The Apex Predator

The opportunity to photograph the McLaren 720s was surreal. The car’s presence, styling, performance, and overall predatory nature provides one with an experience not to be forgotten.

I have been in some very fast cars- from heavily modified street Toyota Supras, to my own e36 BMW M3 (fully built and supercharged) track car, but the 720s is a whole different league.

The interior can only be described as a fighter jet cockpit, with its bucket seats, and dash layout focused on the driver (or pilot in this case). With different driving mods, the car’s personality always remained, but the purpose of each mode was apparent. I won’t lie, while track mode was used at times (because, well, why not), I was shocked at how comfortable the car was simply driving around. I remember thinking to myself “you could easily daily this thing”! I could even fit my camera equipment in the car’s front storage “boot”- impressive.

When more spirited driving occurred, the car shined with its speed, stability, traction and overall handling. As McLaren say, it truly is an apex predator, and to get this thing on a track would be an experience all in itself.

The 720s looks good from any angle- its design makes it look menacing and fast even when its stood still. If you pass one on the road and only get a fleeting glance in, you know it is undoubtably a McLaren, and you always gasp with excitement.

With this in mind, I wanted to capture the car in a way that not only showed off its beauty, but also while it designed to be planted track weapon, wanted to show it is a thrilling machine, which almost looks like it could fly; although we didn’t have access to Eurofighter Jets for this shoot, the combination of its butterfly doors in an airport setting, achieved the photographic mission I set out to capture.