A dent is a change in the shape of a surface. A camera photographs light, not shape. So the entire trick is arranging light so that the shape becomes visible — and once you know how, it takes about thirty seconds.

The one thing that matters: the reflection shot

Find something with a long straight edge that will reflect in the panel. An open garage door. The edge of a roofline. A fluorescent tube. The horizon on an overcast evening. Then crouch down and move until that straight reflection runs directly across the dent.

Where the metal has moved, the reflection bends. How sharply it bends tells a technician the depth. How far the bend spreads tells them how much of the panel is actually affected — which is often two or three times larger than what you can see with your eyes.

The three photos to send

1. The reflection shot

Low angle, straight-edged reflection running across the damage. This is the one that sets the price. If you only send one photo, send this one.

2. Straight on, close

Square to the panel, close enough that the damage fills a good part of the frame. This shows the size and the shape, and lets us see whether the paint is cracked.

3. Wide, from about ten feet

The whole side of the vehicle. This tells us which panel it is, where on the panel the damage sits, and how close it is to a body line or an edge — all of which change the price significantly.

What to write with them

  • Year, make and model.
  • Which panel — "driver's rear door" beats "the back one".
  • Whether the paint is cracked or chipped at the dent. Look closely; this changes the whole repair path.
  • Roughly how big it is. A coin next to the dent for scale works better than a description.
  • How it happened, if you know. A shopping cart and a trailer hitch leave very different damage.

Common mistakes

  • Photographing in flat overcast light or a shaded garage. Shallow damage becomes invisible and we cannot read depth.
  • Using flash. It blows out the surface and destroys exactly the reflection information we need.
  • Shooting from directly above at arm's length. Almost no useful reflection reaches the panel from there.
  • Sending one photo of the whole car. We can see there is a car.
  • Photographing a dirty panel. Road film scatters light. A quick wipe with a damp cloth genuinely improves the photo.

Hail is a special case

For hail, shoot each horizontal panel separately — hood, roof, trunk or tailgate — each with a reflection running across it. Early morning or late afternoon sun works well. Add a close-up of any spot where the paint has cracked, because those panels get scoped differently from the rest.

What happens next

We look at depth, access behind the panel, position relative to body lines, material and paint condition, and come back with a real number, a method and a turnaround — usually the same day. If paintless repair is not the right answer, we say so and tell you what is.