Ebay Photo Gallery - How To Increase Sales With

On Taking Photos For eBay. This is also VERY important...

Firstly, the very best piece of kit for taking photos for eBay is the digital camera. This is going to be something you'll want to invest in at some point but you can use any old camera to start with... (You'll need to own a scanner for your PC if you do it that way.)

A digital camera usually comes with what's called a USB cable. This plugs into the back of your camera and connects to your PC so you can transfer your photos. But, for the pro, you want what's known as a FLASH CARD. This card can store blooming' loads of photos and when you want to transfer them, you can either use the USB cable or you can buy a separate FLASH CARD READER.

The flash card reader plugs into your PC. All you do is remove the card from your camera and plug it into the reader to transfer your photos.

Whatever you decide to do, a digital camera is your essential piece of kit.

Now, lighting!

You're going to need to buy some real expensive lighting equipment for about two thousand pounds... OR... just go outside during the day!

Ideally, an overcast day is best. The clouds disperse the sunlight perfectly. If there aren't any clouds then make sure you're taking the photo away from the sun to avoid glare. You know, those translucent moon-like objects that cascade diagonally down your brilliant photo!

Now, a technical term. Backdrop.

A backdrop is the environment the object you're photoing is in. Ideally, the backdrop should not distract the eye from the main object. It should actually encourage the eye away from it and towards the object. The best way to do this is to use a backdrop that's the exact opposite colour of the object.

Here's a table containing the opposites...

Red Turquoise

Brown Very light blue

Purple Light green

Orange Light blue

Yellow Blue

Green Very light red

Black White

Try your very best to find some FELT like material that is the opposite colour (or as near as dammit) to the object. Felt is the most photo friendly material.

Drape this felt over a chair or something and place your object on top. You're now ready to snap away.

Obviously, these are just basics and only apply to smallish objects that will fit on a chair. And this type of photo is only one of five types you'll want to be taking to maximise sales of the object.

I'll talk about the other types of photo later. For now, let's finish up with the basics...

The condition of the object you're photoing is crucial. Especially as digital cameras are so sensitive that they can pick up finger marks, hairs, bits of fluff and even dust particles.

So prepare your object as if the Queen were coming to see it!

Get yourself a magnifying glass and spend a good 10 minutes looking for marks. Remove these by breathing on them and gently rubbing with a clean sock or something that doesn't leave bits of fabric behind.

Do that first. Then take a small fine paint brush, about 25mm (1') wide at the most, and gently brush the object. Take some time over this also.

Lastly, make sure you're lips are bone dry so you don't 'spray' the object with saliva, stand about 250mm (10') away and blow any lose bits off. Take it easy now. Don't pass out. 3 bursts at a time max. Now just place the object on your backdrop and you're ready to start snapping away.

We'll talk more about that later. Let's first talk about what to do with your photos when you've taken them...