The car photography genre is getting more and more popular day by day. People who deal with car car-selling businesses need to be extra careful about car images. Car photography isn’t only about placing the car in a random position and pressing the shutter button.
Through this article, I am going to provide 23 best car dealership photography tips. We’ll go through the small details to produce stunning-looking vehicle photos.
Those tips will help you to get engaged with more probable clients. Also, your online store will look well-decorated with professionally captured car imagery.
Car Photographers, car dealers, and studio owners can improve their car photography skills by reading this article. Let’s move forward and get to know about car dealership photography tips in detail.
23 Best Car Dealership Photography Tips to Get Stunning Car Photos
1. Pick Right Equipment
You have to pick the right equipment to keep the basics right. Without picking proper equipment, it is never going to be easy to capture car photos like professionals. Any high megapixel camera from Nikon, Canon, and Sony will be a good option for car photography.
Do you have a tight budget? In that case, you can pick budget-friendly cameras for professional photographers. If your budget allows, you should go for full-frame sensor cameras.
Next to that, you have to purchase a lens with a wide focal length range. According to the experts, the 24 -105 mm focal length range is preferable for taking wide car shots.
2. Use CPL Lens Filter To Avoid Reflections
While taking car photos, you might have noticed unnecessary reflections in the photo due to the glossy finishing of the car. Would you like to avoid those reflections?
You can use a CPL lens filter to avoid that. The CPL (circular polarizing lens filter) is used for outdoor photography to get rid of over-brightness and reflection.
To get stunning car photography, you should attach the filter to your lens. Also, don’t limit yourself to a specific angle. Try capturing pictures from different angles to get the most beautiful-looking view. This will be also helpful to capture photos with an over-bright sky.
Know more: Automotive Photography Pricing Guide For Car Dealers
3. Capture From High And Low Angle
Most of the photographers take photos from eye level. Viewers are used to seeing this view. You can grab their attention by trying something new and exceptional. Can you assume what you have to do for that? Yes, you have to explore at high and low angles. That will present the car with a unique look.
Never be afraid of trying something exceptional when it comes to professional photography. You can lie down on the road to capture it from a lower angle. Also, a ladder can be helpful to capture from a higher angle. Now, it’s up to you how perfectly you can utilize different angles.
4. Capitalize Light Painting
To be an excellent photographer, you have to master the art of trying something out of the box. Capitalizing on the light painting effect is a perfect example of that.
You can utilize nearby light sources to produce excellent photography. In that case, you have to choose the “Bulb” option from the shutter speed and set the ISO to 100.
Place the car in different directions to see in which direction it looks most appealing. Hopefully, after having a try you will get a better view than you would have expected. Don’t forget to use a tripod and change the camera height while trying different directions.
5. Select Suitable Location
The background is an important fact to care about when it comes to the car photography genre. A suitable background can change the overall feel of the viewers about making the purchasing decision. You need to be sure that you have picked the most suitable location.
If you don’t have such a location nearby, you can try the Car Background Replacements Service to change the existing background. Hopefully, that will improve the overall quality of your car photography.
6. Don’t Stick To The Static Car Pose
As I have said earlier, sometimes you have to try something out of the circle. For Example, 7 out of 10 car dealers keep the car pose static.
How would you bring motions to your car photography? That sounds cool, doesn’t it? To make this happen, you have to learn to utilize the manual settings of your camera.
Also, you can bring the motion blur effect to your car photography to give a new vibe. That will attract more potential car buyers. People get interested in photography when they find it interesting and catchy.
Know More: How to Edit Car Photos in Photoshop
7. Edit Your Photos Professionally
This is one of the most effective methods of these 23 best car dealership photography tips. Car Image Editing Service is mandatory to give the finishing touch to your photography before uploading online.
All top-rated car dealers edit their images by professional car photo editors. Thinking about the budget for editing car photos?
Thankfully, you can get your car photos edited professionally by Clipping Way at a reasonable price. Moreover, they also have a refund policy to ensure their client’s highest quality. That will also save you valuable time as you don’t have to edit your images by yourself.
