How to photograph cars with your phone: 12 simple tips

You do not need a proper camera to take good photos of cars. Almost every difference between a great car photo and a forgettable one comes down to where you stand, what the light is doing and a few small habits. Here are twelve that make the biggest difference on a phone.

1. Clean your lens

Phone lenses live in pockets and collect fingerprints. A smudge turns bright areas into haze and makes headlights and reflections flare. Wipe the lens with a soft cloth or the inside of your shirt before you start. It is the easiest improvement there is.

2. Get the whole car in the frame

It sounds obvious, but cropped bumpers and missing wheels are the most common problem in car photos. Leave a little space around the car on every side. You can always crop later, but you cannot add back what you did not capture.

3. Use the front three-quarter angle

Stand so you can see the front of the car and one side at the same time, roughly at the corner. This is the angle car makers use in their own photos because it shows the car's shape, its face and its length in one picture. A rear three-quarter view works well too, especially for cars with distinctive rear lights.

4. Crouch to headlight height

Most people photograph cars from standing height, which looks down on the roof and makes cars look flat and small. Crouch so the phone is roughly level with the headlights. The car looks lower, wider and far more like it does in a magazine.

5. Step back and use the zoom lens

If your phone has a 2x, 3x or 5x lens, step back and use it instead of standing close with the standard lens. Wide lenses stretch whatever is nearest to them, so a close-up of a car's nose makes it look bulbous. From further away with a longer lens, the proportions look right.

6. Do not zoom past your lenses

Pinch-zooming beyond your phone's actual lenses usually just crops the image and throws away detail. If you need to get closer, walk closer.

7. Watch the background

Before you take the photo, look at what is behind the car. Lamp posts growing out of the roof, bins, and bright signs all pull attention away from the car. Often a step or two to one side is enough to fix it.

8. Mind the reflections

Shiny paint and glass act like mirrors, and the most common thing reflected is you. Change your angle slightly until your reflection disappears from the doors and windows. Reflections of bright sky can also hide the shape of the bodywork, so it is worth trying a few positions.

9. Choose soft light when you can

Harsh midday sun creates hard reflections and deep shadows. Overcast days are underrated for car photos because the light is soft and even. Early morning and the hour before sunset are even better, when low, warm light brings out the shape of a car.

10. Tap to focus and set the exposure

Tap the car on your screen to focus on it. Most phones then let you slide the brightness up or down. For bright cars, white paint or sunny days, sliding it down a little keeps detail in the highlights. For dark cars in shade, nudge it up.

11. Hold it steady

Brace your elbows against your body or lean on something solid, and take the photo gently. For moving cars, turn with the car as it passes and use burst mode, then keep the sharpest frame.

12. Take a few, then move on

Take several photos from slightly different positions. It costs nothing and one will usually be clearly better than the rest. Then move on. Do not linger in the road or block the pavement, and never step into traffic for a shot.

Details worth a second photo

Once you have the whole car, a few close-ups tell its story: the badge, a wheel, the rear lights, or anything unusual about that particular car. Keep them respectful and stick to what anyone could see from the street.

Using CarSnapper

The same habits help CarSnapper identify the car. Keep one car clearly in view, and any angle works. Good light helps, and a clean lens helps more than anything. If the app ever gets a car wrong, tap Wrong car? on the card to ask for a correction.

For more on the hobby itself, read our beginner's guide to car spotting.