The Death Of The Automotive Photography Community

"twinturbobmw" (twinturbobmw) 01/15/2016 at 18:19 • Filed to: Photography, Car Culture, Editorials, Rants

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You do it, I do it, we all do it. You see that gorgeous new Italian supercar or custom built muscle car at your local Cars and Coffee event. Naturally, after staring at its lines of beauty, you whip out your cell phone, or digital camera and take a picture. It’s something many of us do and for me it led me to a hobby and passion that I pursue today, and will continue to improve on in the future. Also as a car enthusiast, browsing the likes of Jalopnik, Speedhunters, Stanceworks, etc. was something to do on a daily basis. And all of these had something in common: fantastic automotive images. Combine the inspiration these sites provided via stunning photography, the local car meet with tons of gorgeous automobiles, and the start of my photography hobby, and I knew entering the world of automotive media would be my next passion.

Every weekend was spent improving my skills in composition and finding the lines and angles that made these cars beautiful. However it wasn’t until nearly a year later that I discovered the many other people who shared the same passion in the automotive photography community. A good friend of mine, who ran a popular Instagram automotive photography account and who, like me, shared a new found passion in this art, pushed me to create an Instagram account myself, as he believed it could give my work the exposure it deserved. Now, both of us knew at the time that this social media platform would in no way lead to anything like a professional career in automotive photography, but it was a great starting place given its popularity, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it. Upon the creation of my account ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) I found that many other people around the world were doing the same thing I was. Accounts with hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of followers. With varying style, follower count and skill levels, what I had come across was the Instagram car culture.

So who are these people anyways? Well the majority of them, like me, are teenagers from all over the world who have a passion for cars and have taken up photography to share on social media with car enthusiasts and other photographers like them. But why photography? One could argue that its because of Instagram, which bases the sharing of news from others strictly through photos. Plus, who doesn’t like seeing cool car photos on social media, right? But others have a different theory. Let’s look at a few influential people in the automotive media industry, specifically, Youtube. I’m sure a lot of you have heard of Youtubers by the names of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , etc. Or if we go back to Instagram, popular semi-professional automotive photographers such as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . These are people have been in the automotive media community long before the rise of the Instagram Photographer, and have built up a reputation and following because of their skills and opportunities. If we take Youtuber Shmee150 ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) for example; he is a supercar owner and car spotter in England who makes videos of the experiences he has with exotic cars, as well as cars of his own. The success of his Youtube channel has grown him a huge fan base, with subscribers traveling long distances to meet him or see his cars. So what does this have to do with Instagram? Well photographers like myself, who see the media created by Shmee150 or any of the other Youtubers/photographers, think: “Well, if they can make a living or become successful doing something I love doing too, why can’t I do it as well?” Countless teenagers seeing the media of these semi-professionals decide that they too can have the fame and followers if they pick up a camera and start taking pictures.

Now before I continue I want to say that I do respect people with this mindset. I appreciate that people are willing to take up this passion that I share and I have made friends through social media from all over the world because of this.

But here is where the problem arises. These teenagers, picking up cameras their parents bought them for Christmas, start their automotive Instagram pages, and go out to their local Cars and Coffee event to start taking photos. Now this can lead to a whole new problem entirely, which I may cover in a separate article. But for now, there really is no problem with this. If anything it’s exposing more people of a younger generation to expand or create a passion for cars. The problem really becomes apparent when these teenagers begin uploading their content to their respective social media pages. In my three years being a part of the automotive photography community, I have seen the amount of accounts grow from a few hundred (the number was obviously in the thousands, however I only want to take into consideration established, active accounts that post at least semi-regular content with a few hundred followers or more, because in this community, less than that and your account is more or less considered dead) to an overwhelmingly insane amount. I cannot emphasize enough how massive the community has grown in the past three years. Now of course this does mean much more content, many of it being quality. It has created many semi-professional and fantastic photographers who would never have been known without this social media platform. However, in a world where all accounts are created equal, and your popularity is not based on your skill, but the amount of irrelevant hashtags you add, there comes the issue of exposure. I’m willing to estimate that at least 70% of these people actually have no idea what they’re doing. They have no sense for composition, barely understand how the functions of their DSLR work, and don’t understand that you can’t be a professional simply from taking an amateur photo of an Aventador at a car show with your Canon T3 and kit lens. A majority of them believe that anyone can be pro as long as you have the equipment. But as any experienced photographer knows, skill and composition always comes before quality. And that composition is what these people lack. Yes, there will be people who argue that “these people are just starting out, and I’m sure you were just as bad when you began, give them some slack.” To this I agree. I was at one point just as bad as these people, and worked my skills up to where I am now. However to counter your argument, a large percentage of these photographers who I’ve watched develop over a number of years, have not improved their skill whatsoever. Their cameras get more expensive, but their skills? Barely. Now, I don’t expect them to have perfect compositional skills and amazing editing talent, but I’m tired of seeing the same. exact. shot. every. single. time. None of them realize that automotive photography is more than just a picture of a cool car, it’s just like any other form of photography and takes experience and improvement over time.

