Getting the Perfect Shot: Tips from the Subimods Media Team

It is logical to assume that our team at Subimods spends a lot of time focused on fielding questions about aftermarket parts, sharing tips about modifications, and working with customers to find the best upgrade solutions for their favorite Subaru platforms. Of course, we are always working on better ways to serve our community with our vast experience, knowledge, and creativity. In addition to our engagement with enthusiasts regarding the expected aftermarket solutions, we also speak frequently with owners and modifiers about how to photograph their vehicles and create an attractive and memorable document of their vehicle that they can be proud of for years to come. We decided to speak with Ryan Stanson, the head of the Subimods Media Team, who, as an experienced enthusiast and digital content professional, has worked diligently to use his creative skills to capture automotive culture through video and photography with an eye for quality and style as his primary focus.

Truly, great automotive photography is an art, which when done correctly and well can transform your vehicle's visual profile whether publishing it on social media or using it to simply share your pride and years of modification success. A car can be a very frustrating object to photograph when you are confronted with unwanted challenges like bad lighting, or issues in a daunting environment that you may not know how to resolve. It can be a difficult skill to learn, but not impossible to do well. Once you capture your vehicle beautifully, it will be incredibly rewarding. We've gathered several questions submitted by members of the automotive community regarding automotive photography and presented them to Stanson to gain an informed view, but most importantly, share his experienced insight, and creative perspective to hopefully educate our fellow enthusiasts how to get the best visual representation of your favorite car.

Stanson: "Honestly, All of them! Never be scared to shoot your car from different angles. I find myself trying new shots every day but personally I love low front three quarter shots. Develop your own style and be different!" 

Stanson: "This is dependent on your location, but it is always important to include some sort of composition to your photo without taking interest away from your subject (The car)! Make sure to get some detailed shots of the car in full frame, but don't forget to show off that location as well!"

Stanson: "Typically a quick wash, and a good imagination is all you need! Shoot your subject from various angles and see what works. Typically I will write off the first few minutes of my shoot “Warming up” and find all of the shots I like!" 

Stanson: "The outdoors typically check a box for me! I love shooting cars in inclement weather and snow or rain offer a very different perspective. Don't forget mother nature offers the best landscapes! Indoor photography is very lighting based, sometimes generic white light can be hard to make interesting. Use your environment to make your shots grab eyes!" 

Stanson: "I am personally a massive fan of natural light, although much of the photography world uses additional lighting as needed. For the normal run and gun shoot, i always recommend trying to find a nice spot in golden hour or some sort of lighted garage to offer depth to your scene. As someone who was working full time while pursuing my passion, most of my early photography was performed at night. Although having a low light capable camera, it is not always needed if you can work with your scene! Play around with various lighting sources and learn how to make your shots work and look good. It will massively help you when you have the perfect setting later on, and at the end of the day… The more practice the better!" 

Stanson: "Personally I love shooting in the early mornings. Oftentimes you will find yourself with some morning fog or the big glowing orange in the sky! Golden hour is known as the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset and you will find your warmest tones at these times. Oftentimes finding that “Pop” of warm colors from the sun. The hour before and after the “Golden Hour” is known as the blue hour. This is where you will find your cool tones!" 

Stanson: "That prompts a great question! This depends on what you are shooting, for example when shooting motorsports events, i personally prefer some motion blur to portray the vehicle moving through a scene. Tracking can be somewhat of an advanced photography method depending on what shutter speed you are using. If you are shooting a car in a still scene, higher shutter speed can be used to capture stationary objects!"

Stanson: "Lead with your creative eye and choose the shots you see! Additional lighting is usually helpful for these shoots, but you can always lean on your natural light to illuminate your shots! Don't be scared to use lens flares or reflections to heighten your image!" 

Stanson: "Does it take a picture? If you can answer “Yes” then you have exactly what you need. Although having nice equipment certainly makes your quality better, creativity is the most important part of your image. For example, our team would much rather see a well composed cellphone photo versus an overexposed professional level image! Just get out and take pictures!"

Stanson: "The most common crop sizes are 4x3, 16x9, and 4x5. That being said, various social media platforms are known to compress extremely large images. Your export settings will vary depending on what equipment you are using! Be sure to do your research on your specific camera when it comes to social content exporting!"

As with any creative endeavor, learning how to take quality photographs of your car may seem difficult while involving a lot of information to absorb, but please be certain that after seeing the result of your work, you will be very glad you made the effort. With some practice, patience, and discipline you will quickly see how all the techniques, concepts, and suggestions blend seamlessly to produce a quality result. One of the most important aspects of this craft is using your creative eye, understanding composition, reading and controlling light, being able to correctly frame the shot, establish correct distance, and knowing how to focus. Be patient, take note of the details, and concentrate on making your vehicle the center of your universe and this will translate wonderfully.

Keeping this all in check while following Ryan's guidance above should lead you down the path of creative success every time.

We would be very interested in your thoughts regarding this article and would encourage your feedback and comments regarding your experiences. Write your comments below and continue this conversation.

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