In a world where smartphones are ubiquitous, car photos are a more vital part of the automotive industry than ever before. The images a customer sees when they’re browsing car listings or dealership websites on their phone, laptop, or tablet is likely going to be what either encourages them to look deeper or ultimately turn away. Meanwhile, presenting readers with thought-provoking reviews and editorials means pairing text with high-quality photos that capture a reader’s attention and help them better engage with the content. So what should car dealers, editorial publications, and others in the industry look for in automotive photography services?
1. Thoughtful, Consistent, Studio-Quality Images
Part of what makes car photography compelling is aesthetic excellence. To optimize the impact of images, it is therefore critical to choose automotive photography services with the skills, equipment, and vision to create beautiful images. Studio-quality car photos are a must, as photos taken in a controlled environment with professional lighting allow a photographer to showcase each vehicle in the best possible way, without environmental distractions. It also helps ensure accurate representation of colors; being able to show viewers true-to-life colors is invaluable in an industry where color can make or break a sale.
Consistency is just as important - photography that maintains consistent lighting and angles across makes and models not only allows car listings, dealership websites, and automotive publications to maintain a cohesive, pleasing aesthetic, it also facilitates comparisons between vehicles. This is essential for car shoppers, as digital spaces increasingly come to stand in for the showroom environment.
Of course, the quality and consistency of images ultimately only matter if the images are showing what a viewer wants to see. With this in mind, automotive photography services should offer the views that matter to the audience. This means a comprehensive array of interior and exterior photos that highlight key features and provide a thorough overview of each vehicle.
2. Breadth and Depth of Experience
Keeping colors true to life, knowing which features to highlight, and understanding which angles show these features comes from experience. While the depth and breadth of a photo library are important, so too is the depth and breadth of an automotive photography service’s experience with both imaging technology and the automotive industry itself. Those services that specialize exclusively in automotive photography will have a wealth of knowledge about the unique needs of the automotive industry and offer innovative products and solutions to meet those needs. In contrast, generalized photography services will likely not have a well-developed understanding of what car shoppers, car enthusiasts, and other automotive publication readers want to see, therefore missing opportunities for car sales and reader engagement.
3. Speed to Market
In the digital age, we are used to being able to find anything we want online at any time. Car images, however, are often an exception to this rule due to the practices of automakers. Manufacturers often endeavor to keep new vehicles out of sight until just before release in order to prevent competitors from lifting ideas and to prevent car shoppers from seeing vehicles before they’re ready for prime time. The result of this secrecy is that when new models finally make their way onto the lot, car shoppers are often starved for pictures of these new cars. Meanwhile, dealerships and automotive publications lack the high-quality automotive images that could help connect customers to new vehicles and attract audiences to editorials.
Finding an automotive photography service that offers rapid speed to market allows dealers, journalists, and others to show the public the latest vehicles as quickly as possible—sometimes long before a vehicle has been released. Having these images early and before anyone else can be a significant marketing coup.
However, it’s not just the speed of delivering car images themselves that matters. Offering new ways of experiencing car images designed for today’s quickly evolving technological landscape opens up new opportunities throughout the auto industry. One of the most exciting developments in recent years, for example, is integrating virtual and augmented reality in car sales and marketing. Automotive photography services that offer these cutting-edge options provide companies with the ability to create first-of-their-kind car buying experiences, automotive guides, and rental experiences, distinguishing them as leaders in the field.
Choosing the Right Automotive Photography Services
Today, there are multiple types of professional automotive photography services including private photographers who can photograph a dealer’s inventory and general stock image services that offer car photos as part of their overall library. However, these options are typically prohibitively expensive and impractical or extremely narrow in scope and don’t offer the types of images a client is seeking. As a result, some dealerships are now using car photography apps to economically take photos in-house. But while inexpensive, these apps result in inconsistent and typically poor-quality images that do little to enhance car listings or dealership websites. Meanwhile, automotive publications are often left to rely on a limited range of images provided by the car manufacturer or pay for costly photo shoots.
For many in the auto industry, the best option is partnering with a stock library that specializes exclusively in automotive photography. These libraries can provide studio-quality images shot by skilled photographers, featuring consistent angles and lighting, and showcasing true-to-life colors. They have unrivaled experience in capturing vehicles in a way that speaks to car shoppers and enthusiasts. And, critically, they understand the needs of clients in the auto industry, offering not only the kind and quality of images necessary, but also impressive speed to market. Stock libraries also mean the images are already available, and licensing for even the highest quality stock photos typically cost significantly less than hiring a skilled photographer. Additionally, these firms are able to invest in the newest technologies before virtually anyone else.
Automotive stock libraries offer a complete solution for imaging needed for dealerships, editorial publications, and others in the auto industry. With on-demand access to a vast database of high-quality images, connecting to audiences in digital spaces is easier than ever before.
DRIVING INNOVATION IN AUTOMOTIVE IMAGERY
The EVOX Images database features the most innovative packages of interior and exterior stills, 360º vehicle imagery, and VR experiences. At more than a million images strong, our team consistently raises the bar on industry standards, and offers an unmatched delivery schedule.
Complete. Easy. Powerful. EVOX.
SEARCH OUR BLOG
