On your bike!

Michelle Szpak explains how she has developed a passion into a career, and shares her tips

Passionate and artistic are just a couple of the words Michelle Szpak’s clients use to describe her motorcycle photography. Michelle has been a pro photographer since 2006, but says it has been a crazy journey to find her niche in the photography world.

Michelle’s career started in the same way as that of many photographers, with weddings and portrait work. She acquired her first family portrait studio in 2009 – but it took until 2013 for her to start photographing motorcycles.

Michelle is a keen motorcyclist herself, but until a fellow biker asked if she would photograph him and his bike, it had never crossed her mind to bring this love into her photography. That shoot sparked a creativity and passion for change and something new.

In 2014 Michelle found herself experiencing exhaustion and burnout. (It can happen to us all.) The studio was not where her passion was; it was no longer the right thing for her. By the end of December, Michelle closed her studio and moved to the coast (her lifelong dream). Sometimes a breakdown can lead to the most amazing things.

Now Michelle gets to travel the UK and in 2020 was persuaded to add car photography to her work. She is an industry ambassador for The Flash

Centre and Elinchrom, and loves nothing more than taking everyday locations and turning them into the dramatic images she is known for (not forgetting lying in puddles or lakes, and doing anything and everything to get the shot).

“Lighting a motorcycle is like lighting a person,” she says. “You highlight the lines, the curves that make them unique. If there is one thing I have learnt over the years, it’s that mindset, passion and energy are more important than business techniques. Being who you are as a photographer, being creative and passionate and believing in yourself form a big part of being successful.”