w00tPORSCHE

I’ve looked through some recent for sale ads by owners featuring cars in immaculate shape. I am often quite astonished by the quality of the pictures (or lack thereof) in these ads. Many of the photos don’t do any justice to the car, hence the owner who has so caringly maintained it. Images that show the car is lousy locations (like cracked driveways, garage filled with clutter, some parts of the car cut off, poor lighting, cell phone shots, weird hue on the pictures…I could go on and on. I have some perfect examples but I will not share them with you for obvious reasons. This is meant to be a helpful and educational post and not a post that ridicules my fellow 911 enthusiasts. For a potential buyer who is often sitting several thousand miles away what attracts me are the pictures. If I am in Washington and am looking at a car in say Philadelphia or Boston with all things being fairly equal (ie. mileage/service records) I would go for the car that attracts me at first sight.

Here are few simple rules that I want to pass on for my beloved RL’ers. I am not trying to be a smart a** at all. So I don’t want any negative comments on this thread.

1. Proper equipment. Use a decent quality camera. It does not have to be a state of the art 12 megapixel digital SLR. If you don’t have one, borrow one for a few hours.

2. Location is everything. You don’t need a Taj Mahal in the background, but at least make the effort the drive your car to a location that befits the beauty you are trying to showcase. The buyer does not need to know that you have a debris-ridden garage in the background or the dirty Chevy Tahoe just behind a freshly washed 911. And, guess what your car does move, so make use of it.

3. Photography is light: Choose a nice day. Often a bright, but not too sunny (attracts heavy shadows, bad reflections on the paint and windows) day. Most people use point and shoot cameras and these don’t perform well in fading light. Light should hit at least 70 % of your car to bring out the true color of your car. Please don’t take the shot when it’s pitch dark with a flash. At all costs please avoid using flash. The interior often gets over-lighted hence enhancing every little speck of dust on the dash; leave alone the dirt on the footwells.

4. Take more than one angle. Our cars have one of the best angles, how tough is it to take advantage of those. At the very least please the front and three quarter shots, side profile, head on rear end, engine bay and the interior. You get brownie points for fun shots at unique angles showcasing other attractive details of your car like say the whale tail, H1 headlights, targa script on the B-pillar, rust free undercarriage. Try to capture something that isn’t normally seen by your naked eye. Turn the wheel out, sit down to the ground in front of the driver’s corner car and snap a shot…see how it turns out.

5. Be honest. Do show off those imperfections like rock chips, little rust bubbles or driver side outer bolster wear. Buyers will appreciate your openness.

6. Wash your car. Please don’t comment in your ad saying you did not have time to wash your car and post pics of that beauty buried in dust. Often (potential) buyers never ever click back on your post when that introductory picture turns them off. You are better of waiting a few days washing your car and then posting your ad. Please no heavy coats of armor all on your tires…like the used car dealer around your corner. At the very least vacuum the interior and avoid high glossy interior cleaners.

7. Use your computer. Often times you’ll take a photo that looks absolutely perfect right out of the camera, but even doing little things like a little sharpening or a little boost in saturation or contrast (don’t over do it) can turn your photo into something more.

Your pictures are your hooks; please don’t neglect this most important aspect. Disclaimer: I am no photographer and have never ever read any book on photography, but I will tell you one thing. I recently sold my minivan in 48 hours at a very nice price just by posting some good images.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=76429

Sight unseen, the buyer drove 220 miles with a cashier’s check in hand and drove my car off. Why…because after seeing the pictures that I posted his whole family felt that they have already sat in the car. Now I can show you some pictures that I've taken to illustrate my points but I figured you all must be tired of seeing my car's pictures so I will pass.......wait a minute a w00t thread without pictures. Ehh ! I can't disappoint. Here you go

RickBetterley

Hey, I resemble that remark! I was not happy with the color rendition of my cabriolet; I usually take a decent picture, but although these displayed the car's condition accurately, the color was off.
I have updated the pics with somewhat better color but its still off.
I went looking for a Taj Mahal but was unsuccessful.
(Good picture taking tips; in this market, everything needs to be right. Thank you)

sobamaflyer

I couldn't agree more, I've thought this over and over and over.

