Anyone who is booking a vehicle will be looking closely at your listing but the first thing they’ll see is the lead image. It’s so important that this image shows your vehicle in its best light.
While a good camera will make a difference, you can take fantastic photos with your phone too. Here are some tips for taking photos that will lead to more bookings.
Frame your car properly
Make sure your car fills the frame, don’t do any harsh crops or fancy angles. Make sure to keep it simple.
Use the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is a basic photography practice that helps with the composition of images. Consider this graphic by John R. Daily. It splits this simple photograph into sections where you can clearly see how the various elements (namely the road and trees) are split into thirds. You can learn more about composition here.
Get the angle right
A harsh low angle, or one that puts the car on a slant can often look a little silly and cause potential bookers to skip past. Again, keep it simple.
Include detail shots
While your lead image should show the whole car, your other images should show details of the vehicle. If there’s something particularly quirky or interesting about it, make sure it’s included.
Show people how the car can be used
If your vehicle is usually used for weddings, make sure to include a wedding shot from someone who has hired the car in the past, or show it decked out with ribbons. If your car is available for self-drive, show it part way through an epic road trip. If you mostly cater to the film and television market, show your car on set.
Your images should tell a story so consider what you want to portray to potential customers.
Make sure your images are high quality
A blurry photo is going to put people off so make sure your images are a decent size and not pixelated.
Have hi-res images available
Oftentimes, we reach out to owners to use their images to promote BookAclassic. This can often lead to extra bookings for your vehicle. Even if you resize your image for the site, make sure you have larger, high-quality images to hand just in case we come knocking!
Don’t go over the top with filters
A filter can work nicely for an arty shot or on social media, but when you’re trying to show the car off to a potential customer, you should keep things simple and steer clear of harsh filters.
Look at the images currently on your vehicle listing and think about whether there’s anything you can do to improve the experience for those browsing the site looking for to book a vehicle.
What’s your secret to beautiful car photography?
