the model from a tripod from different angles and then layering the numerous resulting images in Photoshop. One of the important things to know is:

"To gain full control and properly light the image, so that every detail is exquisitely lit, you can't just take out 3 flashes and expect that to happen. A combination of soft lighting, diffuse, and harsh light is used to emphasize certain lines and hide certain defects. For chrome, for example, you need soft lighting."

The Equipment

In the 11 years since he professionally embarked on the path of automotive photography, Deyan has not spent a single day in university or on a course in this specialty. He says he is entirely self-taught. He started with a Canon EOS 350D with a standard 50mm lens, and in 2020, he switched to Sony, now shooting with a Sony A7 IV.

"At the moment, I'm not lacking speed, sharpness, or megapixels. I get everything I need. Both reliability and stability. Because you can't go to a session and have your camera die in your hands. I have absolutely no complaints about its performance; on the contrary, I am always pleasantly surprised when I go home and open the RAW files on the computer, and see how much more detail there is than I will need."

The Assistants

And because you can't bring every car into a studio for photos, Deyan recreates the stability of the environment using reflectors. He is grateful to his assistants over the years, who literally bear the burden of the sessions on their shoulders.

"There are sessions where 5 shots take 10-12 hours of shooting."

Next Level Photography

Deyan Yordanov has reached the level of professionalism in automotive photography. "But there's always more," he says.

During the COVID crisis, this "more" led to interesting shots of miniature cars in 1:43 or 1:18 scale. He imitated movement in Photoshop, and for shaping the landscape, he relied on several books that brilliantly resembled city buildings.

And since he has already photographed small airplanes, TIR trucks, and a yacht over 30 meters long, the final question for him is what he dreams of photographing?

"I still have to get my hands on a Ferrari F40 – that model is my absolute favorite! And I would also like to photograph a commercial passenger plane. That would be a very serious project."

Dynaphos wishes him to conquer these dreams as well. You can get acquainted with the automotive photographer's work through his website, his professional pages on Facebook and Instagram, as well as through the website of Motoretta Bulgaria.

The photos in this article are by Deyan Yordanov and have been provided by him for publication.