8 Steps to great photos of your vehicleWhen selling your car online, presentation is key.

Great photos will make for the best possible result. We’ve created this reference guide to help you properly present your vehicle and take excellent photos yourself. Great photos can be taken with a professional camera or a mobile phone—so long as you heed this advice, you’ll do just fine.

The gallery for this listing shows ideal framing, lighting, angles and background:

bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-porsche-912-coupe-6

Example Gallery

Step 1: Start with a clean carWash and dry the exterior. Clean and vacuum the interior. Remove everything from the interior that is not going with the car. The car doesn’t have to be professionally detailed, but it should be as clean as possible.

Step 2: Move the car outsideCars look better when they are photographed outside. Unless the weather is inclement and the car cannot be driven, move the vehicle outside.

Step 3: Start with the right lightShoot in open shade, when it is overcast, or in late afternoon sunlight if at all possible. If shooting in the middle of the day, try to find some shade.

Step 4: Pick a simple locationFind a quiet, uncluttered location. Use a side street, park or an empty parking lot. Eliminate visual distractions. Keep the background uniform, a wall, trees, a fence, or open space. Remember—you’re selling the car, not the background.

Before you press the button, take a look around all four corners of the viewfinder—is a tree or telephone pole jutting out of the car? If so, change your view or location to eliminate those visual distractions.

Step 5: Shoot the exteriorAlways have your camera or phone in landscape or horizontal orientation for all photos. Position the car against an uncluttered background (as in Step 4) ideally with the sun or light behind you.

Start by photographing the driver’s side. Include the entire car, leave some space for cropping in front and in the back. Bend your knees—the driver’s door handle should be in the center of the frame left to right and about one third of the way up from the bottom.

Photograph both the driver and passenger sides, 3/4 views, and straight shots of the front and rear.

It’s best to move the vehicle to capture different angles. The photographer should stay fairly stationary, capturing different angles of the vehicle under the same light.

Step 6: Shoot the interiorAlways have your camera or phone in landscape or horizontal orientation for all photos.

Begin with a comprehensive overview. Open the door and photograph as much of the interior as you can fit; seats, steering wheel, and dash—show it all.

Then, focus on the details; steering wheel, gauges, odometer, dash controls, pedals. When photographing the gauges, the glass can be highly reflective, so vary your angle of view to reduce reflections.

Photograph the interior from both the driver-side and the passenger-side. Remember to shoot the headliner, carpets, door cards, glass and all the details.

Reference the shot list provided at the end of this guide.

Step 7: Show it all; the good, the bad, and the uglyDon’t hide or “photoshop” the problems. Show the flaws up front rather than waiting for discovery during the auction or after delivery. Digitally retouching photos to hide flaws on the car is unethical.

Start with wide shots and work closer. Details matter. Shoot the condition of the interior and exterior; trim, rubber, glass, dash, seats, carpets, etc. Most galleries have more than 50 photos in them; many have over 100. The more the better!

Open the hood, photograph the motor from as many angles as possible. Photograph the VIN, data plates and any stickers or labels. Photograph inside the trunk, remove everything including the spare tire.

Photograph the tool kit, extra equipment, and all the spares included. While you do not have to photograph every square inch of the car, the photos should represent every square inch of the car.

Get the car on a lift, photograph the underside in detail. Work from front to back; photograph the bottom, wheels, tires, suspension and any rust or damage.

If you don’t have access to a lift, lay on the ground and shoot as much as you can.

Step 8: Shoot service records, accessories, titleIt’s important to get photos of items that the car comes with. For service records, lay them out like a fan and take one shot from above. If you have personal contact information that can be seen, be sure to block it out before taking the photo.

Document what accessories the car comes with; window sticker, extra keys, manuals, etc.

Finally, take a photo of the title. We WILL NOT post it publicly—but oftentimes need it for vetting purposes.

Shot List (1/2)References these pages while shooting to make sure you capture every important angle.

Exterior• Driver-side view straight• Driver-side view ¾ front• Driver-side view ¾ rear• Passenger-side

view straight• Passenger-side

view ¾ front• Passenger-side view

¾ rear

• Head-on front• Head-on rear

• Beneath driver door• Beneath passenger

door• Fender detail RF• Fender detail LF• Fender detail LR• Fender detail RR

• Seams and gaps• Emblems• Trim pieces• Chrome pieces

• Lights off & on• Exterior and

Interior plastics• Wheels and tires• Wheel wells

• Beauty shot from low angle (lie down)

• Beauty shot from high above

• Beauty shot – close• Beauty shot –far

• Glass• Glass details & stickers• Exterior problem areas

Interior• Seats from driver-side• Seats from passenger-

side• Stitching/seat details• Steering wheel

• Gauges• Switches• Console• Dash overall• Dash detail

• Glove box closed• Glove box open• Belts detail• Door cards, driver• Door cards, passenger

• Radio• Instruments with

lights on• Digital functions• Interior lights• Carpets/mats• Floor beneath carpets

if removable

• Trunk• Trunk empty• Trunk with spare• Trunk floor w/o spare• Interior problem areas

Engine, Underside, etc• Engine bay• Engine bay, driver-side• Engine bay, passenger-

side• Engine bay details

• Under car from front, back, left, right

• Service records• Accessories• Title (will not be posted

publicly.)

Shot List (2/2)