8. Capture In Details
Car photography is not only about showing how the car looks from the outside. To get impressive car photos, you have to pay attention to the details while capturing shots.
Is there any special feature available of the car that you’re capturing? Do some research and mention the special features of your photography.
For example, a car has an impressive headlight. You have to highlight it with a closer shot. Sometimes those small details influence the viewers to make the purchasing decision. Also, showcase the inner side of a car. Be as expressive as you can through your photography.
9. Pay Attention To The White Balance
For car dealership photography, You need to keep the originality and realistic vibe of your photography. The color of the car should look natural as it looks in reality.
Choosing the wrong white balance can damage your image from this perspective. Before you upload an image to your website, compare the image with the original car.
If you feel that the colors are looking different, you have to adjust the white balance manually. Though, it would be better to capture photos with proper white balance, brightness, and contrast.
10. Explore Interior And Exterior Shots
Sometimes a car photo looks fabulous on the outside. On the other hand, some cars look more stunning from an interior view. It depends on various perspectives such as the car color, outside scenario, studio setup, inner design, etc.
To be the best car dealership photographer, you have to explore both interior and exterior.
You have to make a perfect blend of interior and exterior shots. Give viewers the feel as if they are seeing the actual car. When you represent your car photograph both from the interior and exterior, customers get more influenced to purchase the car.
11. Use Sufficient Lighting Set Up
To illustrate your car in a better way, you need to have sufficient lighting set up. For car dealership photography, you can’t rely on natural light all the time. If you have the budget, my recommendation for you is to buy a vehicle photography lighting kit set.
Those will assist you to take stunning car photos like a professional photographer. Besides, you have to master the art of placing light sources in the proper direction.
To do that, you have to try placing them at random positions and capture photos with that setup. After that, compare each photo and determine the perfect direction.
12. Capture At Night
Some cars look impressive in the dark background. Therefore, car dealers often showcase their car photography at night. To capture car photos at night, you can set the camera settings to “Night Mode”. Besides, you have to keep the shutter speed around 15 seconds. Thinking about the aperture?
Well, considering the light sources you can set the aperture from f-5 to f-11. Beginner photographers often make a mistake by choosing high ISO. That can cause overexposure in your photography. You should keep the ISO within 500.
13. Adjust Blur & Shutter Speed
Don’t rely on the auto shutter speed and blur option all the time. If you don’t get the desired result, adjust blur and shutter speed manually. You have to set the shutter speed depending on whether you are capturing a moving car or a static car.
To get a blurry background for moving cars set the shutter speed to 1/200, 1/125, or 1/100. Most of the time, you have to capture cars that are not moving.
In that case, you can set the shutter speed to a lower value. For example, you can select the shutter speed from around half a second to full a second.
14. Apply Rule Of Thirds
Have you ever heard about the rule of thirds? You can apply this photography technique to your photos to produce some of the most stunning car photography. To capture your car photos in that technique, place the car on the left or right of the screen.
You have to break down the frame into 9 squares, three on the horizontal line and three on the vertical line. After that, you have to place the car considering those 9 squares. That will help you to make a better composition.
15. Capture At The Right Time
Are you looking for the best car photography? You need to be concerned about the time of capturing the image. If you’re shooting car photos outside, you have to select a time when there is soft sunlight. Some people think about capturing a photo at noon. That’s not a good idea at all.
Harsh light can be the cause of overexposure and over-saturation. The better option will be to set the schedule a few minutes earlier in the sunlight.
Also, you can select golden hours for photography. The first hour after sunrise and the final hour before sunset is considered the golden hours in photography.
16. Experiment in Different Light Conditions
Doesn’t your car photo get the desired look even after trying a few times? Don’t hesitate to experiment in different light conditions based on the car color. Try to change the light sources from artificial to natural or natural to artificial. Some colors look more appealing in the natural light.
On the other hand, some cars look more eye-catching when captured in artificial lights. The main objective is that your car photography should look livid and realistic. After experimenting with a few different angles and directions, your car photography should get the look that you desire.
17. Take Vertical Shots
A few car photographers stick to the horizontal shots only. Don’t include yourself in that list. You have to showcase your car images both vertically and horizontally.
