Spotlight on 16 year old Noah Mooney, from Middlesbrough, student on our UAL Extended Diploma in Photography and budding Race Car Photographer. Alongside his studies Noah has had the opportunity to work professionally capturing images of race cars in motion with Teeside-based drifting company PhDrift (check out @scienceofdrifting & phdrift.co.uk to find out more).

Speaking of the opportunity he said, “I work with a team called PhDrift who teach regular people how to drift through multiple lessons and they also teach semi-pros to become better and improve. The opportunity came about when I went to the track to do some photos in my free time and I had a conversation with the owner, Yohann Quaziz, and he offered me a job of doing media for them. For the company I film vlogs, take photos and film the people learning to drift so they can see their progress from the outside.”

The role has allowed Noah to travel across the UK to events that the business takes part in “I’ve been to many circuits filming and doing photos for them. I’ve been to Silverstone, Cadwell Park, 3 Sisters and Anglesey. The one that stand out to me is Trac Mon in Anglesey, Wales. It stands out because its such a beautiful track and its one of the fastest drift circuits in the UK.”

Speaking of holding down a job alongside attending college he said that it can be stressful but that he “wouldn’t trade it for anything.” In-fact both strands of his life inspire each other, he reflects “Working around cars and doing photography and learning in college and with hands-on experience is amazing. My work in the college has helped me get better at some things such as doing panning shots and getting a better u

nderstanding of camera settings has prepared me for doing this kind of work. Having hands on practice has helped me improve what I’ve learnt and its both prepared me amazingly.”

His future plans centre around taking his practice and role further, “My dream is to be a professional motorsports photographer hired by big teams to shoot their races and events. Having joining a drift team now has really kickstarted my career and has got me learning and preparing myself to go up in the world and improve my work.”

Speaking of his experience at our college and on the diploma he said “I think the college has really helped me try get out there, knowing I have to be constantly shooting has helped me get better at getting out and seeing what is around Middlesbrough for me to shoot. I enjoy the course its been good, I’ve made new friends and I’ve enjoyed being here more than any other time in education. The friends I’ve made are good and what I’ve learned has helped me a lot in what I want to do.”

When asked what advice he would have for future students he replied, “my advice for new students is even if you think you’re well knowledge research everything, it really helps you get a head start ahead of your class mates. I also suggest to make sure your shooting regularly so you can have as much practice as possible.”

Keep up with Noah’s work on his Instagram @Mototography_  or you can take a look at his website: Mototography.co.uk

If you are interested in studying photography at college level make sure you find out more about our Extended Diploma in Photography! Students on this course are offered the guidance, skills, opportunities and resources needed to succeed in this exciting industry! Find out more here or book on an open day here.