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Okay, I hate taking photos. I solved my most recent problem of a light box set up being too small to be consistently functional by tearing it down. My current set up is using a plastic sheeting material I bought from the local hardware store (Menards). I believe it is a flooring underlayment product and was $20 for a 4’ x 8’ sheet. I tacked it up on the wall and it curves down on a table top. I wipe it down frequently with a bleach product to keep it clean and it will last indefinitely.
Now for photography itself. I bought an iPhone 6 to get square photos, but they are always rotated all over the place. I can’t seem to resolve that dilemma. Perhaps it is unresolvable?
I spend a fair amount of time fiddling with cleaning items…arranging them…etc. that seems time consuming. I also can’t tell if I should take the photos and immediately load them into my draft from the phone as I go, or if I should shoot and then go back and populate the drafts all at one. If I do the latter, should I post shoot edit in my laptop? Or on the eBay app.
I’m hoping someone could just tell me what to do, as this indecision is giving me a reason to stall out.
Thanks fellow scavengers!!!!
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My advice is as follows:
-invest in a good camera. I found that having a good camera makes a difference. My wife and I both are Nikon J2 users, but plenty of newer models exist, and by other manufacturers that are good quality and offer lots of automated features to take great photos. The Nikon J2 I use is about $200 used on eBay, but there are a lot of other options.
-make sure you have lots of light – if you see any desk lamps or other lighting that may work for your space when scavenging, I would suggest picking up a few fixtures. Lighting is different depending on the items you are selling – flat items require different light then a small 3D item, a large 3D items requires different lighting – once you have a few light sources to play with, you’ll get a good setup.
-have a few backgrounds – I have a white and black background as some items look better on a different background – for example, a white shirt looks better on black then the white backing.
-I find that editing photos is easier on the computer – I just use the photo editor in Windows 10 that comes part of the OS, but lots of free editors are on the web. I’ve used many over the last 20 years and the ones I like are the ones that crop, and brighten photos easily.
-I personally do my tasks separately when it comes to photos – I will photograph a bunch of items for a couple hours, then edit them all at once, and then list – I find it easier to keep doing one task instead of bouncing back and forth.
Photography is still a lot of work, but it’s better than what I use to have to do 20 years ago when I first started on eBay! I use to have a 35mm film camera that I would take photos with, bring the film to the local 1-hour photo place, scan the photos in my computer, then edit them. At the time, eBay didn’t host photos and you would need to host them on a 3rd part website like Geocities. To post a photo, you would have to know HTML coding. The way things work on eBay today is great, and customers get to see much better photos of what they are buying.
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Lighting is critical.
At walmart in the lighting section they have LED 75 watt daylight balanced bulbs for less than a dollar each. If you don’t want to invest in a good lighting setup, this is the next best thing. Replace ALL of the lights in the room you are photographing with these bulbs. Next, for a backdrop. I am currently using blackout cloth curtains that I got at Goodwill. Blackout cloth is fabric on one side and a plastic like opaque material on the back side. If you can get the blackout cloth with the bright white plastic backing it is awesome as a backdrop.http://www.joann.com/roc-lon-budget-blackout-white-white/2117232.html#q=blackout%2Bcloth&start=1
So there you go, some super cheap tips to dramatically improve your iphone pics.
I personally create all my listings on a pc – everything but the photos. After I have a bin full of items I go to my photo setup and do all the photos in the app on the phone and then list. I have to manually crop and rotate some photos in the app – there really isn’t a way around it whether you use the phone, the pc, a DSLR or anything. It just never works out 100%.
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Hello Jay or Ryanne,
My response to this thread topic seems to have gotten lost. I was wondering if you could please assist me with having the post included in this thread.
Thank you -
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Marjean28,
It sounds like you are working on developing your rhythm, strategies, and work style as an eBay seller. I do agree with the comments above about the importance of lighting and backdrop, but I think for all of us the important question is -what works for us? What is our rhythm, pace, style, and/or perspective? How do we want to present the items in our inventory? Trying to do it another’s way may only cause challenges and/or stagnation because someone else’s work style, thought pattern, perspective, and/or rhythm may not match your own. What if the focus became simply on what works for you without judgement and/or comparison? Once you find what works for you instead of maybe what should be, you may find that you are moving at a faster pace than expected and have found your own personal rhythm. As you grow and change as a seller, so will your perspective, style, pace, skills, and strategies.
