I’m trying to figure out a way to take better pictures of our cars for online advertising. As you can see in the picture above, there is too much light coming in through the windows. We usually take the pictures in the corner on the other side. But along with a clean white wall, you get the exit door, exit sign, wall mounted switch box, and etc. But even over there, the light from the two big windows (12′ x 6.5′ each) and the glass paned garage door is a problem. You get crazy shadows and the light often washes out the pictures. I suppose that having the pictures taken after midnight would solve that problem, but logistically that’s not really an option at this point. So, what should I do?
So, far, I have contacted several window blinds companies for ideas. Two of them have quoted me on large blackout shades that would cover the two windows. But neither company has been able to figure out how to black out the light from the garage door. The door is so wide that having a pull down shade mounted on either side of the door would probably bend in the middle. And to make something that big would probably cost an arm and a leg. We’ve actually talked about making removable covers that could be folded and stored elsewhere but the elsewhere hasn’t materialized yet.
We may just purchase a big vinyl sheet to hang from hooks above the garage door. That would work as long as it only needed to be moved once a night. Can you imagine having to drive in a car, hang up the sheet, take down sheet, drive out car every time a car needs to be pictured? Thankfully, we have another garage door through which the cars could be driven. But if somebody is delivering a car on the other side of the service drive, we’d have a problem. Unless… . What if we installed a huge towel bar just inside of the garage door? Then with shower rings, we could hang the sheet, cover the entire door, and slide it back and forth whenever needed. That way it won’t get worn and dirty putting it up and taking it down every time we do pictures. That might be the way to go!
The other thing I have noticed other dealerships doing is taking pictures with a wall covered with the brand logos of the cars they sell. That doesn’t work well when you are advertising a Certified Mercedes-Benz and a Volvo logo is in the background. I’m thinking both companies would have trouble with that. But it is possible to put an overlay on the first picture of every car—something like the first picture with our company logo and URL. I know it needs some artistic improvement, but what do you think. Would that look good?