I get direct messages quite often on my Instagram account, with people asking how they can improve, or if I can give them tips on their photography. I always try to give my best advice when these messages come up, so by no means do I want all these photographers to quit immediately and leave room for everyone else. However, by offering tips or sharing things we’ve learned about editing, I hope that more people realize they cannot advance with basic composition and editing. But it’s the stubbornness of these people, not willing to go to others for tips because they believe they’re “too good”, “don’t like that person’s style” or “He’s too good to learn from I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.” These are all things I have heard in the community and I personally can’t understand this mindset.

But the biggest issue with this, and the main point of my argument, is that your typical car owner, who wants to reach out to a photographer and get pictures of their car, does not understand the difference between these unskilled car show photographers and those with real talent and experience. If you ask any semi-professional/talented automotive photographer for a photoshoot, they’ll typically charge anywhere from $50 to $500. But these Instagram photographers? They’ll be excited to take photos of anything other than stuff at their local show. Because being able to say “I’ve done a photoshoot with a car” in this new social media based car community is a proud achievement...apparently. As a result, these photographers won’t charge a penny for their work (Not that they deserve it, but that’s being a little mean, isn’t it?). If you were a car owner looking for a photoshoot, and assumed everyone was the same skill level, would you pay the money for someone to take photos, or choose from the deep pool of those willing to do it for free? This is where the death of the community begins. The skilled, talented, experienced photographers are being drowned out by thousands of people who don’t expect a cent from their work. So when an owner does approach a specific person to do their photos because they believe their work is superior, they now question themselves as to whether it’s really worth the extra money over the other 20 people in the area that do it for free. This means there is no longer any work for those who shoot for pay, and it’s no longer worth being involved in the community. Plus there is always the handful of humble, skilled automotive photographers, who, like the semi-pros, charge for shoots, but are not nearly as popular as the Instagram users, and are completely ignored because they choose not to participate in the chaos that is Instagram. I’ve met several of these people myself, who have amazing skills, but aren’t recognized nearly as much as they should be because kids with cameras posting bright orange Mclarens with every single hashtag you could think of is getting more likes. I’ve seen many talented and experienced photographers simply drop out of the scene because they could no longer compete with the endless amounts of amateurs and their free prices.

So what about the future of the automotive photography community? The way I see it, these amateurs will eventually upgrade their equipment, and possibly improve their skills a bit, but I don’t see this trend of automotive photographers dying out any time soon. It’ll be an issue those with skill will have to find a way to work around. I’m not personally putting myself on the side of semi-professional photographers, because I do not have a huge following, nor do I have the level of skill, but I completely understand their annoyance with the community and willingness to abandon their passion because of this.

(Lead image photo credit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , all other photos are mine)

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:37

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I think some people also tend to forget that Shmee and quite a few YouTubers (Vehicle Virgins for example) who’s names allude me at the moment also come from rich as hell families. So they’re quite financially secure before jumping into the tube. Not that money is the end goal in sharing content, but I think no one should expect to make millions or even thousands of dollars with just car things on YouTube unless you come from a rich family, or happen to own exotics or expensive ass cars. But it should also go without saying it takes a crap ton of time, effort, and work to make good content, it’s not easy at all. :p

I’ve also got two friends that do automotive photography as a side job/hobby, and one of them takes it quite seriously. He does excellent work and is paid quite well for his work for being in college. They share their work on Instagram as well as one of them having a website.

