Digital Shutters

If you are selling or going to sell on EBAY and other online auctions you will need to take good photos. An article by Power home biz gives nice tips and one thing they suggest is to use a light box to diffuse the light and take way shadows.
If you are going to be a serious EBAY seller then I would recommend that you buy the proper equipment; if you just have a few things that you want to get rid of then you can make your own light box. With a proper light box, the light will shine through the walls of the box and diffuse the light, creating fewer shadows. One thing to remember is you want a solid background; only the object you are selling should be in the picture. You don’t want a lot of background objects to distract the buyer. When I first started selling on EBAY it was just a few things that I wanted to get rid of around the house so I made this simple light box with over head lighting. And you can make it too! Find a cardboard box that will fit what you are trying to sell.
• Find a cardboard box that will fit what you are trying to sell.
• Cut down one side of the box to the bottom.
• Now either Paint the inside white or Use a White sheet, or you can use bright printer paper like I did.
• Now take your box outside and shoot in the sunlight. If this is not possible. Use a free standing overhead florescent light (desk task lamp) to add your lighting this will reduce the brownish over cast that a regular house light will create. If you don’t have a florescent light then the brightest regular light bulb will have to work. If you go this route you will have to do a little photo editing.
• Next arrange your object or objects close to the back of the box to reduce the shadows. If you have to lay your objects flat and shoot from over head then bring your task light to the same level as your camera to reduce shadows.
• Using a tripod Get as close to you object as possible making sure you can see all of it, but not to close so that the object is blurry.
• If there are several objects take a group shot and individual shots as well.
• As you can see I took close ups of the doll faces as well as a group shot.
• Next download your photos to your computer and edit the ones you want to use. A smart fix will usually work to adjust them or you adjust the lightness and contrast.
With most online auctions the more photos you use the more it’s going to cost to list them. Using my doll photos I created a Collage of my photos that way I will only use 1 photo for my auction. Have fun and experiment!