Photography Tips to Make Your Dealership Shine
Our sense of sight is extremely powerful: about 80 percent of all the sensory experiences we acquire come from our eyes. This ensures that as consumers browse your visual materials, they can make decisions about your dealership and the inventory that you have on sale, based largely on the images that you use. That’s why it’s extremely crucial that you nail the images you have on your website to your clients and really capture the quality of your cars. There are a number of companies out there that provide professional services, but some dealers may lack the budget or willingness to use such companies. With the widespread of inexpensive cameras and the ever-increasing efficiency of smartphones, taking pictures of your own is becoming a viable choice. That’s, of course, if you spend the right amount of time studying and investigating what works. This article will give you a variety of ideas to help you get your photography ventures off the ground.
Plan the Shots You Need
Anyone can click the shutter button in auto mode and manage to get a decent shot. Most people can also learn how to navigate their way around sophisticated camera settings if they’re given enough time. But the best photographers have irreplaceable talents that have been established over a long period of time, and preparation is definitely one of the best skills a professional cultivates. If a specialist has a description of the shooting, they’ll realize the shots they’re going to need, the tools they’re going to need to get those shots, and how they’ll all come together. This is what makes them so effective and valuable in their time. When you intend to take a snapshot of one of your cars, you can prepare a detailed checklist so that you don’t miss a shot. This is so much more successful than just showing up with your smartphone or camera, taking a few random photos, and then finding that you didn’t get what you wanted. Here’s a quick checklist of the most famous shots you want to get to provide a decent idea of the vehicle you’re offering, and they’re not the best shots by any means:
- Front view of three quarters
- Rearview of three quarters
- Side of view
- Within driver’s hand
- Screen & Vents Dashboard
- Odometer Odometer
- Wheel Steel
- Front seat
- Front chairs
- Passenger’s front interior
- Head-on-head shot
- Back of the head-on target
- Hand of the shot
- Steering wheel/consoles fired
- Regulation of the steering wheel
- Door Switch
- Head-on-shot rear seats
- Open the boot and the spare wheel (if any)
- Any detailed shots unique to the car
When it is prepared, you will concentrate on perfecting and shot rather than worrying about which pictures you really need to take.
Know When, Where, and How to Shoot Your Vehicle
When
There are optimum and sub-optimal conditions to take the vehicle’s shots. The perfect time to take the images is after you’ve got your car from the Pre-Delivery Check. This is because, of course, the car is going to be in optimum shape at this stage. You’re probably going to want to remember the real time of day. Photographers usually prefer to film during the “golden hour” while the sun is either rising or lowering. When the sun is at this low angle, it provides a lot of light without the dark shadows that can ruin the pictures.
Where
As far as location is involved, you’ll want to make sure that your images’ backdrop is acceptable. The emphasis should be on the car for sale, which your frame and context should accompany. If you have defined an acceptable venue, you can take your future images here: this will go a long way to helping you create a distinguishing aesthetics.
How
Finally, you’re going to want to ask about the thoughts. There are many terrible images out there where the photographer can be seen in the windshield or the body of the car, which looks pretty poor and gives the picture of consistency a horrible one. There are also a host of other little specifics that you can come to understand as your level of knowledge grows. For, e.g., you’ll know how to watch out for tell-tale signs of dirt.
Think Seriously About Equipment
Skill is still going to be more important than supplies. An impressive camera in the hands of a novice is less effective than a smartphone in the hands of a seasoned pro. It’s important to keep this in mind when you learn of the package you’re going to use. You don’t have to make a crazy investment, and you can take the time to learn the basics with a simple smartphone or DSLR camera. There are also fantastic lenses that can be added to the most popular smartphones that are growing in popularity these days. You’ll find that the industry has a lot of choices available, and these lenses – combined with some of the great picture editing software out there – will really give you some impressive results.
Collect References
The easiest way to build your own style is to absorb as many samples as possible and attempt to recreate the ones you want. You’re definitely going to have some favorites as an expert in the automotive industry, so it’s a smart idea to start digging a bit closer at the photos you see and really think about why they click for you so much. Using Pinterest or even storing files locally, you will start creating a gallery of photographs that you would like to use for inspiration. One of the great things about shooting vehicles is the fact that they are a static target so that you can really make your shots flawless, and with persistence and a sharp eye, you’ll be able to get shots just like the pros.
Practice Lots and Lots
Training does make you great, and the more time you spend on snapping and editing, the better your performance in the future. The K. Psychologist. Anders Ericsson claimed in his work that it would take 10,000 hours to become a specialist in a single talent or discipline. This is 417 full days, which means that if you can devote three hours to photography a day for nine years, you’re going to get to a pretty good amount! It’s a very big amount of time, but just note that any time you take a picture, you’re going to learn more about what’s going on and doesn’t function. Enjoy the trip, and with time your pictures will get exponentially stronger. Car image editing and enhancement.
Find Your Defining Characteristics
After a while of imitating your favorite images and pulling inspiration from the best, you might find that you’re beginning to create your own style. This can be an effective way for your pictures to stand out and appear distinct, draw your future buyers, and carry your dealership’s individuality to the fore. There are practically thousands of talented automotive photographers working there. Check out Flickr, and you’ll be able to find their profiles and start paying attention to what makes their individual images stand out from the crowd and inspire you. For example, check out Federico Minieri. He’s an automobile photographer, and you can see that he has some truly remarkable pictures. His job is a brilliant example of how to use urban surroundings to capture stunning images that resonate with local viewers, allowing them to picture themselves in their new car. Personally, I like his minimalist approach here.
Understand How Visuals and Copy Come Together
At the end of the day, pictures of the cars are there to encourage and excite your clients. They’re going to need to be fun and interactive. If you’re in the right way of thinking, you’ll be in the perfect place to take pictures like this. You will also be able to maximize your photos’ effectiveness by matching them with a winning copy that attracts the viewer. Copy for cars is complicated; it has to be insightful and precise while at the same time empowering the viewers and stimulating their creativity. Be sure to check out the second part of this series, where I’m going to discuss how to use copy to raise your earnings. I hope your journey in photography is going well, and I can’t wait to see the pictures you manage to snap! If you need some help, please send me a note.