Home studio for ebay photos

jimmyo

Moose,

Great site you have here bud. I purchased the cheat cards for the Nikon D3100. I'm new to photography, but it always has interested me. The lady and I will be selling items from the home on Ebay as we are downsizing now that every body has flown the coop. You have a long way to go for that, so enjoy the ride.

Anyways, I was wondering what you might recommend for photo equipment to have handy for taking photos of various items around the house. We are selling clothing, nick nacks, tools, housewares and so on.

From what I see on the eCommerce sites good photos go a long way in helping sales. What kind and how much lighting should I have, and are light tents or domes a must have? Maybe suggest some camera settings to use. Any thoughts or musings would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone else has any suggestions all would be taken to heart.

Regards,
JimmyO

Moose

Hey @jimmyo,

Thanks for the kind words and for the support! :)

As you alluded to, lighting is key for product photography. However, since you're not placing these items in an upscale catalog, I wouldn't worry too much about them being flawlessly lit.

If you have a room in your home with a north or south facing window, setup a table near the window with a white bed sheet and you'll be able to crank out a bunch of shots with nice even lighting.

If you have an external flash, use it, and point it towards the ceiling...allowing the light to spread evenly throughout the room. If you don't have an external flash, then I recommend shooting natural light only (disable the built-in flash).

Your photos will most likely need a bit of brightness, contrast and saturation after the fact, so I would plan on doing some basic edits using a program like Google's Picasa (free) or Adobe Lightroom ($100+). Both programs allow you to batch edit, which will help speed up your workflow.

As for settings, I would start with the settings mentioned on the 'Food & Products (Low-light)' cheat card. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask.

All the best and happy shooting!

- Moose