Commissioned Work : The All New Jeep Avenger

In October 2024, I had the chance to shoot the all-new Jeep Avenger. At the time of the shoot, it was the only one in Australia.

Prior to this, I had only shot personal work in the automotive photography field, with nothing yet commissioned. So, how did I get the job?

It was just a regular day. I was dropping my youngest off at daycare when I got a call from a producer. He said, “Corey, have you got any automotive photos?”

I replied, “Yeah, mate, but only personal, no commissioned work.”

“Great! I’ll just rip it off your site!”

A little note for context: I had worked with this producer on a tourism job for Queensland Tourism a few weeks prior to this phone call, as well as another job for the Queensland Government on hydrogen power.

Weeks went by, and I heard nothing. Then, one day, I was on a recce for another job when I got a phone call from him.

“I got you on it. See you in Tasmania in two weeks.” – This isn’t exactly how the phone call went, but for the sake of this re-enactment… it is.

I was allowed two extra checked-in bags and needed to bring lights, cameras, lenses, stands, underwater housing, tripods, an iPad, a laptop, clothes, a steamer suit (it was still very cold in Tassie), my trusty Nisi ND filters, polarisers, and a bunch of other camera gear I didn’t have room for. My solution was to buy the most padded surfboard bag I could find and load all my gear into it – and you know what? It worked so bloody well!

Once I landed at Hobart Airport, I was picked up by the agency’s creative director. The motion team were filming some unscheduled pick-up shots that day, so the creative director and I had a little time to kill. What do you do in one of the most beautiful parts of the country with a free afternoon? Eat oysters and drink wine at a couple of stunning vineyards. It was amazing!

As the sun set and the motion team where almost wrapped up nearby, the producer called us to join them for the final shots of the night. That’s where I was able to get that sweet shot of the Jeep driving through the water!

I had about 3 seconds to get the shot - I ran to my bag, grabbed the 85 prime and my tripod and got to shooting, probably my favourite shot of the trip!

The motion was shot by Tim Noonan (From Netflix’s “Extreme Engagement” ) Instantly Tim and I hit it off which made the rest of the job even more fun!

The following morning we where shooting on the beach, and mind you, it was so cold and we had to get into the water. So equipped with a couple of steamers and some under water housings, Tim and my self headed into the water to photograph our surfer. Forced to improvise in over cast conditions, we had to use a high powered head torch to help separate our talent from the back ground, and to create a nice bit of flare.

The Tasmanian waters were some of the clearest I have ever seen in my life, and whilst I was shivering from the cold, I found my self totally at ease, because the clarity of the water got me so excited to continue shooting.

The following shoot days where spent travelling around a small corner of Tasmania soaking up the sites that make Tassie one of the most beautiful places on earth. I now truely understand their “come down for air” campaign.

The Total Job spanned 3 days+2 days Travel and to be honest it was one of those jobs I didn’t want to end, The memories created on that shoot are ones that will be with me forever. From swimming in the ocean, getting tracking shots while roped into the back of a ute and being on a remote farmers property on a section where his land ended with steep cliffs and a roaring ocean.

Thanks for reading!