Auto Classifieds Photos
Here are some further pointers and ideas to consider when you are taking photos and setting up and advert for your auto trade.
Angles:
You can get really creative with this, but sticking to standard shots are probably a better option.. Really, you need to show people at a glance what make and model your car is, what sort of condition it's in, its colour - factual information. Attempts to produce beauty shots are probably less effective, if there is a particular style or detail you feel is intergral to your car, by all means alter your angles to flaunt it. There should be shots of at least one of the following:
1. a photo showing the car from front three-quarter,
2. a photo showing the car from side on, or
3. a photo showing the car from the rear three-quarter.
It's important to take these photos from a normal standing position at eye-height. Shooting from low down can make the shots look distorted and won't show interested buyers what they're looking for. Remember, buyers want to see what the car really looks like, not how good you are at photography. Straight-forward, businesslike photos are less contrived and therefore more likely to get someone's interest. If a buyer can actually see worthwhile things in your photos you will have succeeded in the main purpose of the photo: communication of additional, useful information.
Camera settings:
Don't change anything unless you really must. Really, the quality of the automatic settings on digital cameras is excellent and there is rarely any need to alter any of them manually. Either don't use the flash at all, or to use it in 'fill' mode only when absolutely necessary. Make sure your camera's photo quality setting is set to the minimum -websites will reduce it to this anyway once you submit it in order to keep file size compact, so going for higher quality settings is a waste of camera memory and Internet bandwidth when you upload, not to mention the fact you won't know what your photo will really look like until its on the site.
Taking the photo:
Assuming you've done all of the above, and have your camera batteries charged and enough memory left in the camera, you're ready to go. From here it's really just point and shoot, but even this simple task can have a trick to it. Depress the shutter button part way for a moment before clicking it all the way in to take the shot. This partial pressure causes the camera to auto-focus. Clear, sharp photos won't stand out in a crowd, but believe me, soft, blurred ones will - and they'll be skipped over by shoppers without thinking for that very reason.
Angles:
You can get really creative with this, but sticking to standard shots are probably a better option.. Really, you need to show people at a glance what make and model your car is, what sort of condition it's in, its colour - factual information. Attempts to produce beauty shots are probably less effective, if there is a particular style or detail you feel is intergral to your car, by all means alter your angles to flaunt it. There should be shots of at least one of the following:
1. a photo showing the car from front three-quarter,
2. a photo showing the car from side on, or
3. a photo showing the car from the rear three-quarter.
It's important to take these photos from a normal standing position at eye-height. Shooting from low down can make the shots look distorted and won't show interested buyers what they're looking for. Remember, buyers want to see what the car really looks like, not how good you are at photography. Straight-forward, businesslike photos are less contrived and therefore more likely to get someone's interest. If a buyer can actually see worthwhile things in your photos you will have succeeded in the main purpose of the photo: communication of additional, useful information.
Camera settings:
Don't change anything unless you really must. Really, the quality of the automatic settings on digital cameras is excellent and there is rarely any need to alter any of them manually. Either don't use the flash at all, or to use it in 'fill' mode only when absolutely necessary. Make sure your camera's photo quality setting is set to the minimum -websites will reduce it to this anyway once you submit it in order to keep file size compact, so going for higher quality settings is a waste of camera memory and Internet bandwidth when you upload, not to mention the fact you won't know what your photo will really look like until its on the site.
Taking the photo:
Assuming you've done all of the above, and have your camera batteries charged and enough memory left in the camera, you're ready to go. From here it's really just point and shoot, but even this simple task can have a trick to it. Depress the shutter button part way for a moment before clicking it all the way in to take the shot. This partial pressure causes the camera to auto-focus. Clear, sharp photos won't stand out in a crowd, but believe me, soft, blurred ones will - and they'll be skipped over by shoppers without thinking for that very reason.