I would offer that when taking pictures, ask yourself this question – how would I want to present this item to someone else to make them love it as much as I do which is what caused me to include it in my inventory? Even if you do not love the item, you must have found value in it in order to have chosen it to be in your inventory.
Just take that one item and explore with different shots. Then take a different kind of item and explore different shots. I think if you just give yourself the time to explore what you like, what works for you, and how you want to present your inventory and store instead of how you think the items and your store should be presented, you will find that your listings are successfully being completed at a faster pace than you realize.
As for whether to use the laptop and/or PC, or phone, while many use and like the laptop and/or PC, some use the phone and/or their tablet. The question is – what feels comfortable for you and allows you to be the most productive?
As for taking pics and then writing listings or vice versa, what feels comfortable for you and keeps you motivated? Personally, I like writing the drafts, uploading the pictures from my phone, and then finalizing a listing before submitting it. It took me awhile to figure out that this works for me.
As for the rotation difficulty, pictures can be rotated after being uploaded into the listing. Paint 3D is also a good program to use for editing, rotating, and cropping. You may also want to look up iPhone Picture rotation on YouTube. I am always amazed at what one can learn on YouTube. -
Marjean28 – you and me both! I hate hate HATE the photography section, and I usually LOVE taking photographs! Since my old camera died I have had 5 others that just don’t cut it, so I agree with Inglewood that a camera is a big part of it! Now that I’ve got a camera that does a 1:1 aspect ratio, it will be a non-negotiable requirement going forward. It has made my life so much easier. The next consideration for a camera will be how good it is at taking photos in low light. My photo area is lit up like a freaking runway, but the white still comes out gray because the camera is not good at exposure. Yes, I’ve tried adjusting the white balance and all the other stuff.
So next up is lighting. For sure, max out what you can. Retro Treasures has a great idea, and I wish I’d read that before I bought my lights. I paid $5 each for two LED 75W bulbs. I’ve got two LED tube lights on stands, and two scavenged lamps to hold the bulbs. I’m going to build myself a softbox, and will report back on how that works out for me.
When I use my phone to load photos, I take the photos directly in the eBay app. You can rotate and crop immediately. Once I’m done taking photos, I save it and then finish up editing on my PC. I can then see if the photos are clear enough and use eBay’s enhancement button if I need to. It’s not bad. Not brilliant, but workable. I get better quality photos with a camera, so I only use the phone if my camera battery is dead or I’m in a hurry.
I tend to create drafts from the items, doing all my research etc. up front. Any items that need cleaning are put to one side and it’s all done in one batch. Then I do photos, and I try to adjust the photos with one hand as I keep the camera framed in position. Once I’m done with photos, I pack the item for storage, add the SKU sticker, and put it on the scale. I take a photo of the item at that point, so that I can see the SKU number and the weight at the same time. If necessary, I’ll also take measurement photos for the shipping dimensions. Having it all in photos saves me from needing separate notes. (Obvs this is using the camera, not the phone.) I have a little card reader that plugs into my PC USB port and I slip the card out of the camera, put the camera on charge, and plug the reader into USB. It auto imports into Dropbox. I click through the photos to ensure they’re all clear, do any quick edits necessary, e.g. white balance, then upload them into the prepared drafts. I use the info photos to add the SKU and shipping details, then list the item. When all is working well, it goes quite quickly.
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Because I’ve got a small shop, I take photos with my phone right into each listing. My setup is a small wood table tucked into my fireplace with a task lamp from home depot clipped to something nearby and shining directly on the object. The fireplace space becomes a black background and the wood usually looks great; in fact, this set-up works best at night, which is the most convenient time for me to take photos. Here’s a link to a listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/253408119642
It may not work for you for various reasons, but a clippable task lamp was my only purchase and this has worked better for me than any all-white setup I ever tried to rig up.
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One of my primary goals right now is to list more items faster, and photography plays a big part in this. I want to take photos that require no editing and have them uploaded automatically to my computer. I am going to get a lighting kit and a wifi camera to accomplish this.
Is it realistic to take photos that don’t require edits, or am I dreaming?
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Sometimes I get lucky with my lighting, and no editing is required. Sometimes my photos come out dark, and I have to spend extra time to get it right. I don’t always see the issue on the camera until I upload onto the computer.
Funny this subject came up today. Earlier today, I was looking to see if I could find a photography class on taking stills. I found classes, but nothing I felt was interesting. I was wondering if there were YouTube videos from a professional, whether a general photographer or someone specific to selling online.
A paid online class is another thought. I’m listing right now, but I thought I’d look into it at a later time.
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