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10 Vehicle Inventory Photo Tips for Auto Dealers

StaceyL

Green Pea
May 22, 2019
7
6
First Name
Stacey
We work with all dealership types and whether you are a franchise or an independent you will find something in these 10 tips to help you showcase your inventory in the best possible way. Let's face it, everyone is shopping online and doing research before they ever head to the dealership. Poor images of inventory is one of the main reasons shoppers bounce from a website. Inventory images are the key to enticing your potential customers.These 10 photo tips can help guide you to ensure you are showcasing your inventory in the best light, so your images are consistent across your website, which ultimately leads to more sales through Facebook and Instagram advertising.


1) Invest in a good camera instead of using your iPhone. It is better if you use a nice, digital camera instead of a cell phone or something cheap. Spend the $500+ on a good Canon or Nikon camera to take your inventory photos because the better the camera, the more eye-catching your inventory will be. When using a digital camera, hold it for an extra second after the shutter is pressed. This will help your chances of getting a great photo instead of one that might not be centered or come out granulated. Don’t stand too far away from the vehicle or too close. There can also be many settings on your camera, so make sure it is set the way you want it so that your image doesn't appear to be low quality.

2) Make someone responsible for taking the inventory pictures at your dealership. Ideally someone who has a passion for photography! This can be a fun side job and an opportunity to make some extra money. Not having too many different people at the dealership taking the photos will also help keep the consistency of the photos.

3) Photograph new inventory as soon as possible. The sooner you get new inventory online the better! Having placeholder and/or stock photos find their way into ads negatively affects campaign performance.

4) Find a nice, clean spot with a neutral background for photographing. This includes areas that are free of clutter, trash, other vehicles, tools, distractions, etc. The only thing that should be noticeable in the photo is the vehicle itself. It's also better to use the same spot for all of your vehicle photos, as it gives it a more professional and clean look. If you can avoid it, try not to take seasonal photos (i.e. no visible snow). You want to be able to use your photos in summer or winter without people thinking the vehicles are older, if they take a while to sell.

5) Don’t alter your inventory photos with Photoshop! Show your inventory as is with no false advertising. A car wash is recommended though to make your inventory look shiny and new.

6) Be consistent and take all the photos from the same angle. For instance, start on the front-quarter panel like you are walking up to the car for every photo. Keep it uniform and go around the car highlighting features, benefits, exterior, and interior. Take them from far back enough so that the car doesn't go to the edge of the picture and the ends of the vehicle don't get cropped out when photos resize into Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or Marketplace.

7) Squat down a little bit (unless you're on the shorter side already!) and don’t stand up to take photos. You don't want the camera angle to be tilted downwards too far. Get eye-level with the headlights of the vehicle and use this positioning all the way around. Use it as your squat workout for the day!

8) Be aware of lighting! When you are taking photos outside, a bright, but still slightly overcast day is the best. If it is a sunny day, this can cause a glare and cast distorting shadows on your inventory. Sometimes it is best to take photos outside as it can give them more detail, especially if nature is in the background. If you live in a place that is sunny year round, consider finding an awning that covers the vehicle completely and evenly and snap your photos under that.

9) Photograph new vehicles as well as used! No stock photos! Always show shoppers the real thing and use your inventory images through social media ads as an extension of your showroom.

10) If you do have the budget to hire a 3rd party photographer, make sure you vet them and get exactly what you're paying for. Just because you spend lots of money on a fancy turntable display doesn't mean your pictures will come out any better than if you took them yourself!


There needs to be a step-by-step process in place for all photos taken so that your images are consistent. Good photos is just like you making a good first impression with a customer in-store! People form opinions of the legitimacy of your operation before they've ever walked in the door. LINK REMOVED would love to help you be as successful as possible with your social media ads and hopefully these tips will help you on your way!

MODERATOR NOTE: please read the DealerRefresh rules. Links removed. Sponsorships are available to companies who wish to promote themselves.
 

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An addition to your great list:
If you get something like a Canon SX70 HS, you can stand upright, lower the camera, and use the rotating/fold out LCD screen to get the proper angle. Can be safer if shooting somewhere with weather, than squatting & standing back up on icy ground. Used that style camera for years, takes high enough quality shots at M2, for most automotive applications, and can accept a filter and lens hood, to help reduce glare, reflections, etc.

The articulating screen has made interior shots much easier for me to shoot throughout the years.
 
