4 Tips for Instagrammable Car Photos
Photo by Mariana Plozner from Pexels
Let’s be honest: one of the most enjoyable parts of using Instagram is the feeling we get when we snap a great picture, post it to our profile, and get a lot of positive engagement on it; be it in the form of likes or in the form of positive feedback. While taking selfies is a good way to achieve this, the fact is that our friends, family, and online acquaintances don’t just want to see our faces over and over again, they want to see what our life is like. They want to see our friends, our family members, our lifestyle, and at some point, even the kind of car we drive.
No matter what kind of car you drive, the fact is that its YOUR car, it’s your pride and joy, and a great way to take pride in your vehicle is to take good pictures of it with the same amount of rigour you would invest in taking pictures of yourself or your loved ones. If you’re looking for a few easy tips to get better car pictures, try these four:
Use the Golden Hour
In photography, there is a concept of the ‘golden hour’. What this term refers to is the time of day right after sunrise or before sunset, when the sun’s natural glow is very red and very soft. Taking pictures of your car during these hours when the natural light is especially photogenic will help you get some very vivid and impressive photos of your car that you might not be able to get at any other time of the day.
The best part is that this natural lighting is completely free. It does not require any special equipment to produce, nor does it require any special composition or editing skills to obtain; all it needs is a little bit of planning and a lot of patience.
Of course, this natural lighting during golden hour will be especially useful when you’re taking pictures of your car in exciting locations.
Find Exciting Locations
The question of ‘how’ you take pictures of your car is important, but so is the ‘where’, that is the location or the environment you choose to take pictures of your car in. A photo of a car on its own doesn’t give the image much character or depth, but with a good location in the background the entire mood of the picture can be shifted to whatever you want it to be.
Bring your car pictures to life by parking it in more active places, like on the side of a lively and busy street, or in a grittier environment like an empty warehouse or empty parking lot. When you start to expand your mindset and put a bit more consideration into the locations you choose to compose your car pictures, your creativity has much more room to work.
Use Different Perspectives
Take a good look at as many car photography accounts as you can on Instagram and you’ll get a lot of great ideas for what perspectives to use. In some cases, you can take pictures from basic angles, like the front/back or sides of the car. Some might go as far as taking pictures from waist-height or even while lying prone on the ground. While seeking inspiration from other photographers is great, at the end of the day your own experimentation will help you find the best perspectives to suit your own personal style.
Shoot Inside
Last but not least, never forget that there remains a lot of potential for great car photos to be taken from inside the car just as much as there is on the outside. Taking selfies of yourself inside the car is much easier since there are plenty of places you can mount your camera; though getting another person to take those pictures for you would make it much easier. Having a second person will also help if you want to get some nice photographs of yourself while you’re driving.
If not, you can also take pictures from your own point-of-view as many people do, just make sure to not take pictures while you’re actually driving!
Remember: always keep your eye on the road in front of you, and never risk your safety just for the ‘gram!