Vehicle photo quality.
We have all heard the saying "A picture says a thousand words"! Well in the case of online advertising there is no truer statement as long as the photos are of good quality, available and the right number and type. Remember you are not the buyer! You may not care about having photos or even the quality of them, but a potential buyer might. Neglect the photos and you will be neglecting those buyers and in turn a possible sale.
A few minutes of your time in following a few simple guidelines can make all the difference to the sale of your car.	Capture The Imagination

Photo Quality 

The purpose of the photo

A photo on its own does not create a good advert; it compliments the description to provide a complete picture for the vehicle. However the photos provide the ability to showcase the vehicle overall to verify that the description you have written is true to life. The photos can provide an all round view of the vehicle as much as possible without having to physically be standing next to the car as a potential buyer. In other words like the photo above, you cature the viewers imagination and entice them to want to know more about your vehicle as opposed to someone elses who does not have a photo or as good a photo(s).

What photos should i take and how many?

These photos were taken with a standard digital camera on an automatic setting and picture size of 640X480 pixels

In our experience the optimum amount of photos is 5, as this allows the viewer to get a good all round view of the car. The first 3 photos should always be a front angle down one side of the car, a back angle down the opposite side of the car to the front angle and the third should be an interior shot of the main driving area. The next two photos would depend on the car you have and what items make your vehicle special. If you had a Ute, you may want to showcase the tray condition. If you had an SUV you may want to showcase the bootspace or back seating area.

We highly recommend that you take the main photo showing the front three-quarter view (refer to examples above). The photo should be taken at a standing level and not whilst crouching down, this can distort the photo. Also you can turn the wheel to show off alloy wheels for example. When taking a picture of the drivers interior, take it either from the back seat of the vehicle so you can see the whole area or from the passenger side. Avoid taking it standing outside the driver's side door as you will only end up with a nice photo of the steering wheel and nothing else.

Composition

The purpose of the image is to show potential buyers features of the vehicle, including the colour and condition. Therefore it is vital that your photo does not include objects like people, other vehicles, fences, trees etc. For best results you should aim to take your photo with a white wall in the background. You should also position the vehicle so it almost fills your camera viewer with only a slight amount of space left around the border.

Camera Settings

To obtain the best quality image, use the automatic setting on your camera with the picutre dimensions set to 640X480 and resolution no higher than 3 Megapixels - only use manual settings if absolutely necessary.

Lighting

As you can see, the difference between the two photographs directly above and the ones below is striking. To get the best results take your photos with the sun behind you or on a slightly overcast day. This will ensure that your images do not have too much contrast, resulting in your image looking either too dark or too bright.

These photos were taken with a standard digital camera on an automatic setting and picture size of 640X480 pixels