BMW Museum, Munich, Bavaria, Germany - 32 photos made with Canon 5D MKII

BMW Museum - History of BMW

First time I came to Munich, BMW museum was closed under renovation. The result of this is now a very nice museum, with great theatralisation of BMW history through moto bikes and car, as one of the industry leader. The museum is located next to the BMW headquarter, facing the BMW Welt. Great news, it was free the day we visited it: “Family Day”. Thanks BMW!

BMW Headquarter, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

BMW Headquarter in Munich - four cylinders tower for largest luxury car manufacturer

BMW Headquarter is a Munich landmark, which has been serving as world headquarters for the automaker for over 30 years. It was declared a protected historic building in 1999. Extensive refurbishments commenced in 2004 and were completed in 2006. The Tower was built between 1968 and 1972 and was ready just in time for 1972 Summer Olympics of Munich. Was innaugurated in 1973 officialy. The building is 101m located near the Olympiapark and is often cited as one of the most notable examples of architecture in Munich. This is probably one of the most famous European building of the 70’s, with pretty high-tech architecture. Actually the 4 cylinders are suspended in the air and do not touch the ground. The building was designed by architect Karl Schwanzer.

Here are some photos I took in 2008 of the BMW Headquarter and the museum.

BMW Welt, Munich, Bavaria, Germany - 90 photos shot with Canon 5D MKII, Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L II USM and 24-70mm 2.8 L USM

BMW Welt, Munich - an outstanding showroom for BMW cars

BMW Welt is definitely a fantastic showroom with great modern architecture, and BMW design on every single details. Located in Olympiapark in Munich, it’s also close to the BMW museum and BMW headquarter, which you can see in many of the photos as background.

From the car to the roof of the building, from the sofa to the enginex exposed. The material used to build this place is top notch and intemporel, giving a very calm and peaceful feeling to the place. Shooting here with a wide angle is great exercise for experiencing some nice interior architecture shots. You can play with the curves, the straight lines, the material, the colors and the BMW cars. At the same time, it’s also a fantastic spot for making nice poerful portraits, either from the first floor or directly with the cars.

Here are 90 photos of the BMW Welt, make sure to visit it if you pass by Munich. Here are also some older photos I took of the BMW Welt in 2008.

The BMW Welt is just next to the BMW Museum, which was for free the day we visited it! Thank you BMW!

Swiss Classic British Car Meeting 2010, Morges, Switzerland / Suisse - 50 photos with Canon 5D MKII and 24-70mm 2.8 L USM

19th Swiss Classic British Car Meeting in Morges, 2010

As every year, the 2010 19th Swiss Classic British Car meeting is taking place on the lake side of Morges, Switzerland. Very nice weather for hosting 1’600 cars from all over Europe who have only one requirement: being English manufactured. It’s also a good moment to make some photo, however it’s a difficult task: it’s crowded, many cars are ordinary, background is very busy, and you always have someone coming in front of the objective! Not an easy one! You can find below 50 photographs of the 2010 British Car Meeting, all shot with Canon EOS 5D MKII and the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L USM lens, perfect combinaison for shooting as much details as possible, while being able to have wide coverage in the same time. The f/2.8 stop of the Canon 24-70mm is clearly a big help in this kind of situation vs. a min f/4 stop (Canon 24-105mm) to get the specific beautiful depth of field (dof) necessary to eliminate unnecessary things that could spoil your picture in an elegant and distinctive manner. 

Few tips to get better car event pictures

1. The perfect car picture is hard to take: it should have no disturbance in front, beside and beyond the car. The background needs to be sharp and should emphasize on dramatizing the car beauty. So, if you don’t have lot of space behind the car, it will be difficult
2. Focus on the details instead: especially on old cars, there are many details that might make you making very powerful shots such as wheels, mirror, logos, … This is where you should put all you framing knowledge into capturing interesting shots, especially with fast aperture settings. Make sure to play with the different vibrant colors that you will have in front of you.
3. Make photography of everything which is around the event: people walking, smiling and watching at car, or the many different activities that come around it. It should be very interesting and will help telling the story around the exhibition.

 All photos of the 2010 19th Swiss Classic British Car Meeting in Morges - Gallery

BMW Headquarters and Museum, Munich, Bavaria - Germany

BMW Headquarters

The BMW headquarters in Munich is one ofthe place to see when going in Bavaria. Innagurated in 1972 (during the 1972 Munchen Summer Olympic Games) is now the official headquarter for the car manufacturer over the last 40 years. It’s now registred as a historical building since 1999. The main tower consists of 4 cylinders, suspended in the air attached to the main structure. It has BMW branded badges on the top of the building, which has 22 floors (18 are office spaces). The building was also shot during the movie Rollerblade, where they remove the BMW badge (same during the Olympic Games).

BMW Museum

Next to it is the BMW Museum, which roof carry the full painted BMW logo. Freshly renovated, it was also built in 1972, shortly after the Olympic Games. It’s one of the most visited museum in Munich, more than 250’000 vists every year. A must see for every BMW fan!

All pictures from BMW Welt, Headquarter and Museum in Munich