The front side angle shot - Photography for the car detailing world by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

The front side angle shot - Photography for the car detailing world by Mike Phillips



Behind the scenes when I'm getting cars for classes and projects here I'm talking with people, or messaging or e-mailing them and I always ask them to send me a side shot of the car. Not just any old picture but a shot like this,

1: From the front at an angle so I see the front and the side of the car.

2: Entire car is IN the picture, the front isn't cut-off, the back isn't cut-off the top and tires are not cut-off.

3: Hopefully in good lighting.

Because it's sometimes hard to explain to people what I'm looking for (and it's important to me to have GREAT pictures), I've created this thread so now I can simply e-mail them the link to it so when I tell someone I need a GOOD side shot they will understand what I mean.



These are front side angle shots

[FrankS]

Nice tip Mike!

[luvmyrv]

Interesting...because I have taken several pictures of my vehicles as well as my RV, and they always look better this way...side shot from the front as opposed to side from the back. Mike, is there a particular reason you say from the front as opposed to from the back? Is it simply to get a view of the grill and lights and hood?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, is there a particular reason you say from the front as opposed to from the back?

Is it simply to get a view of the grill and lights and hood?

Yes. A shot from this angle in a single picture give me the best overall "idea" of what a vehicle looks like.


Sure other pictures of the car are great to have but if I can have only ONE picture and I'm using it for me and to show others "what the car is", then I like it from this angle.


Can't count how many times people have sent me weird, wacky photos... and due to the amount of write-ups I do for all kinds of projects, I need lots of pictures of cars.

[Coach Steve]

When I'm finished with a vehicle, I send a text to the owner to let them know. Included in the text is a reminder of the total due and a pic of their freshly completed vehicle taken exactly like that. It shows the vehicle nicely as it includes lots of surface area, i.e., front, hood, 1/3 or more of the roof, the entire side and the tires/wheels.

[Eldorado2k]

When I'm finished with a vehicle, I send a text to the owner to let them know. Included in the text is a reminder of the total due and a pic of their freshly completed vehicle taken exactly like that. It shows the vehicle nicely as it includes lots of surface area, i.e., front, hood, 1/3 or more of the roof, the entire side and the tires/wheels.

While I agree that taking the picture horizontally is ideal and captures the whole vehicle...





I instead make sure to send the customer a picture taken vertically.





Why? Because people [by default] hold their phones vertically and a vertical pic will be full size on their screen without them having to do anything.

Sure you can hope they’re aware enough to turn their phone sideways and make a horizontal pic full size, but most people don’t think about it and fail to do so, which prevents them from seeing the picture in all it’s glory. I’d rather not leave it to chance and show them a full screen pic of their completed vehicle.

A full-screen picture of only one-half of my vehicle would hardly excite me.

Where’s the beef?

Bob

I send them horizontal pics too. But they’re preceded by full screen vertical pics.

[Mike Phillips]

While I agree that taking the picture horizontally is ideal and captures the whole vehicle...


I instead make sure to send the customer a picture taken vertically.


Why? Because people [by default] hold their phones vertically and a vertical pic will be full size on their screen without them having to do anything.

Sure you can hope they’re aware enough to turn their phone sideways and make a horizontal pic full size, but most people don’t think about it and fail to do so, which prevents them from seeing the picture in all it’s glory. I’d rather not leave it to chance and show them a full screen pic of their completed vehicle.

That's a good tip and a great explanation as to "why" to take both styles.


Thanks for adding to the discussion.

[FUNX650]

A full-screen picture of only
one-half of my vehicle would
hardly excite me.

Where’s the beef?


Bob

[Mike Phillips]

So here's what I wrote above, note the part in red bold text.

Behind the scenes when I'm getting cars for classes and projects here I'm talking with people, or messaging or e-mailing them and I always ask them to send me a side shot of the car. Not just any old picture but a shot like this,

1: From the front at an angle so I see the front and the side of the car.

2: Entire car is IN the picture, the front isn't cut-off, the back isn't cut-off the top and tires are not cut-off.

3: Hopefully in good lighting.

Because it's sometimes hard to explain to people what I'm looking for (and it's important to me to have GREAT pictures), I've created this thread so now I can simply e-mail them the link to it so when I tell someone I need a GOOD side shot they will understand what I mean.

Had a guy offer me his car for the upcoming September Class. For our 3-day classes here, because anyone attending gets to use ALL the major tool types on the market, I need at least 10 cool cars to let everyone use all the tools for a 5-Star experience.

I ask him if he can either text me or e-mail me a picture of the car and he sent about 15 pictures and the only picture that actually shows the "car" was this one,





This is the normal type picture people send me and even post on Facebook and even sometimes on this forum.


I'm not even a "photographer" by trade but even I know how to "frame-up" a show that shows the entire car.


For those reading this into the future, when taking a picture of your car to share with others, in all the pictures you take, try to take at least one shot that shows the entire car from end to end and top to bottom. It shows people what the entire car looks like.

[dlc95]

Looking back through my pics, this angle was the one I always made sure to get.