A successful online sale usually includes a good photograph too. Once you have all your sale items ready its time to set some time to do your photographs – making your items look good is simpler than you think!
The basic equipment you need is:
1. Camera and Lens (or a good quality compact with a macro function)
2. Background
3. Window Light
Auction sites are a great way to get a little financial boost just before Christmas and are also a good way to get rid of unwanted gifts. We know now that having a good personal photo means you can sell your goods for the best price, but what rules do you need to stick to?
1. Keep it in focus
If you have lots of items to sell you may rush though the photography quickly but it’s important you stick to your basic photography principles! An out of focus, blurry shot helps no one, especially where detail is important.
Remember you want your product to look good – even if it isn’t an inspiring item, it fills the buyer with more confidence if they can see what it is they are actually buying. Use flash if you need to (but watch the reflective areas)
Auctions sites or classifieds are both extremely popular ways of getting rid of the things you have in the house taking up space, as well as unwanted gifts and old antiques. It’s a great way to raise a little (or a lot!) of money and you have the whole world potentially looking for just what you want to sell. The most popular auction site on the web is eBay, although there are also other options for selling goods, like Yahoo Auctions or Craigslist.
Whichever site you decide to use is entirely up to you – read around, know what the policies are, what the rules are and what back up the site has if things go wrong.
When choosing studio lights there are two important types of lights you can choose from – Tungsten and Flash. Both have their pros and cons, and you should consider carefully before making an investment.
Tungsten lights are sources of continuous lighting which means it does not turn off. There are advantages and disadvantages to this kind of lighting.
Professional photo shoots are not complete without the help of assistants. Behind the photographer is usually a team of hair, make up, assistants, models, art directors and so on.
And many professional photographers start their careers as assistants. This means you work for the photographer, you run around doing odd jobs, carrying things, doing set ups, making tea and coffee, calling clients and so on. It can be a difficult job at times and exhausting; the pay is low and you may spend a lot of time just doing general things before getting anywhere near the photographers camera. In fact, many assistants do so for a few years before being officially appointed as a photographer, rather than just an assistant. So why would anyone choose to assist?
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When taking still life photographs, props are almost always essential. They add interest and dimension to a photograph; they give context and add color. The props can be complementary or clashing; they can help convey an idea or create a uniform look. The point is to be creative!
When deciding what props to use, think about what will compliment your image. If you are taking photographs of a flower, you may want to choose a nice vase or other flowers to go with it. If you are taking a photograph of an apple, will it look better in a fruit basket? Perhaps it would be set off if it were one green apple in a sea of oranges?
Still life images are supposed to make the inanimate interesting. Especially in modern art photography, mundane items from day to day life are interpreted in a new way, perhaps in an odd setting or in different colors to make it look interesting. When you take still-life images you should always aim to evoke a response from the person viewing it.
In a lot of still-life photography you may be dealing with fairly average day to day items. Flowers, for example, are always being photographed. It’s unlikely you will shoot a flower that has never been shot before – so how do you make sure that you make your image stand out? How will you present it so that it looks different? What if you are commissioned to take images for a catalogue or a book of food? How would you photograph the ingredients? Simply, on a white background? Or could you crush up the ingredients and place them in a spoon? You have to think about whom the audience are and what you want to achieve.
Incredible still life photographs don’t need to be shot in expensive, hi tech studios (although many are!). Depending on your budget, you can easily work something out to produce professional looking results. You can create a simple set up at home with natural light, a plastic box and some white paper – that’s it! The idea with a lot of simple still life photography is to create a soft, even light. If you are new to this, try working with smaller objects or a simple set up before working on very complex layouts.
