In February, all the lakes in northern Sweden freeze hard at altitude. This BMW M3 was photographed to illustrate a self-assigned feature about driving on frozen lakes. The cars have very skinny tyres with aggressive titanium studs about 10mm long to grip the surface.

Apart from the temperature of minus 25, the main issue with using a wide-angle lens for this shot was having to trust the driver. I’ve worked with the driver, Andrew McKenna, before and he knew where I would stand and how to get the car positioned for the shot. It’s not the type of thing I would ever do with a driver I didn’t know very well. I’ve got other, closer, shots than this one, but we preferred this as it shows the snow and ice being fired into the air behind the car. Great fun, but very very cold!

Cars, planes and transportation have always held a fascination for Neill Watson, who began photographing them at the beginning of a fifteen-year career, selling vehicles from Toyotas to exotic makes including Aston Martin, Jaguar and Ferrari.

In 2002, Neill left the showroom to set up in business as a car photographer, producing illustrated feature packages for monthly car magazines and providing marketing material for race and rally drivers as well as owners of motoring related businesses. He also does house and aerial photography for property developers and planning applications.

Photographer since 2002, EPUK member since 2003.

See more work by Neill Watson