Life & Work with Colton Blackmore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Colton Blackmore.

Hi Colton, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in a very passionate family. That main passion was cars. All the time. 24/7. 365. It was car talk, working on cars, or looking at cars. It rubbed off on me. I grew fascinated by how cars worked at a very young age, but as I got older I realized I cared most about aesthetics. I’m obsessed with the looks of cars.

I also found myself to be the most creative in my family. Always building new interesting cars with legos, or drawing for hours on end. This only multiplied while I got older. With a passion for drawing my goal was to become a tattoo artist. I always loved that medium. However, in high school, I came across a multimedia course. I always loved the idea of digital art, so I took it.

Turns out the class was half photography. This is where the real passion began. I got absolutely obsessed with taking images. I could create art with one click? Not 5 hours at a desk with a pencil? This was it. I was shooting everything. Wildlife, portraits. Landscapes, even stars in the night sky. Until one day a friend of mine asked “hey, I love your pictures! Can you take some photos of my car?”

It was like an absolute moment of clarity. WOW, I can make this art with CARS?! Creating this combination of my two passions really pushed me. Here I am 7 years later and now I shoot cars full time. Living with this double passion.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest part of the journey is finding balance.

Working a “normal” job for years and finding time to location scout, shoot, and edit outside of the 40-hour workweek.

Pushing through the long hours fueled by passion alone. Getting out there and shooting any car at any moment possible. Just to wake up at 6 am, head to work, get off and do it all over again.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a full-time automotive photographer.

I specialize in the sport of drifting and styling Japanese cars. Mostly from the ’80s to ’00s. However, I don’t always stick to that path. I shoot any car I feel inspired by. It’s just usually from that description. I’m most proud of my work’s cinematic styling and color grading. I strive for each image to feel like a screengrab from a movie or video game.

I’m in an industry where most people focus on perfect lighting, capturing the car in 100% sharp focus, and keeping things uniform. While that’s great, I don’t feel it’s visually engaging. That’s where I feel I set myself apart from other creatives in the field.

In my images, you can find soft glowy lights, softer film-style images, and whole scenes that tell a story with the vehicle in them. It’s more about the art than the value of the vehicle.

Any big plans?
I want to travel. I’d love to live life on the road for a few years. Shooting new cars and meeting new people.

There are so many amazing car builders and scenic locations. I wanna mesh those together everywhere I go.

I’d love to experience new car cultures other than in the USA as well. Dubai, Poland, Japan, and Australia are all on the list to explore.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/sixspeedsoul

Image Credits
Colton Blackmore @sixspeedsoul