Essen Motor Show
I wrote a bit about the considerations when photographing at a convention about cars.
The Essen Motor Show takes place in the Messe Essen Halls every year.
Around 500 exhibitors from 23 countries will transform nine halls at Messe Essen into an extravagant festival for performance & racing, tuning & lifestyle, motorsport, and classic cars.
— Official Press Statement on essen-motorshow.de 1.12.2025 12:04
Personally, I like cars and tuning in general. Growing up with Need for Speed and WRC video games, seeing the stuff in real life is exciting. Additionally, photographing in a large crowd is a very different way of taking photos. You need patience but also quick and decisive action.
Trusting your camera is essential. Which is why I thought it would be a good idea to take a camera with me that I have never used before. With a few learnings from last year, I knew which kind of lens I would need. The show floor (Hall 5) where there are just cars, is my favorite. Tuning Experience does not do commerce but highlights cars from the community. However, the shooting conditions are a bit harder: the hall has large lighting installations on the roof. Thus the floor is simultaneously rather bright with plenty of specular highlights everywhere (shiny car paint + spotlights), and dark at the same time.
I got to use a FUJIFILM X-T2 with the Fujinon 16MM F1.4.
You want a fast wide-angle lens. You are most likely up close to the subject and want to capture the entire car with challenging lighting conditions.
All in all, a very fun experience.
Here are some pictures:
