posted on August 22, 2005 04:43:43 PM
Hello. I'm sure this has been discussed before, so sorry in advance for the topic.
I'm having a hard time with my auction photos. I have a decent camera (Canon SD400)and okay imaging software, but my photos are the pits. The main problem is the lighting...way too dark...no matter how I switch the lamps around, open curtains, etc.
I mostly auction paper (newspapers, ephemera) and photo items.
What's a good way to get bright, clear pictures? Copy stand? Special bulbs?
posted on August 22, 2005 04:47:18 PM
I think ephemera, which I sell a lot, is particularly hard to photograph. My son-in-law, a professional photographer, says the same thing. He said the best you can do is photograph it exactly head-on, perpendicular to the paper item.
As for lighting, have you checked the settings for your camera (the users manual)?
He also cautioned me that a camera can get confused if you have more than one lighting source. That is, if you use flash plus fluorescent lighting, for example, or daylight plus incandescent. He told me to try to limit the light source to just one type of light.
(I have a small dining room with windows on three sides, and I always can find good lighting on the dining table anytime during the daylight hours.)
posted on August 22, 2005 05:18:07 PM
Hello,
I assume you have a digital camera.
If not why not!
My best camera success were outside, No flash, and low LOW quality setting.Remember this is for Ebay not the photo album.
Get rechargeable batteries and turn on your viewer on the back, and experiment around.
Do NOT charge your batteries in the camera no matter WHAT the books says. Buy a recharging unit and use it so if a battery goes "BOOM" is not in your 250.00 camera!
On mine I just pull the card, stuff it in the computer and a couple of clicks and they are loaded in my ebay picture file.
Then I go to the file, change the name to my SKU # and I am done...
David
posted on August 22, 2005 06:55:08 PM
actually any scanner is usually fine. It is the software that can be a problem. Make sure is compatible with your computer system, try it and if hangs up etc return it. Usually the very cheap ones are discontinued items and may be more grief than they are worth. I use camera and scan pic's sometimes both on one lot.
On the scanner you CAN get some depth on items 1-3 in thick. try a colored towel. Gives a lot of class.
If your scanner acts up, unplug and replug the power. That fixes a lot of problems.
posted on August 22, 2005 06:55:17 PM
rutabaga, forget the scanner. A good digital camera is so much better than a scanner. All of my pics are taken with natural light. I have a glassed in porch on the east side of my mobil home. The windows have white lace curtains on them which diffuses the light & my pics come out great. Also if you have good software you can increse the lighting on the pic which I do on occasion if it happens to be cloudy.
posted on August 22, 2005 07:05:07 PM
I have come to the conclusion that with a stand and light set you CAN take good photos IF you have some skill as a photographer..a scanner, once you get the settings right, is more or less foolproof.
By the time digital photos are uploaded, resized and named, they take about the same amount of time as scanning.
I have been really happy with my Microtek scanner.
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posted on August 22, 2005 07:36:57 PM
Natural light is by far the best. A cloudy day is optimum, as the clouds are a natural difusser. Otherwise, find a shady spot, or a difussed spot like Sanmar does, and take your pictures there. Unfortunately, natural light is expensive to reproduce artificially, and is best left to professionals or amateurs with deep pockets. Any ordinary type of artificial light (incadescent, fluorescent, flash or hurricane lamps burning whale oil)will cause a degradation of picture quality, in spite of what the camera maker touts about the white balance on their products. Sometimes, you can get lucky with artificial light and get some pix that are acceptable to post, but it's a crapshoot every time you try.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 22, 2005 08:59:53 PM
Are you taking your pictures with a window behind the item? If so, cover it up. Your light needs to come from behind you.
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Alive in 2005
posted on August 23, 2005 05:16:38 AM
I have a HP scanner and it works really great. I don't really use it much now but I used it when I first got on ebay for jewelry and I have not had that quality of photos since.
I see them all the time (scanners that is) at thrift stores and garage sales for next to nothing. You could try that first and save some money before you purchase a brand new one.
posted on August 23, 2005 06:18:20 AM
If your doing papers and photos natural light is the best. I take pictures like others in a room with lace curtains also lots of natural light. My tip is to shoot in the daylight hours not in the evening. My other half always seems to give me these type of paper items for evening work and I just save them for a day time photo shoot.
I use a dark background also. Type the rest of the auctions in the evening etc. but your photo time is during daylight hours. Good Luck.
posted on August 23, 2005 10:00:35 AM
I have an Epson Expression 836XL oversized scanner. Bought it on ebay a few years ago for $300 (refurb), they cost about $2,000 new. It's the best scanner I've ever used. It scans old paper items great. I also have a Canon CanoScan regular size scanner I bought last year for $40 new. It works good for new shiny pictures, but is terrible on old paper items. They scan all washed out looking.
My camera is a Sony Mavica and I find it is really tough to get good pics of old items. It's fine for regular picture taking, portraits, outdoor scenes, etc. But I can't get good lighting for old items, and here we seem to have more cloudy days than sunny and the daylight is always shifting. I've tried using different light bulbs, but nothing works good.
posted on August 23, 2005 12:18:30 PM
rutabaga, if your pictures are coming out way too dark it may help if you change the exposure compensation. Most cameras automatically set the amount of light allowed into the camera so that the picture comes out at a certain amount of brightness. For example with most cameras a picture take of a white piece of paper will show up gray (eighteen percent gray is how the books describe it) under just about any lighting condition. However "using exposure compensation" you can adjust the camera positively or negatively so that the picture comes out white or even darker than it was. You also might try the gamma correction in your photo program (I use Irfanview whic is cheap but effective) but that seems like a one time fix for each photo problem.
I always shoot paper and flat objects head on but use strong lighting from the side and never use a light source near the camera or the camera's flash.
posted on August 23, 2005 06:48:09 PM
My poor photo problem is solved!!
You guys are brilliant!
Here's what I did: Turned off the flash and all the lights. Opened the curtain behind me (eastern light, oh well). At first I thought everything was too dark...but took the first picture anyway. I couldn't believe it when I looked in the viewer and saw a great, clear looking picture, not at all dark.
