In part one of the article we have already talked about how important virtual advertising is for selling your car and reaching the target. In part one you can find our advice and recommendations on how to prepare the car you are planning to sell and make it look its best before taking the camera in your hands, so be sure to check it out if you are interested in the topic and you are considering advertising and selling through a specialised website.
Today we will talk more about the actual process of taking photos of your car when you are planning to sell it and list it on a specialised website. We will focus on some tips, tricks and recommendations, which according to our experience with virtual trading are very helpful and easy to follow.
Once your car is camera-ready, you have to check the background also. Since you want to make the car stand out on the images and this is the main goal of taking these pictures, be sure to choose a simple background and if it is possible – a colour to contrast the colour of the car. For black, red, blue, etc cars choose a white background, which will create a great colour contrast. White and silver cars look great on darker and even black background.
That way you will make sure that the main focus is on the car. Let the car be a focal point by choosing a simple environment for taking pictures. Too many objects around, too bright colours and engaging textures are distracting and changing the focus from the car to other random objects. The functions modern technology gives us are amazing, you can even smooth out the background and picture the car as the focal point, the effect is called bokeh and you can find a lot of tutorials on how to take pictures with a smooth background or how to edit them to look that way.
The best option is to take pictures in daylight because the colours and details will show off true to the real ones without the need of editing the light, saturation and exposition of the photos. As it comes to the angle and foreshortening – stick to reality as much as possible. Don’t take pictures from dramatic angles in order to hide some imperfections or to make the car look bigger. These kind of pictures are, in fact, very attractive and interesting, however, they are not informative at all and they won’t make potential buyers trust you.
When taking photos for an advert, diversity is the key. Try and take as many photos of the exterior and interior as you can, don’t miss the details. It is good to have photos of the car from different angles and corners, front, side and back, close-ups of the smaller details such as tyres, dashboard, seats, inside the boot, etc. Don’t forget to take pictures of damages and imperfections, if there are any, otherwise, your advert can be not that informative and even misleading.