Nice writeup by the way, with excellent points.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 01/15/2016 at 18:38

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You’re 100% spot on with your first point. Shmee’s dad has an Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

HammerheadFistpunch > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:42

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Quality always pays. If a pro is worth his salt, he’ll have no trouble landing paying gigs.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:44

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So, it would seem in a very real sense Yogi Berra’s famous seeming non sequitur “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” has a version in photography space. The old guard, the professionals, people who are people so to say (not to be overly snobby), getting lost in a din of I IZ GOT KAMRA - or at least that’s one take on it.

Berang > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:44

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Photography, for the most part, is an incredibly bad career choice.

It used to be a photographer had to have some technical skill, understanding and experience with equipment and process. Digital has changed all that. Because anybody can buy a digital camera, buy a book or read tutorials, and make themselves into a relatively decent photographer.

Magazines and newspapers just expect their reporters to also be photographers. The market has shrunk, but the number of capable photographers has exploded.

Sure, not everybody has a good eye, but when you get down to it, people are not looking for artists. They’re looking for somebody to make a photographic illustration. So the bar for quality is not set very high, and most people can’t tell the difference between a good enough photo and an excellent one.

For photography as a hobby this is great. As a business photography is going extinct.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 01/15/2016 at 18:45

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And Shmee himself seemingly gets a new “Shmeemobile”(12C, 650S....) every damn year. We’re talking damn near millions of pounds just like that. I’m not intending to point them out in a negative context, but they’ve certainly got an advantage over the most amatuer YouTuber or even professionals because everything people want to see is seemingly a blank check away and they can obtain it like it’s nothing.

My friend has to ask people and schedule shoots and whatnot. If he or someone in his family owned every single car people were interested in, he’d have no need in having to go see people about this or that, unless it was absolutely necessary.

MLGCarGuy > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:49

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I think you’ve summed it up perfectly. There are just so many car photography accounts now on Instagram. Even as a private account I’m refraining from posting car pics simply because nobody wants to see them. I shoot with my phone though, and honestly sometimes you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between my phone and a DSLR aside from the amount of background blurring.

This is a phone shot.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 01/15/2016 at 18:50

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I don’t know if you’ve seen, but Shmee traded his 650S for a 675LT. He also bought a Cayman GT4, a Ferrari FF, and has a 675LT Spider ordered. However, he justifies the rare ones like the LT and GT4 as an appreciating investment (see: Doug’s article today).

twinturbobmw > Berang 01/15/2016 at 18:52

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I agree, and I think a lot of semi professionals and hobbyist photographers who charge such as me don't see this as a career choice, but rather something that can fund the investments for new equipment.

ttyymmnn > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 18:54

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At the start, I will admit that I did not read every word of your well thought out post. But I think I catch the drift.

You may have noticed the airplane pictures I posted today. Aviation photography is my passion, and it’s really no different from automotive photography. It’s a celebration of the beauty of a machine, and an excellent photograph can capture not only the beauty of the lines but also the power and majesty of some of the most amazing machines that man has wrought. They can exude speed even when sitting still. I spent hours today sifting through my photo shoot, picking just the right images, cropping, straightening, color balancing (morning sun is great, but it’s yellow as hell). It’s a passion. But then I click on some aviation blog or some other well-respected site and I see pictures that look like they were taken by a blind guy with an Instamatic. Jesus, I think, I could do better than that. And these photos are getting wide exposure.

My training is in music. I’m a professional trumpet player. I used to play lots of weddings, but not so many any more. When I quoted my price for services, I was often met with silence, or incredulity. That much? Really? I never asked the bride how much she was paying for flowers. I never said this, but I always wanted to tell them that they could have a high school player for a quarter what I charge. Or maybe even free. But here’s the kicker: they probably wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Not because I sound like a high schooler, but because their level of sophistication is such that they simply don’t know good music when they hear it.

