By Jason Catullo
 SEMA's new Media Cove is designed with the lighting, space and equipment needed to produce visually spectacular product and vehicle images for promotion and marketing. | |
The SEMA Garage – Industry Innovations Center has a new exciting feature now available to SEMA members—a fully equipped media cove for video and photo shoots of products and full vehicles. The SEMA Garage is located next to the association's headquarters in Diamond Bar, California.
The cove was designed with the lighting, space and equipment needed to provide members with a purpose-built location to produce visually spectacular images of their products and vehicles for promotion and marketing. It was equipped with the assistance of professional photographer Randy Lorentzen, who helped SEMA go all out in the planning and restructuring of the garage to bring the state-of-the-art cove to life.
"We optimized it to 110%. We've got as great as a space we could possibly have," said Lorentzen. "The cove is set up so that not only a professional photographer like me can come in and make the best possible use of it, but also so that an average person with minor knowledge of his or her camera can come in and look like a hero."
 With construction of the media cove complete, members can go from developing, prototyping and testing products to photography and packaging, all in one industry-built facility. | |
In addition to the cove, the SEMA Garage provides other services and tools designed for product development, fitment, research and more. In fact, the SEMA Garage serves as the main location for most of SEMA’s Measuring Sessions—which provide manufacturers access to upcoming vehicles, most often, before they hit dealerships. Now, with the opening of the media cove, members can go from developing, prototyping and testing products to photography and packaging, all in one industry-built facility.
With the completion of the cove, the garage is now comprised of four cells: one is a complete emissions-certification lab and chassis dyno (via SEMA's partnership with the Automobile Club of Southern California; cell two is a the garage that includes a lift and a full array of tools; cell three is the media cove; and cell four is a large training room and welcome center.
With the combination of the SEMA Garage and Tech Transfer program, the entire product-development process is now more affordable and efficient.
SEMA members are encouraged to take advantage of the SEMA Garage for product development, fitment, photography, research and more. For more information about the facility, including upcoming events and to schedule time in the Media Cove, contact Mike Spagnola at mikes@sema.org.