COOL STUFF: Wynn Ruji’s New Subaru Campaign

I’ve been shooting photos since I was 13, so it’s safe to say that I’ve watched the world of photography and video undergo a ton of changes. Each time there’s a big shift—whether that’s in the introduction of new technology or even how we approach and use it—I often find myself pausing to stop and reflect about what this new technology/approach means to me personally. I think that that’s something every passionate photographer and filmmaker wrestles with. And I think that’s a good thing.

But as the world of the visual arts changes and evolves, there’s always one thing that remains the same: And that is, the creative process that goes into making the strongest visual statement possible.

Wynn Ruji is one of my best friends, and probably one of the most talented guys I’ve ever met. We grew up taking pictures together. When we would stand side by side with cameras in our hands, it was always Wynn who’d come away with the better picture. And that hasn’t changed. His clients include a long list of car companies, in addition to shooting for Apple, Nikon and Charles Schwab amongst others.

Wynn recently shared with me some of his most recent work for a new Subaru campaign, which included new vehicles as well as a concept car.

What’s super interesting about these photographs is that there’s no car actually in these locations. Wynn and his crew went out to several locations around the world, namely Iceland, and shot high resolution photographs of the background. He also used a Nikon D810 on a nodal head to map the location lighting and reflection data in 360 degrees, which is very similar to our recent project with Google Maps on El Capitan. Later, in post production, he was able to combine the background, hdri dome (the 360 degree image), and vehicle data to create a realistic final image.

Pretty remarkable stuff. There’s certainly a rationale for why this makes sense. For Subaru, they don’t have to worry about shipping a car anywhere, nor do they need to worry about people seeing a confidential design of a concept car before they release it to the public.

At first I sort of struggled with the idea that this might be the direction that photography is going. But the more I thought about it, the more I appreciate the amount of work, intelligence and artistry that went into making these images. Bringing CG to your own pictures might not be the direction of your own photo future, but that’s what’s so cool about this profession. We all get to choose our own creative processes in order to make the strongest visual statements we can.

You’ll be seeing Wynn’s pictures all over the world on billboards and magazines. Well done, Wynn. I look forward to the next time we get to stand next to each other, with cameras in our hands.

Check out Wynn’s website, and be sure to follow him on Instagram.