FIVE QUESTIONS WITH: CHRIS McPHERSON

Five photographers in five cities with five Land Rover vehicles was the inspiration behind Land Rover North America’s innovative photography project to launch its official Tumblr site - http://tumblr.landroverusa.com. In the third of a series of interviews with the featured photographers, we ask Los Angeles-based Chris McPherson about heading back to his native Phoenix for an off-road adventure in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun in a new Land Rover LR4.

1. Why base the shoot in the Valley of the Sun?

I’m from Phoenix where my brother Rob and I grew up racing enduro motorcycles along the trails and dried-up riverbeds of nearby Black Canyon and the Verde River Valley. So we know this area really well, and love it. Rob is now a mountain bike guide in Moab, so this was a great opportunity for us to get together for a buddy-trip, driving the Land Rover LR4 to Sedona. He brought along his dog Jon to keep us company. We had a blast.

2. Didn’t ‘Jon Dog’ become quite the star?

One of the shots from the trip that got posted on Tumblr was Jon Dog in the back seat of the Land Rover LR4 grinning away. The photo was called ‘Grillz’ and the moment it went up; it triggered a lot of reactions. Most images I post on Tumblr get 45 or 50 re-blogs where people share the image. The shot of Jon Dog instantly got over 5,500. He really looks like he’s having fun.

3. Arizona is a pretty tough place to photograph cars. How did you cope with the harsh light and scorched landscapes?

I love the starkness of the Arizona desert, and the light is part of that. So much car photography you see these days is very beautiful, but isn’t real. My photography, in general, tends to be more about some sense of reality. It’s more about capturing a time and a place, and documenting a feeling. That said, we made sure we were in Sedona late in the day in time for that great light on the red rocks.

4. How do you respond to people who say “I could have taken that shot”?

It is easy to take great shots these days, especially with such simple-to-use, high megapixel cameras around, so no, I don’t mind people saying that at all. But remember you have to be at that one spot, in that one moment in time, to capture that great image and document it with the camera. Like when Jon Dog flashed that world-class grin.

5. You drove over some pretty tough dirt roads. How did the Land Rover LR4 perform?

We were blown away by what the LR4 could do. We did a lot of dried-up river bed driving and trekked along some really rough trails. To get to a great location we knew we wanted to shoot at in Sedona, we even followed one of those off-road excursion trips where they use those vehicles with jacked-up suspension and big tires. The Land Rover LR4 went everywhere they did, no sweat.

You can see more of Chris’ images by going to http://tumblr.landroverusa.com/drivers/4-Chris-McPherson