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If our staff is any indication, the Venn diagram of automotive enthusiasts and photography/video nerds overlaps in a major way. Maybe it’s the emphasis on design in the car industry, or that the same person who finds joy behind the wheel also finds a kind of mechanical satisfaction in using a good camera. Or maybe people just love cars and want to immortalize their memories and share them with others.
Whatever the reason, your author has spent his career as part of the visuals team, helping to deliver the outstanding photography and videos you’ve come to expect from MotorTrend. But how do we capture those epic visuals? And more important in the context of this story, how do vehicles like our yearlong review 2025 Subaru Forester Sport play a role in that process?
How We Photograph Cars
There’s a lot that goes into the photography and video content you see across MotorTrend’s websites, social platforms, and print magazines. Cars, after all, are one of the hardest subjects to capture. They’re big, complex, shiny objects, covered in a mix of painted surfaces, chrome, matte and glossy plastics, raw and polished aluminum, clear headlight lenses, and satin black rubber. They bounce, lean, and change direction quickly. Even when parked, a pothole or bump can cause the suspension to droop or compress, making a shot look off.
Automotive photography and videography are like combining all the most difficult aspects of action sports, landscape, and product photography into one job.
And every car is different. Time of day, location, lens choices—and yes, the support vehicle the visuals team is driving can all impact how a shoot turns out.
How the Subaru Forester Sport Helps
It might sound odd to say that the vehicle the camera crew is driving affects the outcome of a shoot, but it does. A good support vehicle needs to offer a combination of space for equipment and crew, solid driving dynamics, and a little go-anywhere ability. Although our Forester is far more likely to be found in front of the lens rather than behind it, it shines when pressed into a support role.
A small SUV like the 2025 Subaru Forester Sport is the most compact vehicle that’d be useful as a visual support vehicle. For the all-new 2025 Forester, Subaru expanded total cargo capacity slightly from 74.2 cubic feet to 74.4 cubic feet, and as small an amount as it may be, that welcomed 0.2-cubic-foot increase only improves the Forester’s ability to transport photography and video gear while still leaving room for a person or two to use the equipment.
In our long-term Forester Sport, we opted for the rear seat-back protector ($155) and the cargo sidewall protectors ($110). Most of our photo gear is stored in soft-sided, padded cases, but things like ladders and heavy-duty metal stands for lighting can be loaded in without worry, as the cladding takes the brunt of any careless impacts. (This, as an aside, bodes well for those pressing their Forester into DIY hobby duties.)
It also makes the cargo area more comfortable. Wait, what? One way we capture dramatic action photos of cars is by doing car-to-car shots, aka “rollers,” for anyone who learned automotive photography from Instagram. OK, kids, this is the part where we say, “Closed roads. Professional drivers. Do not attempt at home.”
Car-to-car photography means sitting or lying in the back of the Forester and photographing the car behind it. Because the Subaru is traveling at the same speed as the subject, the background blurs and creates that feeling of speed; most of the shots that look like we’re flying down the road are taken at a relaxed 25 to 40 mph.
The Forester has enough space for me to position myself comfortably in the cargo area, and it offers excellent anchor points for a full-body harness—specifically the metal latch that holds the rear seat when it’s not folded. These heavy-duty mounts, combined with a safety harness, allow us to do these kinds of shots safely.
Driving dynamics of the support vehicle are also an important part of automotive photography.
For 2025, Subaru increased the Forester’s overall chassis rigidity by 10 percent. That added stiffness, combined with a compliant suspension, gives the Forester Sport a planted feel on the road. Even on rough surfaces, it feels solid and quickly resets itself after hitting a bump or uneven patch. We wouldn’t call the Forester’s handling perfect (a little more feel and feedback would go a long way), but it’s kind of fun to hustle up a mountain road. It’s confidence-inspiring in a way other vehicles in the class aren’t.
That feeling benefits the person in the cargo area holding a camera, as they’re not being thrown around unnecessarily. Sure, it might get a bit bumpy sometimes, but the movement settles quickly, allowing the photographer to focus on the shoot. Some vehicles—like minivans and large SUVs especially—tend to wallow or stay in motion after a hit. The Forester doesn’t do that.
“Go-anywhere ability” isn’t a scientific term, but our Forester Sport ranks pretty well in this made-up category, too.
The Forester Sport trim is road-focused with its 19-inch bronze wheels, but it still has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, all-wheel drive, and a decent sidewall on its tires. It’s not the right tool for a shoot on the Rubicon Trail, but we often need to drive down mild trails or forest service roads to reach a photo spot. Sometimes it’s just pulling off the road onto a dirt turnout with a big drop. Sometimes, there are no great options, and you just need to get where you need to get. The Forester can do that.
So, Perfect? No. Good? Absolutely. In a pinch, when MT’s dedicated support vehicles aren’t available, the Forester handles its “camera car” duties admirably.
What Does This Mean for You?
The Forester Sport is smooth, comfortable, and capable. Like many support vehicles before it, it helps us bring the visual side of our tests and reviews to life. And it turns out that a lot of the qualities that make it a good support vehicle—such as its great ride, spacious cabin, and soft-road capability—make it a great car to live with, too. Without it, MotorTrend would just be words. Who wants that?
More on Our Long-Term 2025 Subaru Forester Sport:
