I’m sure most photographers make do with the vehicle they have to do their job….and some photographers depending on the type of shooting they do, their selection of vehicle is more important than others. For a photographers who primarily shoots in the studio, it’s almost a non issue. But for portrait photographers who do a mix of studio photography and on location or outdoor portraits, wedding photographers, commercial photographer, and traveling photographers, their choice of vehicle can be very important. For me, the demand changes with the season sometimes, but as a whole, probably 3/4 of my photoshoots are on location, and as a general rule, mostly headshots and intimate sessions are done in the studio, in my case. So, for me, choice of vehicle was important. I live in the city, I don’t do a ton of driving, and try to combine my errands as much as possible. But fuel economy is still a concern, as well as having dependable transportation. But the biggest importance to me is having ample cargo room, and my gear being easy to load with respect to how the car is designed. So, for me it only made sense to get a compact hatchback, without wasted space, and with good visibility.

When I was buying this car, my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, I measured the distance between the corner of my dash and the inside of my back hatch. I wanted to make sure I could transport a 9 foot seamless paper roll (studio background) in my car and the rear hatch would still shut. If transported as I describe, there are 2 -3 inches of room left over with the hatch shut….and not many people would believe it without seeing it. The design of it makes it easy to load equipment in and out, quickly, which is important when on the go and shooting events. Ceiling height also plays a part. For hatchbacks, the rear hatch having too much of a slant also takes away valuable cargo space…..more randoms to think about. There have been plenty of times I have had this little car loaded down with equipment…..when I did an advertising shoot for a salon, I had my background stands, a seamless paper roll, my camera case and rollaround chest with studio lighting and stand weights, and 2 AC packs for my lights, a C stand, 3 other stands, as well as modifiers. There wasn’t a ton of room for my assistant to stretch about, but it did the job. I’m a little biased about the Fit being a great car for a photographer, but if you have the choice, mapping all this out based on your shooting needs, before buying, will really help you choose the right car that will get you to and from your jobs every time, or darn near close unless a much larger shoot than usual, but then transportation can always be budgeted in the quote to the client.