One can even make a less than perfect car look like a movie star with proper photo technique

-Practice with AV, exposure and lighting is key (as Woot mentioned)



My submission is more "arty" than sales, but I thought it showed off the car well. I don't proclaim to be much more than an amateur photo bug but I tinker.

rusnak

Oh, I thought you sold the 911. I was like "eh?" for a second. Nice work, and very thorough as usual.

irobertson

+1000
When looking at a car online 90% of the story is in the pictures.
The PO of my car did a great job on the pictures.
They were well done and showed the complete car, including the imperfections.
I made the decision to drive the 7 hours to see the car based on the pics. After verifying that the pics did not lie, and a short drive, I bought the car.

roverguy

Agree with the posts above, lighting is key, as is the angle of the shot. An overcast day is always better & late afternoon will give you a warmer color. Angle is really important too, I always like a 3/4 or so shot from the front down low, real low & close at wide angle.

Here are a few "fun" shoots I took at the Porschefest up here in Boston this summer with my 6 year old Nikon Coolpix 5400 I bought off Craig's list for $80 and a really cool wide angle adapter that I was using for the first time. To tell you the truth some of the shots weren't quit in focus so I had some fun with a freeware Irfanview software adding special effects. I almost never do artsy photos but these cars just lend themselves to having fun!

http://picasaweb.google.com/ghamilton.2007/Porschefest#

Enjoy!

Amber Gramps

sobamaflyer

thanks.....and there's not an ounce of PShop in that pic

GothingNC

Thanks for the tips.

Current pictures also helps.

It bugs me when I see the photos that have dates going back a few years unless they are used to document a rebuild, repaint etc.

John

w00tPORSCHE

Rick, I was not picking on you. Do you have a car on sale really... Honestly I am so tempted to buy your car. One owner, all service records, well kept car that is original in that beautiful color combo deserves a premium price and you are not even charging it. I will pass it on to anyone who is looking for one. Again GLWS.
Sobamaflyer, your picture captures what I was impyling on point # 4. Very nicely done.
Ian, your post sharing your experience is a testament to why pictures are so important.
Roverguy, hard to pick my favorite in that set of pictures. So many of them are stunning. Thank you for sharing.
John, thank you for that imprtant tip. I too strongly suggest that people take some before pictures for any restoration. For example if you need to have your bumper resprayed for road rash/rock chips please take some before pics to share with the potential buyer in the future. That way they will know that the respray if not for a rust or accident.
Rusnak, I will not sell my 3.2. That will rob me of my interaction with you guys and that in itself is worth every penny I put in for that beauty. To be honest with you, I don't even have to drive that car to be moved...just standing besides it enjoying the lines...I'm moved beyond any imagination.

Ed Hughes

Excellent points. Nothing seems dumber than blurry phone pics on ads. Good pics along with straight forward, thorough (but not dramatic or BS) descriptions seem simple enough, but some folks don't get it.

GothingNC

Another gripe I have is those who photograph the car from accross the street.
No need to stand 100 feet from the car while taking photos...

Wonder if photos like this included with the ad I found on CL really help?

The lights (on the car) are crooked



John

w00tPORSCHE

Perhaps a clear-bra would have helped with the sale.... clear-bra for the car

GothingNC

And a non-blurry "close-up" just above the windshield

John

logan2z

Not a Porsche, but a perfect example of how not to photograph a car for sale:





These were taken directly from a FS ad for a Lotus Elise. I wonder how many scratches are on that car from some of the crap in the garage falling on it?

In terms of Porsche ads, I can't tell you how many I've seen taken on a driveway covered in oil stains. Does the seller really think that inspires confidence in buyers looking for a car that is notorious for oil leaks??