Getting Started
Whether you just received your car back from the shop with a brand new Zone Offroad lift kit or you have been rocking our parts for years, getting featured on our social media is surprisingly easy if you provide good photos of your rig and the right information in your submission.
In this blog post, you will learn what constitutes BAD PHOTOS, how to take GOOD PHOTOS, and how to PROPERLY SUBMIT PHOTOS to our social media and marketing department via email. Be sure not to miss the included quick guide for the DO's and DO NOT's of vehicle submission at the end of the article!
Zone Offroad prides itself in high-quality, affordable lift kits with some of the best angles in the industry. We cater to the form seekers and the function seekers of the lifted and off-road world. Below you will see three examples of social media vehicle showcases, created with submission content from our awesome customer base. We want your rig to be next!
What makes bad photos:
Photos can be disqualified from being featured on our website and social media for a variety of reasons including but not limited to the location and framing of your photos. This Jeep Wrangler (pictured below) is a pretty sweet rig, lifted 3" and equipped with Nitro series shocks, but these photos don't do it justice.
In these first two photos, the framing is decent, but the background just screams dealership parking lot/shop alley. In the second two photos, the framing and the background are distracting and do not show the full effect of the lift, wheels, and tires.
(Things to think about when taking your vehicle photos: background, framing, angle of the camera, fingers positioned within the shot, etc.)
What Makes good Photos:
You don't have to be a professional photographer to get really nice photos of your vehicle. You also don't need to drive your brand new 80,000 dollar truck down a sand dune just for us (unless you want to). Find a nice secluded spot with grass, gravel, dirt, or sand, and park your vehicle so that the background of your photos is lake, sky, forest, bushes, or anything aesthetically pleasing.
Start off by taking a 3/4th shot of your vehicle showing the front and passenger side of the vehicle. Repeat this process to include the front and driver's side of your rig. Finally, experiment shooting from other angles, but make sure to include a shot that shows the rear of your vehicle to truly showcase the lift and stance. The reference shots of our Jeep Gladiator (above) illustrate this process perfectly. Don't be afraid to take more photos than you need and review/choose the best options for your submission.
Occasionally, getting low to the ground and snapping photos of your suspension components can also help us create awesome content with your submissions, just keep these shots simple and centered! Shooting your whole vehicle from a lowered perspective works just as well as taking a picture of the shocks, coil-overs, or cross-member.
Remember it's ok to experiment and work towards that perfect photo, it's surprising how often the simplest of submissions work really well to showcase your vehicle. Below you can see how a quick adjustment of location and framing (for that Jeep Wrangler JLU we talked about earlier) results in a much better and more professional posting that can truly show off the rig.
(note: these are to showcase that even decent cell phone photos can result in good content, however, it is highly recommended that you shoot your photos in landscape/horizontally)
Email Photos and your information
So now that you have your photos taken and you have chosen the best to send over for consideration, what's next? Emailing us is the best way to make sure content is received in high resolution, processed, and queued for posting.
First, we are going to need your social media handle (@yournamehere) in order to call out your sweet rig on our page. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can always ask, or include a first name only instead.
Second, we will need you to list the full make, model, year, and trim package of your vehicle. People want to know if you have the Rubicon, Sasquatch, AT4, or Denali... and why not call out what you paid for!!
Next, we need to know the Zone equipment/kit, and any relevant upgrades (like shock options, tire clearance brackets, etc)
Don't forget to tell us your wheel and tire make, model, and sizes. Sometimes people are curious to know what works and looks good on a specific vehicle.
Finally, you can include a list of other modifications (if any) to round out the information for all your rig's admirers. People love to ask about related products such as bumpers, rock rails, etc.
We have included a sample email below to model these requirements in an organized manner. Don't forget to actually attach your photos and send in the highest resolution/size!
TL;DR - For those who need the basics fast:
- Change your camera settings to the highest resolution and largest size possible. Use a DSLR or phone capable of HD photography
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- No low res cell phone pics, no Facebook submissions, avoid night photos without proper lighting
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- We love action shots. You may have to change your camera settings if you are shooting a moving truck/Jeep.
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- Stopping in the middle of rough terrain can also result in a great photo without worrying about motion blur.
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- If taking a photo of an off-road road vehicle, it will look more natural in an off-road setting
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- No driveway shots!
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- Avoid cutting off part of your lifted Jeep, SUV, or pickup truck unless you're after a suspension closeup.
- Clear the clutter to focus on your vehicle.
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- We recommend that you take photos out in nature, on a dirt road, on grass, and on the trail. Fewer background distractions allow your audience to focus on the rig.
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- You may want to remove your license plate if it will show in the picture.
- Shooting from a low perspective will really show off your lift!
- As you’ll notice in our own pictures, we like ¾ views for showing off both the front and side view of a vehicle.
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- Make sure you don’t cut off the front or rear of the off-road vehicle for full vehicle shots. (Full vehicle shots AND suspension shots should be taken separately)
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- Take your lifted truck photos level with the horizon.
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- Leaving space around your truck or rig is preferred if the photo is high resolution
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- Always shoot in Landscape, never vertical unless you cannot help it.
- Resaving JPEG files multiple times reduces their quality.
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- So only make corrections in photo editing software if you are well versed in good editing practices. (We have a guy for that)
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- (For businesses) Include your watermark as a separate .PNG file
- Email photos AND vehicle information:
- Any questions, feel free to contact the marketing department