Sometimes vertical shots are preferable for some platforms rather than horizontal shots. If you capture only horizontally, you won’t get a good response.
Thinking about how to take perfect vertical shots? Well, you have to divide your frame into zones as you have done in the rule of thirds. After that, you need to place the car while keeping the foreground clear. That will make your shots perfect.
18. Try The Bokeh Effect
Would you like to bring more importance to the car? On that note, you can utilize a narrow depth of field. It will make the background blurred. As a result, the background won’t be distracting at all. Also, it allows you to capture car photos in a busy background.
To capture in this form, you have to set the aperture wide. For example, you can try setting it to f-2.8. Are you thinking about how to control the depth of field? Long focal lengths will come in handy at this point.
19. Apply Panning
There are some car dealers who expect to get a background with lots of motion blur. Panning can be the solution to bring that effect. To apply it, you have to set the shutter speed low and capture your moving car. For example, you can start with 1-160 shutter speed.
You may not get the desired result on the first few tries. It needs some practice to get perfect shots through panning. Hopefully, gradually you will get the desired shots after some practice. Don’t hesitate to change the shutter speed a bit higher or lower.
20. Know About The Vehicle
Before you take pictures of a car, you have to know the features of the vehicle. At least, you need to have some basic knowledge about the specialty of that car model.
That will help you to highlight those features and specialties. That will make car dealership photography more appealing to the targeted audience.
You can learn about those features from Google, Youtube, or car user manuals. Typically, car dealers upload several photos from random views and angles of a car. You can add those photos with special features to make the listing more attractive.
21. Be Meaningful
Buyers get interested in purchasing a product online when they relate them to the product photos. Your pictures need to reflect why somebody should purchase them. For example, suppose a car is best for family riding as it has a bigger space. Some of your photographs should demonstrate it.
Alongside this, you need to bring adventurous context while capturing ATVs and UTVs images. Whenever you learn the art of telling stories through car photos, you will be able to produce the best car dealership photography.
22. Play With The Angles
To become good at car photography, you need to learn to use different angles. Some of you may get confused by thinking about which angle car photographers should try.
Alright, you can capture car photos from the front left, front, back, back left, and side angles. Use a tripod so that you can avoid shaking.
Along with changing different angles, adjust the height of the tripod. As I have mentioned earlier, don’t capture all the photos from eye level. You may get more attractive shots from a different height.
23. Car Image Retouching
Each time you capture car photos, retouch them professionally by an expert before uploading them online. You can hire Clipping Way for Car Image Retouching Services. When you take car photos in the studio, there are lots of flaws in the images.
Professional image retouches go through those flaws and fix them using Adobe Photoshop. Image retouching will bring out the best possible look of your car dealership photography. What about trying it now? A free trial is available for you. They are available 24/7.
Conclusion
So, there is a lot to improve in car dealership photography skills. Hopefully, those 23 best car dealership photography tips will help you to make the improvement. You can sharpen your skills by practicing more and more.
Do you have anything else to know about car dealership photography tips? Feel free to contact us for professional image editing tasks.
FAQ’s
How do i make my car dealership photos stand out?
Make sure the cars are clean and polished. You can use a variety of angles to show off the cars. Finally, do the post-processing work perfectly.
What is a good background to use for car dealership photos?
Keep the background simple and non-destructive. You can use a plain white background.
What is the best time of day to take car photos?
The daytime when there is natural light is the best time of day to take car photos.
What is the best camera to use for automotive photography?
Canon EOS 90D, Sony A7R IV, Sony A7 iii, and Nikon Z 6II are some of the best cameras for Automotive photography.
What is the best lens to use for car dealership photography?
Wide-angle lens is the best lens to use for car dealership photography.
What are some good editing tips for car dealership photography?
Some good editing tips for car dealership photos include cropping the photos, adjusting the brightness and contrast, and adding filters.
What are some common mistakes to avoid when taking vehicle photos?
Some common mistakes to avoid when taking vehicle photos include using a low-quality camera, and not editing the photos professionally.
