Toyota 2007 Sienna that I own.

Getting to and from assignments is very important. You need a reliable vehicle in this industry and you need space to put cases of camera gear.

My favorite vehicle that I have ever owned is the Toyota Sienna.

With the back seat folded down and into the floor makes a lot of room for gear.

I have owned other minivans, which are great because you can park them in a garage. Other minivans I had to take the back seats out to then use the space for my camera gear.

What I like about the minivan I have is the back seats fold down into the floor and then I can pack most all the gear I would ever need in the back and still have seating for four people. You can fold down the middle seats as well and gain more space without removing them and if you need a lot of space they come out.

However, the reason I like the seats that disappear in the back is I don’t break my back taking them out. Another good thing is once I arrive somewhere I can unload and then use the van to take the clients around if needed. Great for those out of town shoots where you might want to go to a restaurant with the crew at the end of the long day of shooting.

What I like about the seats that fold into the floor, is once you have unloaded you can just pull up the seats for your clients to go to lunch or dinner.

When you plan to do photography as a career your vehicle choice can make a huge difference. It is like having kids, the sports car just will not cut it for the family guy and neither does the small sports car for the photographer work.

Most commercial photographers have lighting gear, backgrounds, extension cords and more to carry on a shoot.

Take a look here at some of the lighting gear I carry in this video.  It is quite common to have four or five cases this size on photo shoots.

What vehicle do you use and why?  Comment below.