1) Invest in a good camera instead of using your iPhone.

Normally I would argue against this as the online photo display limitations have compressed images to save on bandwidth. But HomeNet is on the verge of releasing a new feature that will accept and send out higher-resolution images :thumbup:

If you're scratching :thinker: your head on the "HomeNet" statement then you may not understand how the Cox ecosystem works. Everything flows through HomeNet. vAuto, Dealer.com, etc all push inventory to one another and outside vendors through HomeNet. It is the heart of Cox Automotive's inventory and the largest provider of inventory data feeds in the industry. This change is fantastic news for the entire industry!

:dance2:
 
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It's exciting Homenet is going to have this feature added! Third party image providers are constantly working to make images better. Dealermade uses three to four DSLR cameras to capture quality images as well as a rotation video feature. A dealer should always try to provide their feed provider with highest quality images allowed for uploading. I work for Dealer OMG (Online Marketing Group) and we just want the dealerships we work with to show their inventory in the best possible way through social media advertising. The ads we run are an extension of the dealerships' showroom and we are the best at what we do, by putting the right shoppers in front of your inventory while beating the industry standard 4x over which equals more sales for dealers! Thank you for your feedback and we definitely will keep an eye out for that feature to be released and we all come from automotive, all types of dealerships and ad tech backgrounds here at Dealer OMG, so we get it!! Thank You
 
Thank you for the great tips! I try to be as consistent and possible and most certainly realize the importance of having plenty of good clean images for people to appreciate.

I would like to comment on a few things, though:

1) I actually do use my iPhone 6 Plus. It has an 8 megapixel camera which is roughly about 3266 x 2450 pixels. The problem that most people do not understand is digital zoom = BAD. Some may stand too far from a car, zoom in, and take the shot without really ever realizing the ill effects of digital zooming. I always take the shot as close as possible and simply crop later as needed to the size I need the image without zooming.

Another great important consideration with phone cameras is lighting. It is no secret the CCD sensor in the camera is the side of a nail head vs the size of say a DX Nikon which will be about 20x+ times larger and even larger on a full frame sensor like that found in the FX Nikons. Small CCDs need a TON of light to take decent pictures which is why I always try to take pics on a sunny day. Of course, sunny days have their own problems with glare, but I try to minimize that by trying to take my pictures between 11-2pm.

I am not anti-SLR in anyway, and I do wish I had a decent one. Problem is it is currently far easier for me to take pics with my iPhone, download to my PC the originals to crop for my website, and edit the ones in the phone to then use on several services. I will not argue that taking superior pics with an SLR is the way to go, but following a few simple rules can yield decent phone camera pics.

4) I do not have the space for a clean background or small studio, but I am lucky enough to have near-by access to a small park on the coast. I tweak the image now and then trying to decide if the car should be centered or off to the corner. I have the habit of immediately taking the cars to have the shots taken right after the detailing. Pics of the rest of the sides are taken back at the lot, but are taken tightly to not allow the background (warehouse area) to become too distracting.

Elantra-1-446x335.jpg

Corolla-1-446x335.jpg


5) I do! Mostly for image resizing and cropping. I do not do anything exaggerated like colorizing, highlights, etc. The biggest plus is being able to save the images with enough compression to make them lean but not too much compression where they start losing quality. I simplify my life by using the same dimensional size images on my desktop and mobile site.

6) All pics are important, and so are interior shots. I bought a wide angle attachment lens for my iPhone which allows me to take great interior shots to help you feel as if you are sitting in the car. With an SLR, I would have to invest in a lens somewhere in the 10-20mm range without it getting too "fishy" like a fish eye lens while still allowing it to get a great shot of the interior.

Corolla-14-446x335.jpg

8) Lighting is SO important. If the sun is in the direction of the lens, you run the risk of the camera adjusting for the sun's light and possibly causing a dark image. Yes, you can usually compensate by having the camera choose a point on the car, but you still run the risk of blowing up with highlights certain parts of the picture. Never have the sun at a certain hour where large amounts of glare can certainly creep its way into a picture, and certainly never have the sun in the picture.
 
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To me and maybe I'm wrong here but, better advice would be if you're going to be advertising cars on FB or Instagram, you need to take specific pics of specific inventory just for those platforms and heres a list of tips. The tips in this thread are great tips but... in reality, they're (the tips) almost impossible to do at scale without a photo booth of some sorts.

