How to photograph your motorhome or caravan

Good photos are what buyers look at first. Take them on your phone, in this order, and you'll walk round once and finish inside. It's part of getting your motorhome or caravan ready to sell.

Before you start

• Pick a bright, grey day if you can. Soft light shows your motorhome or caravan as it really is, with no harsh shadows.
• Give it a wash and let it dry. Take the cover off, close the windows, roof lights and blinds, and wind the step in.
• Move the car, bins and anything else away from it, so you can walk all the way round.
• Wipe your phone's lens, and hold it sideways for every photo.
• Use the normal 1x camera, not 0.5x, and leave the flash off.
• Keep your house number and other people's cars out of shot. Your own number plate can stay in.
• Send the original photos, not screenshots or cropped copies.

The one buyers see first

Your first photo is the front corner on the door side. It's the photo at the top of your advert and on the listing card, so it's the one worth taking a few times.

For a motorhome: Stand at the front corner on the side with the main door, so you can see the front and the whole side. Take about four big steps back. Hold your phone sideways at chest height, level, on the normal 1x camera. Fit the whole motorhome in, with a little sky above the roof and a little ground below the wheels.

For a touring caravan: Stand at the front corner on the side with the door, so you can see the front, the A-frame and the whole side. Take about five big steps back. Hold your phone sideways at chest height, level, on the normal 1x camera. Fit the whole caravan in, from the hitch to the back corner, with a little ground below the wheels and the jockey wheel. Leave it unhitched and level.

Before you take it

• The whole motorhome or caravan is in the photo, with space all round it.
• Nothing is in front of it or touching it: no car, bin, bike or person.
• The doors, windows and roof lights are closed and the step is in.
• Your phone is level, at chest height, on 1x, with no zoom.
• If the sun's out and strong, wait for a cloudy spell.

Shots for a motorhome

1. Front corner, door side. The one buyers see first. Follow the steps above.
2. Front, straight on. Face the front, square on, with the number plate in the middle.
3. Front corner, other side. Same height and distance as the first photo, from the other front corner.
4. Back corner, other side. Walk round to the back corner on that side. Show the back and the side together.
5. Back, straight on. Face the back, square on. If there's a bike rack or ladder, buyers will look for it here.
6. Back corner, door side. The last corner, at the same height and distance.
7. Door side, straight on. Stand level with the middle of the side and step back until it all fits. Door closed.
8. Cab. Open the driver's door and take the seats, steering wheel and dashboard in one photo. Straighten the wheel first.
9. Dashboard, ignition on. Turn the key to on, so the mileage and any warning lights show. There's no need to start the engine.
10. Living area. From the main door, or from the back of the cab with the seats turned round if they swivel. Cushions plumped, and the table up or down, whichever looks roomier.
11. Kitchen. Hob, sink and worktop in one photo, with the lids closed and the worktop clear. Then one with the fridge open.
12. Washroom. Toilet, basin and shower. Lid down, towels away.
13. Beds. Each bed made up the way you'd sleep in it, including any drop-down or over-cab bed.
14. Storage. The garage or rear locker open and empty, plus any big lockers. Buyers ask about space more than anything else.
15. Control panel and heating. The main control panel and the heating controls, close enough to read the make.
16. Weight plate and tyres. The weight plate, close enough to read. It's often under the bonnet or on a door pillar. Then one tyre, showing the tread and the four-digit date code on its side.

Shots for a touring caravan

1. Front corner, door side. The one buyers see first. Follow the steps above.
2. Front, straight on. Face the front, square on, with the front locker closed and the A-frame in shot.
3. Front corner, other side. Same height and distance as the first photo, from the other front corner.
4. Back corner, other side. Walk round to the back corner on that side. Show the back and the side together.
5. Back, straight on. Face the back, square on.
6. Back corner, door side. The last corner, at the same height and distance.
7. Door side, straight on. Stand level with the middle of the side and step back until it all fits. Door closed.
8. A-frame and hitch. Close up on the hitch head, the jockey wheel and the breakaway cable. Include the hitch stabiliser if it has one.
9. Gas locker and battery box. Open them both, so buyers can see the bottle space.
10. Living area. From the door, then one looking the other way.
11. Kitchen. Hob, sink and worktop in one photo, with the lids closed and the worktop clear. Then one with the fridge open.
12. Washroom. Toilet, basin and shower. Lid down, towels away.
13. Beds. Each bed made up the way you'd sleep in it.
14. Storage. The front locker and any big lockers, open and empty. Buyers ask about space more than anything else.
15. Control panel and heating. The main control panel and the heating controls, close enough to read the make.
16. Weight plate and tyres. The weight plate by the door, close enough to read. Then one tyre, showing the tread and the four-digit date code on its side.

Worth adding

• Anything not quite right. A clear, close photo of each scratch, dent, stain or anything that doesn't work, then one from a step back so buyers can see where it is. It saves surprises at viewings.
• Your extras. The awning out, solar panel (from the ground or a safe step only), bike rack, satellite dish, reversing camera, motor mover or anything else you'd point out to a buyer.
• A walk-round video, if you like. One slow loop outside and one walk through inside, up to 3 minutes.

Your paperwork is for us, not the advert

Photograph the stamps in your service book and your habitation check reports, and send them to Bradley when he asks. Cover your name and address first. They help us describe its history in the advert. The pages themselves never appear in it.

Where your photos go

If you sell with us, you add your photos from your own page once you've signed, and we write the advert around them. Nothing goes live until you've approved the advert.

Download the shot list

Every shot on one printable page, with tick boxes, for a motorhome and for a touring caravan. No email needed.