Lights Camera Action - Photo Studio Thoughts 2014

[anthonycapital]

If you had an opportunity to construct a new photo studio what would you have in it?


Stage. I think there is value in a turn table. Easier video creation. More consistency in photo quality.
Downside is they cost a lot. Looking at carousel-usa and dealermade. Any vendor recommendations?

Backdrop. Neutral in colour? Drywall? Fabric? Curved at the bottom or sides? Or Flat?

Lighting. Perhaps LED softboxes like this. Floor or Ceiling mounted lights? I am thinking lighting may be one of the largest challenges. Anyone have person experience in automotive photography lighting? Evox appears to be a leader here.

Perspective. I find as a large generalization the camera needs to be a surprising amount distance from the subject to maintain good proportions and avoid perspective distortion (Ok! I googled that.). Any idea as a specific ideal distance for a 19.5' Crew Cab Truck? Perhaps we need to just need to grab a 55 mm lens, setup our ideal 3/4 shot and measure the distance back from the vehicle?

Weather. We face climate challenges that may require a prep-area to brush off snow. Any thoughts on how much space you need? Has anyone tried to wash off or remove snow/mud from a photo booth area?


Anyone currently using a photo setup they are happy with and care to share "Gotcha!" moments?

This is what I am trying to replicate: http://www.carvana.com/

Or improve upon The only thing they don't seem to really do is any video. Actually surprises me given how amazing their setup is.


Feedback welcome.

 

[joe.pistell]

I've built photo studios while I worked at Syracuse's Used Car King | New & Used Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Jeep & Kia Car Dealer. You can see my notes on this all over the DR forums.


Lessons from building 6 Photo Booths:
--It's wayyyy harder than than you'll think (to get it right). Find a pro to guide you.
--Photo pros are artists, beware, the photo booth needs to work within your existing vehicle prep process.
--What good is a photo booth if its complexity slows its use. (speed and %photo'd will sell more cars than a booth)
--The vehicle carousel is suppose to help speed photo taking. If you're a high volume store with a 2-3 sided booth, then consider it.
--Video that sells cars creates person to person connections. Spinning cars on video is eye candy.
--Beware creating an Evox like studio, most shoppers will think they're looking at stock shots (blowing up your ROI)
--Carvana's booth is about a million$$ and they have to label each photo with "actual photo"... read: FAIL.
--The bigger the booth, the better. period.
--Find examples of dealer made booths that you like and call them. Take note of "If I were to do it again..."
--Backdrop: avoid dark or white. Avoid pleated curtains (curls on curtains show on paint)
--Floor: Cars drip oil and tires bring in dirt and leave marks. Avoid dark or white. One color floors will show everything. Water on the floors are a safety hazard. DIY garage floor paint is pretty to look at and cheap, but, high traffic will blow it up fast.

HTH
Joe

 

[Mitch Gallant]

Joe, other than DealerMade do you know of any pro's to consult? I was thinking even as photo oriented as B&H photo but not sure who to look to...

 

[Bill Simmons]

Possibly Todd Caputo could jump in and comment here. I was really impressed with his presentation at DSES last Fall. Joe, is this pic one of the photo booths that you helped design? I noticed the "tray lights" built in around the ceiling and that seems like a great idea.

 

[Mitch Gallant]

Thanks Bill.

The new building is being erected as we speak and we're lucky enough to have an entire drive through just for a photo booth so our situation is a bit unique in that we have a big space that we need to light extremely well and a convenient workspace right near by that will serve to upload and process photos. There's enough room to have a vehcile in "staging" to juice the tires and wipe it down if necessary as well as one in the photo area. With the two overhead doors we're hoping to create an assembly line process.

We're struggling with backdrop, whether to do a turntable and lighting. Any insights are more than appreciated!!

 

[joe.pistell]

Possibly Todd Caputo could jump in and comment here. I was really impressed with his presentation at DSES last Fall. Joe, is this pic one of the photo booths that you helped design? I noticed the "tray lights" built in around the ceiling and that seems like a great idea.

View attachment 1980

No Bill, I didn't design Todd's current booth, I went thru 2 makeovers, you're looking at #3. He found a pro and made it WAY better then I did (my priorities were focused around cost).

FYI: On makeover #2 hired a pro who specialized in indoor auto photography, I began to see his process would take 45 mins to shoot each car, so I only used parts of his solution.

Todd has TINY booths, that tray lights halo is flat out genius. I have the highest respect for Todd's pro.

 

[joe.pistell]

Watch this evaluation of a dealers booth turn into a "discussion of priorities"

Dorshel in Rochester NY has just built a nice one.


But the side shots have too much glare



Indoor shots are MORE IMPORTANT than exterior shots. Most booths do very poorly at interior shots. Many (incl Dorshels) require photo flash. Camera mounted flash makes the photo look flat, washed out and throws shadows.





They use the booth on used cars:
Used Vehicles Dorschel Toyota-Rochester, NY Toyota serving Buffalo, NY serving Syracuse, NY
WorkFlow: They're doing a great job, only 6 of 227 cars missing pics.
Stock Photo'ish?: The Vehicle Search page looks very stock photo'ish. I'd switch up the opening shots.



----EEK!----
361 NEW toyotas and ZERO pics taken
New Vehicles Dorschel Toyota-Rochester, NY Toyota serving Buffalo, NY serving Syracuse, NY


Photo Booth Bandwidth?
We've proven that PICS SELL NEW CARS, this means Dorschel needs to double the number of vehicles thru the booth. With the current photo process, did is there enough time to get it done?

 

[AutoArchitech]

So there is an article on how stock photos are horrible, and a discussion on how to build an area that makes your actual photos look stock? Look at the screen shot of the thumbnails above, looks like evox photos. Why not stage cars outside, hopefully with the building as a backdrop. A Dealer has a lot of money invested in the building, why hide it? Why the effort to make your store look like anything except a car lot?



Isn't that better?

 

[danoneil]

So there is an article on how stock photos are horrible, and a discussion on how to build an area that makes your actual photos look stock? Look at the screen shot of the thumbnails above, looks like evox photos. Why not stage cars outside, hopefully with the building as a backdrop. A Dealer has a lot of money invested in the building, why hide it? Why the effort to make your store look like anything except a car lot?

View attachment 1994

Isn't that better?

I totally agree. Natural sunlight is the best for shooting photos.

Many photographers shoot the wrong angles. Here is an example. 2014 Honda Civic Sedan New Sedan in Baltimore Maryland | 19XFB2E55EE016665

This is a good angle 2013 Kia Rio Used Sedan in Baltimore Maryland | KNADM5A32D6193196


No need to build a special room. Save money.

 

[joe.pistell]

Dealers with 4 seasons without a booth need to keep reshooting so the car doesn't look aged.


It's a nice lil' cruze

But, the leaves were gone in mid october and it's been snowing since ThanksGiving!