A $500+ camera for someone to shoot inventory pics by most dealerships simply won't happen. Especially when most dealerships personnel thats taking these photos make just $10 - $12 an hour.

Perfect lighting??? Most of these pics are taken outside in the elements on the lot. Ever had to shoot pics in the pouring rain? How about on a 95 degree day and it's 120 degrees inside the car? Or, when it's below freezing and it snowed or sleeted the night before. Trust me when I say the last thing you're concerned about is the lighting.

Think about this for a sec...

Avg dealer sells 150 cars a month. For the photo person, thats 7 cars per day if the person is working M - F. Thats 5 days a week at 7 cars per day with perfect lighting, perfect weather, perfect temperature, perfect everything.

Once again, the tips are great but... If your going to be advertising cars on FB and Instagram, you need to shoot pics of cars specifically for those platforms.
 
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Hello Rick,

I addressed your post below in Purple:

To me and maybe I'm wrong here but, better advice would be if you're going to be advertising cars on FB or Instagram, you need to take specific pics of specific inventory just for those platforms and heres a list of tips. The tips in this thread are great tips but... in reality, they're (the tips) almost impossible to do at scale without a photo booth of some sorts.

Specific photos of specific inventory don't work because eventually you'll sell that piece of inventory then it's gone. If you're running dynamic ads, the inventory that's sold is no longer featured in an ad. Unless you have a plan for specific inventory, dynamic ads are more accurate... This article is for all auto dealers, and franchise dealers more often than not do have a photo booth, photographer, or professional agency taking and editing photos for them.

A $500+ camera for someone to shoot inventory pics by most dealerships simply won't happen. Especially when most dealerships personnel thats taking these photos make just $10 - $12 an hour.

$500 for a camera is cheap. Smaller dealerships may not be able to afford certain photo luxuries, but larger dealerships hire companies to do this work for them. If you want your photos to look good, you need to have proper equipment.

Perfect lighting??? Most of these pics are taken outside in the elements on the lot. Ever had to shoot pics in the pouring rain? How about on a 95 degree day and it's 120 degrees inside the car? Or, when it's below freezing and it snowed or sleeted the night before. Trust me when I say the last thing you're concerned about is the lighting.

The better the lighting the better the pics. If you're fighting the elements to take images and they look bad, that's only going to negatively impact your sales. You can take them anywhere and make them look however you want, but the bottom line is detail oriented, quality inventory photos sell cars.

Think about this for a sec...
Avg dealer sells 150 cars a month. For the photo person, thats 7 cars per day if the person is working M - F. Thats 5 days a week at 7 cars per day with perfect lighting, perfect weather, perfect temperature, perfect everything.

And? There are companies to help you do this and there are cheaper ways to do it . Buy a banner. Find a plain wall away from debris and other cars, hang the banner and use a quality camera to take the photos. If your inventory isn't online because it's too hard to take photos, you're missing out. If it looks terrible online, you're doing damage to the reputation of your business. Even though luxuries like a nice camera and lighting seem like they're only achievable by franchise dealers, this is something BHPH dealers can strive to have. It's not uncommon to hire a person to manage your inventory photos.

Once again, the tips are great but... If your going to be advertising cars on FB and Instagram, you need to shoot pics of cars specifically for those platforms.

NOT TRUE. Those cars you take specific photos of will sell and then your ad will be irrelevant.
 
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@StaceyL, I completely understand and get what you're saying. They're all excellent and great tips. What I'm saying is that in reality in your average sized dealership, this is very, very hard to do. I've personally done both sides of the scenario. Painted the wall, put up a banner, bought an expensive camera and trained staff on how to use it. Showed them the difference in lighting effects and how the pics look so much better with proper lighting. Getting the right angles on diff cars, etc, etc...

At the end of the day guess what? We didn't have a massive increase in more car sales. The effort, expense and hurdles with staff simply wasn't worth it. We sold the exact same amount of cars. The additional time and effort spent on the pics didn't move any more metal for us.

What I learned....
I'll pay a data collection company to come by with their camera and they can train their personnel and have them to take the photos and move on. As long as the pics are decent, everyone's happy. I say everyone, I mean everyone. Customers, mgmt., sales reps, UC mgrs. Everybody. Keep in mind, I'm referring to avg vehicles. Chryslers, Fords, Nissans, Toyotas, etc.... I'm not talking about Porsche and Lambo's here.

Just my .02 cent