But getting back to your point, I think it’s important that, regardless of the amount of schlock that’s out there, you have to be true to yourself and continue setting your high standards and pursuing your craft, even if the only person impressed by it is yourself. It’s about being true to what you know is right, about always aspiring to do the best at your craft. While some of the greatest work will inevitably get buried in a sea of dross, some of it will also be seen by those who are of a like mind. There is something to be said for doing art for the sake of art. So I would encourage you to continue regardless. Keep snapping the shutter, keep learning, keep perfecting. Even if you’re the only one who is impressed, you will have the satisfaction of having done something that is important to you. I have a website of my photos that nobody but I look at. But it’s beautiful, it’s my work, and I like to look at it. It makes me happy. And that makes all the work worthwhile.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 01/15/2016 at 19:00

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Exactly my point.......He is the “Fezza owner” of Car YouTubers....I also personally do not find YouTubers like him and others, enjoyable or fun to watch, nor do I find their personalities to be likable. I much prefer people like Saabkyle04, Harry’s Garage, and Engineering Explained. I’m starting to watch subaruwrxfan for the first time since that gofundme shitfest. I don’t know, I just feel like I’m more connected to them as people because they’re not filthy rich or affluent or something along those lines. Maybe if I was rich as hell, I’d enjoy Shmee and Vehicle Virgins, Salomondrin, TaxTheRich, and all those other rich YouTubers more. And yeah, it’s a combination of envy, jealousy, and some other feels and emotions, but I feel like even if I didn’t have those feels, I wouldn’t watch them anyways.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 01/15/2016 at 19:06

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I follow Shmee on Insta just for pics of his cars but I can’t stand his videos. I love Salomondrin though. However, saabkyle04, Engineering Explained, and RCR are still my favorites.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 01/15/2016 at 19:14

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I don’t follow any of them but Saabkyle04 on Facebook. His videos....I just don’t see the entertainment in them....He’s always so god damn happy, smiling and this and that and they’re almost all looking at him saying something for a good portion of it.

Here’s a good example of their advantage. Both he and Vehicle Virgins were the first two I believe to get startup and exhaust clips of the Ford GT at NAIAS last year. They got a shit to of subscribers and likes and views from that alone. This was days before the show was open to the public, it may’ve been during the press showings. Regardless, regular plebs like you and I can’t get in that unless we’ve either got connections or tons of money. If some random pleb had been there and put that video up first with no fame prior to it, he’d be famous for that one video alone. Hell, my top video on my channel was a startup and exhaust video of a GT350R with almost 60k views now, only because they brought one to my school. All my other videos have less than 500 views; 2 or 3 of them might have a little over 1k views.

davedave1111 > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 19:17

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Photographers have been complaining about ‘amateurs’ stopping them getting paid for well over a century. The reality is that the ones having trouble getting paid are also amateurs, and it’s hard getting someone else to fund your hobby. Sorry, but that’s the real world for you. There isn’t much money in doing something that people don’t have to be paid to do. The money only comes in once it stops being fun and starts being hard work.

Driver > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 19:31

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I had a small video production company until everyone got one in their pocket.

andy_blackmore > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 19:38

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This is really an issue with all creative industry from film and video production (hey, I have a GoPro, therefore I am a Pro), to a graphic designer ($99 freelance sites etc) or even someone like a DJ or music producer, its the cost of more accesibility via the Internet.

(off tangent - check out the Jeremey Paxman interview with David Bowie from 2000 when he predicts this)

In motorsport, average photographers will do a deal with a not so well funded team for a pass and thats it. There are some world-class photographers moving away from cars and motorsport and many up and coming guys are also looking elsewhere. Even if they can get the work, they get significantly less than they once did.

Admittedly this is how many start and gain exposure, but back then it was x10 photographers, designers etc, now its in the thousands.

Its a mess, but its also reality, it is how the world turns.

The ones who stay ahead of the curve will always rise to the top though.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 20:50

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IMO the problem is not money; it’s popularity and image. Kids are adopting a profession as a hobby. Not knowing how to monetise their work, they post it everywhere for clicks. To some limited extent it does robs the people in professional media of revenue. But pictures of cars at a show have never been a lucrative source of income. The paying customers are looking for the last ounce of perfection—a proper studio with the proper lighting. A properly booked and set-up closed outdoor scene. Quality time spent adjusting the composition. Serious photogs need to separate this from “whatever generates the most likes on Instagram.”

