Creative use of Car Pics.

[Rick Buffkin]

Just playing with this site. Simply upload the pic and this is whats returned. A little washed out but, for a hands off enhancement, not to bad I don't think.

 

[vitas]

Ideally, you can optimize for the device where the photo will most likely be consumed, likely mobile screens that tend to be contrasty and bright. Another common issue is resolution. The old and trusty 640 x 480 is insufficient for hi-res mobile screens. People are trained to use the pinch gesture to zoom in/out. When a website does not support this gesture, or a photo has an insufficient resolution, it leaves customers frustrated. Hi-res photos present a problem with loading speeds, especially over slower mobile connections, so website has to be smart about pre-fetching thumbnails and high-res photos, anticipating user actions. JPEGs can be safely optimized for on-screen consumption and smaller sizes with compression and slight sharpening. It requires someone to care, but hopefully dealerships are coming to realization that merchandising starts with photos and they need to give them proper attention.

 

[vitas]

WOW!
V, looking thru zillow, some of the photography is clearly next level. We need this in auto, What tools are these top performers using?

Professional photographers have their workflows nailed down. They show up at location with additional lighting, they have the right lenses, and they have post-processing flows that deliver the results you see. I'd argue that cars are easier because if you set up good lighting once, you can keep using as the inventory rotates. Post-processing steps can be done automatically in Lightroom (probably most popular) or other software, which will spit out images ready to be delivered to inventory aggregators (as long as aggregators, website providers, and classifieds websites don't take the liberty of making their own adjustments)

 

[ChrisR]

Agree 100%! My example was just for illustration purposes only. Nothing beats a properly taken image from the camera, and I know it first hand, as a co-founder of Zenfolio (having spent 10+ years working with pro photographers). However, some clever post-processing optimized for on-screen presentation vs printing as well as specifically for car photos could make the images pop, tell a better story, ultimately selling cars better!

Nice to meet you! I utilized Zenfolio a LOT, when I was shooting regularly, helped streamline he sales side of the process.

Makes perfect sense to me, didn't want to assume it was illustrative only, as I am sure we have all seen those who don't see IQ as an important thing, and add a pile of noise, to show off their editing "skills".

 

[ChrisR]

For dealer photography, everything gets killed by harsh lighting.

Your black Durango above for example, how many lights can you see in the reflection of the car? I think I counted 8. That's what makes it look "not good" compared to the silver 4Runner which the neutral color diffuses the light versus the hard reflections.

The other thing that helps is making large soft boxes, to help diffuse the light.

 

[AutoAlex]

The other thing that helps is making large soft boxes, to help diffuse the light.

Yup! Big time diffusers.

Speaking of, if anyone wants to foot the bill for a Chimera Light Bank, I will gladly fly in and help set it up and train your staff to use it (after I get to play with it for a week or two).

 

[jscole86]

Yup! Big time diffusers.

Speaking of, if anyone wants to foot the bill for a Chimera Light Bank, I will gladly fly in and help set it up and train your staff to use it (after I get to play with it for a week or two).

I'll take you up on this . In an ironic twist of events, I have this exact light bank arriving very soon. It was ordered about 3 weeks ago.

 

[AutoAlex]

I'll take you up on this . In an ironic twist of events, I have this exact light bank arriving very soon. It was ordered about 3 weeks ago.

That's great! You are in my old back yard too (Medina), unfortunately I was just in Ohio for the last time this year. I will be requesting progress updates on the new photo booth though!

 

[DrewAment]

How about --- some attention to detail, if you are being even halfway creative with a hum-ho 3rd party software program?



and WHOOPS????



Yes -- an EV 2018 BMW I3

 

[AutoAlex]

Anyone want to assist me with an experiment?

I currently have some time off while I am interviewing and just enjoying my (forced) break before getting back to work. I would like to do an experiment with some photos of vehicles. I have a lot of experience editing in lightroom (basically photoshop but for bulk processing vs PS individual photo processing) and am trying to put together a preset that 1) increases the appeal of pictures of a vehicle and 2) can be done quickly / efficiently so that it doesn't take 20+ mins per car and therefore isn't worth the time / effort.

Basically looking for someone to volunteer their photos of their vehicles before they get decompressed by whatever IMS, web provider, etc, otherwise I would just grab them off the internet.