Photograph Your Car Like a Pro
Good imagery is key to a sucessful car sale
One of the most important parts of any listing are the visuals. No matter how detailed the written part of your listing is, if there’s nothing to show potential bidders what the car actually looks like you’re unlikely to find much interest. Obviously, if you want to show your car in the best light, you’ll need some pictures of it. Here’s the Carhuna guide to taking the best possible pictures of your car.
A good camera is essential here. Modern smartphone cameras can take some wonderful pictures, though if you have an SLR, or decent point and shoot to work with you’re in a good place. Making sure you have enough space on your memory card, and that the lens is clean are vital steps, too.
Once you’ve settled on a camera, you need to take care of your subject. Make sure your car is clean. Treat it to a full wax and polish, and make sure the interior is shiny as well - make sure that anything a person has touched is free of fingerprints, dust, or blemishes.
Location is a key aspect to any impactful photoshoot. Your car’s the star here, so avoid anywhere poorly lit, or with distracting furniture that may divert attention. Make sure no other vehicles are in shot, and that if you’re shooting with a background (a wall, building, forest, etc) it’s not too distracting. Not everyone has a huge garage, a studio, or vast open space at their disposal, so taking your car to a local beauty spot or somewhere impactful will probably be your wisest move.
There’s one aspect of photography you can’t control, but can potentially manage: the weather. Ideally your car will be seen in bright sunshine, or at least not the rain. If your chosen day to take pictures is looking a little grim, perhaps wait until the weather improves a little.
When it’s time to get behind the lens and start taking pictures, you need to have a shot list in mind. A shot list is a list of everything you want to get a good picture of that you can then put on your listing. Divide it into the four sections of a Carhuna listing: Main Images, Exterior, Interior, Mechanics and Underside. The best peforming listings contain at least 100 high quality photos, showing exterior, interior and documentation.
The Main Images:
Your Main Images are your listing’s hero pictures - the first thing a bidder will see. Here you want to show the car off. Make sure you get its exterior from the front, rear, front ¾, rear ¾, and profiles, as well as views from high up and down low.
The Exterior:
The Exterior section is for exterior details of your car. Concentrate on things like headlights, exhausts, alloy wheels, door handles, vents, wings, badges, mirrors, and all the things that bidders will want to get a closer view of to see that the car is in as perfect condition as your listing says it is.
The Interior:
Interior pictures concentrate on the inside of the car. Wide views of the cabin are a good place to start, but be sure to get pictures of all the key touch points - the gear stick, window controls, indicator stalks, steering wheel, buttons - as these are things that bidders will want to see.
The Mechanics:
The Mechanics and Underside section is exactly what you think it is: show your buyers the oily bits. Lift the bonnet and show off your engine, give a good view of your suspension, and, of course, the underside of the car.
Full Disclosure:
Pictures show off both the good, and the bad bits of your car. If you’re up front about what’s not quite right with it (a stone chip here, worn leather there) your buyer will be 100% informed as to what the car is really like, and have no cause to complain. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to all things after all. Remember to take plenty of pictures to give your buyers plenty of views of the car, too.
The Video:
A walkaround video is the perfect oppertunity to show potential bidders the car in even closer detail. Including clips of the vehicle running and driving will allow bidders to make a highly informed descicion before bidding.
If you don’t like the sound of taking your own images, you can let Carhuna’s team of trusted photographers take them for you. With two packages on offer The Car Listing Package: 100 edited photos of car for use in your Carhuna listing, £175 for the first car and £150 for each additional car; and the Car Boost package: 30 edited photos of car to advertise your listing, £100 for first car and £75 for each additional car, your car is guaranteed to look perfect on the page. Email accountmanagement@carhuna.com to begin the process.