Amateur photography has never been lucrative, but it has been stealing the thunder. The pros should keep pursuing the real market (a small market of paying customers, as it has always been) and not let the amateurs discourage them.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 01/15/2016 at 20:57

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Those YouTubers with exotic cars are ridiculous. None of them disclose the origin of their resources, and just about all of them have tight lips about their jobs to avoid the embarrassment of the truth. Some of their fanbois even defend them with comments like “he’s self-employed dawg he owns an airline or something dun hate”.

Most of them clearly have self-esteem issues and are just feeding their egos with click count. Have you seen videos of them that are completely devoid of cars? Why do I want to see a car enthusiast try out a new waterslide in Dubai?

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 01/15/2016 at 21:02

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You mention some of the least genuine car enthusiasts I have ever seen. They never really review their cars and spend the entire video raving about how amazing it is. Step on the gas pedal.....crazy Italian engine spins up to high RPM......wow, any owner can do that. Their “reasons” for buying or trading cars are hilariously bad, and their choices of car are pathetically cliché. Aside from rappers and ball players, who buys a 675LT, then a 675LT Spider?

They should just come clean and admit that they are on 6-month leases paid for by their parents or employers. But that’s expecting too much out of their self-conscious lives fed by Like counts.

They have nothing that I envy.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Berang 01/15/2016 at 21:08

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The market for pursuing the perfect photoshoot has always been small. Amateurs have never threatened that market and likely never will. Pros are just worried about losing the casual customers, which were never lucrative anyway.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > ttyymmnn 01/15/2016 at 21:09

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Bravo, this is spot on. Let the pros keep doing the pro work, and let the amateurs fight for clicks.

TheJWT > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 21:13

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I bet this was a really good shot.

Good write up though!

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 01/15/2016 at 21:28

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Yeah, you come off as much more personable when you freely disclose that you are reviewing someone else’s car. Oh, and when you actually review the car thoroughly rather than smash the throttle and declare the car “incredible.” Amazing, isn’t it?

ttyymmnn > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 01/15/2016 at 21:55

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Well, I consider myself an amateur, since I don’t get paid for it. However, the word amateur comes from the Latin word for love . So it really means somebody who does something because they love to do it. Unfortunately, it has come to mean somebody who does something poorly.

Brian Silvestro > twinturbobmw 01/15/2016 at 22:22

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and your popularity is not based on your skill, but the amount of irrelevant hashtags you add

*tears of joy*

yes

yes yes yes

Example <- local c&c kid, trash pics, 3 times as many followers as you

Under_Score > MLGCarGuy 01/15/2016 at 22:52

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Same; I rarely post car pictures because I know the people from school aren’t interested in them. I posted a picture of my Ranger at Jeep Mountain a couple months ago, and it received less likes than most of my other pictures. (I’m private. People who like your photos and don’t follow you are the worst.)

And with cameras on recent phones being so great (6 and 6S, 6P, etc.), cameras seem useless to me. But that’s an opinion I’ll save for a later time.

thebigbossyboss > ttyymmnn 01/16/2016 at 00:37

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The nice thing about trumpet is that all the cool kids arent doing it. That and even being a low level amateur like myself takes quite a while. Even a bad photographer can have the odd good shot. In trumpet the odd good note won’t save you.

Wheelerguy > twinturbobmw 01/16/2016 at 01:02

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Well would you look at this majestic motherfucker. Feel its majesty.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 01/31/2016 at 16:22

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Hello, new friend ^_^

SoManyBlueCars > twinturbobmw 04/12/2019 at 11:11

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I know I’m late to the party here, but I agree with most of this, and I find it odd that the #1 question people ask (or bitch about when they learn) is what camera I use. Many of my images are with a basic Nikon D5200, and I remember asking one particularly salty person if they could tell what shots I took on that camera vs a D850...he couldn’t, of course.

To try and combat this, I started a blog that has info on how you can shoot the way I do. I hope at least one person finds it inspirational.

http://machineswithsouls.com/