eBay Business All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2: Mastering eBay Photography

In This Chapter

• Discovering photo tips and tricks
• Photographing jewelry and coins
• Taking great clothing shots
• Viewing common photo mistakes

Photography has always been a passion for me. The hobby led me (at the age of 10) from developing film in a tiny storage-closet darkroom through my first side-advertising job for a camera store (yes, I was always a moonlighter) to a great professional gig taking photographs of NASCAR auto racing for magazines and newspapers. When designing catalogs, I worked with professional catalog photographers and picked up pro tricks for setting up pictures, buffing up the merchandise, and making everything look picture-perfect. In this chapter, I pass on the tips and shortcuts to you. Use these ideas to take great pictures that flatter your merchandise and help you sell!

Photo Guidelines

The idea behind using images in your auctions is to attract tons of potential buyers. With that goal in mind, you should try to create the best-looking images possible, no matter what kind of technology you're using to capture them.

Point-and-shoot may be okay for a group shot at a historical monument, but illustrating your item for sale is a whole different idea. Whether you're using a traditional digital camera or a mobile device to capture your item, some basic photographic guidelines can give you better results:

• Do take the picture of your item outside, in filtered daylight, whenever possible. That way the camera can catch ...