Sunday 7th December

Photographer of the Year 2025 - cast your vote!

Vote for a chance to win a free professional photo shoot worth £175

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If you’ve spent any time on PistonHeads this year (so… all of us), you’ll know our auction listings have reached exceptional levels of polish. What started as a way to showcase the metal has become a full-blown gallery of automotive temptation – the kind you definitely shouldn't be scrolling at work. Blame our photographers. They keep making the cars look this good.

Across 2025, they’ve delivered thousands of meticulously shot images: crisp details, perfect light, moody settings, while capturing closeups of any scratches and scrapes to give you the confidence to bid from the comfort of your sofa. Buyers get 150+ pro-grade images they can trust are a fair representation of the car’s condition. Sellers get a set of photos worthy of framing. Everyone wins.

What you won’t find on PistonHeads auctions? Wonky driveway snaps, wheelie bins, or a thumb making an unscheduled cameo. Our nationwide network of shooters are proper pros – the sort who can make a damp car park look like a Bond set.

Which brings us to the 2025 Auction Photographer of the Year awards. This year’s nominations are in, and once again, the standard is absurdly high. Now it’s your turn to decide who takes the crown.

You’ve got until midnight December 15th to cast your vote. Here’s the shortlist for 2025:

• 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 [997] – Adrian Brannan
• 1997 TVR Griffith – Josh Huxham
• 2018 BMW M2 – Chris Teagles
• 2016 Nissan 370Z – Matt Nolan
• 2014 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe – Mitch Brown
• 1981 DELOREAN DMC12 – Angus Taylor
• 2007 Ferrari 430 Coupe – John Langley
• 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 (718) – Matthew Brown

And the best bit? By voting, you get a chance to win a professional photo shoot worth £175 with one of our photographers. Whether you use it towards an upcoming auction with PistonHeads or you just fancy a stunning set of photos of your pride and joy, it’s entirely up to you how you use it.

Finally, a huge thank you to every one of our snappers: you’ve raised the bar yet again. Now over to the PH community – who’s your Photographer of the Year? Place your vote here.

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Vote for your favourite photographer of the year

Terms and conditions: 1. To enter, you need to place your vote on the form linked above. 2. Competition closes at 11:59pm on 15 December 2025. 3. This competition is only open to those aged 18 or over, and proof of age/ID may be required. 4. No cash alternative. 5. The prize is not transferable. 6. Only one entry per person. 7. The winner will be selected at random. 8. The prize consists of one professional photo shoot with a PistonHeads auction photographer, worth £175. You must live on the mainland UK. If you live further than an hour away from one of our photographers, we may substitute the prize with £175 worth of PistonHeads merchandise at our discretion. 9. The prize does not include transport, fuel or spending money. The Promoter: PistonHeads, 3rd Floor, 207 Regent St, London W1B 3HH. Click here for full terms and conditions.

[Maccmike8]

Black M2.

[DodgyGeezer]

DeLorean (DMC-12)

[GreatScott2016]

I find myself drawn to the cars rather than the quality of the pics . M2 and GT4 for me (the pics are good as well)

[Glenn63]

First pic of the Griff

[carinaman]

Meh.

I suppose PH classifieds and auctions photographers have to work with what they've got?

Nigel_O said:

However, all the stress over the cost just evaporates when I drive it. This was taken on Thursday, on the Bealach Na Ba pass in Scotland. I can forgive it almost anything when it looks like this:

[WPA]

Black M2

[Dale487]

Cayman GT4 for me

[Cold]

I like the 911 with the tree sprouting through the roof. Those types of pic are always amusing.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Griff

[eein]

What was the brief and rules we're voting against? All all bog standard full car three quarters shots, and there's loads of over-post-processing on most of them. Is this judging on photography, or most clean car and backdrop?

[1690cc]

Technically best photo has to be the Cayman for me.

Kudos to the Delorean for the backdrop sitting at just the right level to empathise the open doors. Shame the light in that one doesn't quite pop.

[dukebox9reg]

carinaman said:

Meh.

I suppose PH classifieds and auctions photographers have to work with what they've got?

Nigel_O said:

However, all the stress over the cost just evaporates when I drive it. This was taken on Thursday, on the Bealach Na Ba pass in Scotland. I can forgive it almost anything when it looks like this:

At some point round the NC500....


I cant say im really blown away by any of the photos. Delorean if any.

[nismo48]

Glenn63 said:

First pic of the Griff

Agreed

[Fetchez la vache]

eein said:

What was the brief and rules we're voting against? All all bog standard full car three quarters shots, and there's loads of over-post-processing on most of them. Is this judging on photography, or most clean car and backdrop?

I wondered about this, but didn't comment originally as I thought I'd just be negative.. fk it.
Why were these ones shortlisted? Most here I can't see anything particularaly amazing about, some here are either over processed or the car is simply too far away. A good car photo is different from a good car photo for an advert.

[andrewpandrew]

At the risk of offending someone, I don't think any of them are particularly outstanding. Sorry.

[markcoopers]

This is how you photograph a TVR.......gives more of a flavour of what you can expect.

Flame


Sparks

[carinaman]

andrewpandrew said:

At the risk of offending someone, I don't think any of them are particularly outstanding. Sorry.

They're not great photos. It's an advertorial for PH classifieds and auctions.

The photos look more like how to clean and 'detail' cars, the BMW and the Nissan.


Perhaps in 2026 the PH Auction ticker or banner ads have the fees on them?

[carinaman]

markcoopers said:

This is how you photograph a TVR.......gives more of a flavour of what you can expect.
Sparks

That's a memorable photo.



I remember it.

[NGK210]

Fetchez la vache said:

eein said:

What was the brief and rules we're voting against? All all bog standard full car three quarters shots, and there's loads of over-post-processing on most of them. Is this judging on photography, or most clean car and backdrop?

I wondered about this, but didn't comment originally as I thought I'd just be negative.. fk it.
Why were these ones shortlisted? Most here I can't see anything particularaly amazing about, some here are either over processed or the car is simply too far away. A good car photo is different from a good car photo for an advert.

Any resemblance to all previous lame attempts at subliminal self-promotion for PH’s auction site is entirely plausible.
Coming soon: nominations for the most pretentious and oleaginous description of a PH auction car.
Along with nominations for egregious mis-use of the phrase “full service history” – aka lying – when a car’s actual record is patchy at best, evidence of heinous neglect at worst.

[carinaman]

Another Nigel_O photo: