Senior Studio Photographer

At Slate, we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them.

Slate Auto is seeking a Senior Studio Photographer to help define and elevate the visual language of our brand. This is a senior individual contributor role for a photographer who thinks like an art director, someone who can originate a distinct look and feel, codify it into guides and systems, and lead its execution across current and future vehicle programs. You’ll partner closely with creative and vehicle design teams to shape how Slate’s vehicles, products, and lifestyle content are seen across e-commerce, brand campaigns, and marketing.

• Own visual development for studio and automotive photography, establishing lighting language, lensing, color palette, composition style, and overall aesthetic direction for the brand
• Develop and maintain the e-commerce image guide for vehicles and accessories, defining shot lists, angles, framing standards, and consistency requirements for product-level imagery
• Provide art direction on all studio photography, ensuring every image reflects brand standards from concept through final retouch
• Direct brand-level studio image production, hero imagery, campaign stills, and studio content that defines Slate’s visual identity
• Lead visual guideline development for future vehicle programs, establishing photographic treatment and standards ahead of launch
• Develop lensing standards (focal lengths, perspective, distortion control) to ensure vehicles are represented accurately and consistently across all output
• Design and operate continuous and strobe lighting setups, including overhead lighting control systems, for automotive and product photography
• Operate and manage turntable systems for 360°/rotational vehicle and product capture
• Shoot tethered on set, managing live capture review and file organization in collaboration with retouching and other production teams
• Author and maintain the studio photography brand book, documenting lighting setups, lensing choices, color treatment, and shot recipes so looks can be replicated consistently by the wider team
• Manage and organize photo assets within the DAM platform, ensuring consistent tagging, versioning, and accessibility for the broader team
• Partner with the creative and design teams to develop new visual concepts, seasonal refreshes, and campaign-specific treatments
• Provide art direction and technical guidance to junior photographers, retouchers, and on-set crew
• Lead final image selection, retouching direction, and color grading to ensure brand and tonal consistency
• Collaborate closely with Marketing, Creative Production, and Creative Operations team to plan shoot logistics and vehicle staging.

• 15+ years of professional studio photography experience, with a strong portfolio in automotive, product, or high-end commercial work
• Demonstrated experience developing a visual identity or "look" for a brand, campaign, or product line, not just executing someone else’s direction
• Experience building a studio from the ground up, equipment selection, workflow design, and space setup, rather than only working within an existing one
• Expert command of both continuous and strobe lighting, including overhead lighting control systems, with the ability to design lighting from scratch to achieve a specific mood
• Hands‑on experience with turntable‑based photography for automotive or product work
• Proficient in tethered capture workflows and…