Professional car photos are the key factors towards successful sales & market domination. Living in the online era needs your online presence to be as unique & professional as it can be. So, you can drive more attention & increase your sales.
Therefore, we have gathered these top best practices for a highly converting car shooting from Chris Percival, the founder of MotorCut and VidAssist for video production, especially for car traders across the UK.
How many photos to shoot?
There is no such perfect answer to this question. However, you need to shoot as many photos as it needs to showcase your car. Thus, we will break it down into three sets, so you can know what do you need to cover & how.
Whole Car Photos
Catching a potential lead attraction is what a whole car image would do. When a potential customer is browsing the internet searching for their dream car to buy, generic photos that cover all the car angels is what they need at that moment. So, grab you leads attention & attract them to check out more photos of the car while covering the following angels:
- Front
- Front drivers quarter
- Driver side
- Rear drivers quarter
- Rear
- Rear passengers quarter
- Passenger side
- Front passenger quarter
Exterior Details photos
Now, you need to show your potential leads why this car is a good buy. Focus on the details and don’t get your car dropped with padding, flooring, background or any necessary element.
Shooting car exteriors isn’t a big deal, all you need is to utilize your zoom function for the perfect shot while covering the car exteriors like:
- Wheels
- Engines bays
- Front headlights
- Rear lights
- Bonus:
- Zoomed in framing = subject focused
- Wide-angle = too much dead space
Interior Shots
Here comes the last set of your car photos, the interiors. The interior shots are how you can showcase your car and sell its features. There are many ways to shot the interiors of your car, but you need to make sure of capturing all the internal details of your car, like:
- Driver side
- Passenger side
- Front seats
- Rear seats
- Dashboard
- Boot space
Bonus:
- Don’t forget to show your key features, like:
- Panoramic roof
- Upgraded sound system
- Heated seat
Car Photography Techniques
So, we have photo sets to make the shooting easier & more efficient. Now, you know what to shoot, yet, you need to know how to make these shots look professional, attractive, and converting.
Nowadays & thanks to technology, you can use a professional camera or just rely on your smartphone high-quality camera for your car shooting.
However, you need to consider the device that you are using, so you can apply the professional techniques accordingly, and that’s what we are going to explain next.
Positioning
The car position towards you is very mattering, as it affects the photo framing. Thus, to get your car framed properly, instead of taking a close shot, leave a proper distance between you and the car & utilize your camera zoom accordingly.
Bonus:
Don’t’ zoom out too much, otherwise, you will get too much dead space, which would affect the photo focus.
If you are using a smartphone, don’t zoom in too much and lose the quality of the photo. Therefore, to keep a proper resolution, your maximum magnification is “2.5*.
Height
The shot height controls how much your car looks real. You are shooting for an advert that’s goal is to convert. You don’t need to capture a low-shot photo to end up having a cinematic car photo, nor, you need to shoot a high-shot photo, so you make your car look smaller with more padding, flooring, and background.
Bonus:
To give the real feel of the photo, the best height to shoot your car at is between your chest & eye level.
Framing
It’s all about shooting a catchy car photo that encourages buying behaviour. A car on the left or the right side of the frame wouldn’t get you there.
Centralize your car vertically & horizontally for a perfect & professional photo with no dead space.
Bonus:
– Centralize your car easily by turning on the grid overlay feature in the setting menu, it works for both smartphones and DSLR.
– Control the padding & the dead space by leaving a little bit of spacing between the car and the edges of the frame.
Focus
Camera focus helps you increase the photo sharpness & show your car details. You want your car advert to catch your buyer’s attention, not to drive them away with blurry & out of focus photos.
Bonus:
- If you are a bit experienced: Use the “P” Mode, where you can adjust the exposure and brightness according to your preferences.
- If you are new to photography & car shooting: The auto shooting mode is your perfect answer, it will automatically adjust the focus & exposure for you.
Camera Resolution Settings
It’s better to adjust your photo resolution setting to be in coherence with the purpose of the photo.
If you are shooting for a magazine, wallpaper, or social media advert, then the highest resolution is your best choice. Select the largest file option to capture all the details.
On the other hand, if you are shooting for your website, choose small & medium size files. The less resolution option would work better for the optimization.
Bonus:
If you are using your smartphone, you can adjust it from the camera setting by choosing high efficiency.
These best practices can save you fortunes of time & money. Taking a professional shot is your way to attract the lead and convert it into a buy.
Bookmark this 5 minutes reading article for your next car shooting, and hit the market with a professional online inventory that encourages your potential lead to click to see more.
Recommendations:
Device & Accessories
– Canon EOS 200D
– Lens polarizer “for outdoor shooting”
Car background removal
Your photo background has a big impact on your car advert. Instead of spending hours on finding the best background to shoot at, or editing your photo background, save your time and change your car photo with the MotorCut car background replacement tool within a blink of an eye.
Photo count
make your photos vary between 20 to 30 photos. Don’t shoot too much that you turn it into a presentation, where your potential buyer might lose their focus, then of course, their interest.
