There are many ways to explore your passion for trucks.
Some love to collect memorabilia or show off their pride and joy, chrome sparkling and paint beaming at one of Australia’s many truck shows.
For Darryl Edwards, his passion comes through photography.
He’s the mind behind the popular Truckspotting Ararat, which started as just a hobby but has evolved far beyond that.
Edwards posts nearly every day on his social media channels, showing off trucks that he’s snapped on the road, at shows, or in photoshoots.
But he hadn’t always been photographing trucks, or even interested in them at all.
“I used to be a live music photographer,” Edwards tells OwnerDriver.
“When I moved out to Ararat I couldn’t really do that anymore. I started shooting buildings, but there was no fun in that. By chance I started taking photos of trucks.
“A friend of mine said to me said I should make a page for truck drivers. I didn’t think much of it, because I didn’t know why anyone would want to see photos of trucks.
“It’s taken off from there. A hobby has turned into a small business.”
Despite not having very much trucking knowledge before he started the page, Edwards has come to learn all about trucks and the industry pretty quickly.
“I didn’t even know truckspotting was a thing,” he says.
“I knew of trainspotting. But now I know all the makes, models and even the drivers now. The variety on the road means you never know what’s going to come through town. It’s a variety of trucks and what they’re pulling.
“Every truck driver has a story. I’ve now made some lifelong friends doing this.”
When Edwards first started, it was always for fun and the passion of the art.
Over time however, as his name started to get out there, he began to take commissions from transport businesses and drivers looking for professional photos of their trucks.
Even now that it is his business, Edwards says he still strives to continue to improve his work, and work with his clients as best he can.
“I enjoy what I do, and I hope that comes out in my work,” he says.
“Your best advertisement is your work. When I started off, I wasn’t very good, but I’ve been able to improve as I go.
“I’ve got clients now in quarries where I do their promo work. I also do fleet photography. It’s mostly through word of mouth.
“For me the biggest thing I’ve learned doing this is that the perception of truck drivers isn’t what you hear or see on the news.
“These guys work hard on their own most of the time, and they’re good people. It is a little community.”
Photography tips
For those looking to get into truck photography as an amateur, it can be difficult to start, Edwards explains.
Gear is the easy bit, however. Some other truckspotters use their phones for photos, which he says is more than enough if you’re just doing it for fun.
“In terms of gear, you don’t have to have top of the range cameras,” Edwards says.
“I have a 15-year-old camera, a Nikon. It’s all about how you take the photos. I started off taking photos in semi-automatic settings, but now I shoot full manual by learning through practice.
“There are people out there do truckspotting with their phones, and they take good photos as well. You just need to have a creative aspect to what you do.
“Just get out there and have fun.”
Being out on the side of the road can also be a process of trial and error.
As the sun moves around, so should you. While Edwards is familiar with the routes around Ararat and Mortlake, where he regularly sets up, it can take a while to know where the best places are to shoot from.
“It’s all about the sun, where the sun is determines where I take my photos,” he says.
“If it’s the middle of the day, you’ve got the sun directly above. Early morning it’s to the east, so I’ll look for where the trucks are going into the sun. Same for the evening sun. It lights them up from the front.
“Time of day is important. I generally have my spots for certain times. It’s also good to mix it up.”
While he does now do shoots with clients outside of the roadside photography, Edwards does find himself enjoying the simplicity of capturing trucks on the move.
“I actually find the roadside moving trucks easier!
“It’s weird, you’ve got to take in so much more when you’re doing shoots. I started doing them early so I could learn. It’s just about framing the shots well.
“You get to work with the sun still. It’s also mixing up the angles, getting the back of the truck, front side, up and down. You can make it a lot more interesting when you’ve got more time with the truck.
“You can also do night shoots with the light painting, which I love doing. With light painting, it’s long exposure. You’re taking photos for 30 seconds and lighting up the truck with a torch.”
Subscribe to the weekly Owner//Driver newsletter here.