Notes on car photography.
Guides to photographing dealership inventory and presenting every car at its best online.
In-house, photographer or AI: who should take a dealership's car photos
Dealer-reported photographer rates, what an in-house shooter costs per car, how fast each option gets cars online, what happens when the shooter doesn't show up, and where AI fits, since it still needs someone to photograph the car.
How to write a used car listing description
What a used car description should say that the listing fields and photos can't, how to describe condition and damage, which words carry legal weight, an example, and how to write a whole lot's descriptions with AI without a robotic tone or invented features.
How to get used cars photographed and online faster
Where the days go between a used car arriving and its listing going live, why photos are usually the last step, and a two-pass routine that gets real photos online the day the car arrives.
The best background for car listing photos
What listing sites ask of a background, how white, light grey, dark studio, showroom, your own dealership and outdoor scenes compare, how to match the background to the paint, and how to keep one background across the lot.
Car photo booth vs app for dealerships: cost, space and speed compared
Published prices for car photo booths and turntable studios, the space and power they need, how many cars they really photograph a day, what photo apps cost per photo, and how to decide which one your dealership needs.
Why car background replacement looks fake, and how to fix it
The seven tells that make a virtual showroom photo look pasted on, why cut-out tools start from the lot's light, and how to shoot and check lot photos so a new background looks like a real room.
Car listing photo requirements on eBay, Autotrader, Cars.com, CarGurus, Facebook and Google
Every photo rule the major car listing sites publish, side by side, from their own help pages and policies, with what each one means for the photos you take and the ones you edit.
Are AI-edited car photos allowed? Where the line is for dealer listings
What the FTC, state dealer rules, eBay, Cars.com, Google and the EU actually say about edited car photos, and why the deciding test for any edited photo is whether the car in it is still the car on the lot.
How to photograph a used car on the lot, without a photo studio
On a busy lot, stop chasing a clean background and get the car right instead. Clearcoat replaces everything around the car with the same Showroom and keeps the car as you photographed it.