taking photos for Ebay/etsy listings

jonny pallisey

jonny pallisey

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jonny
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This is for folk who are posting stuff on ebay etc what would you say is a great set up just for this ? iv been taking my photos outdoors[iphone or old fujifilm finepix] in good light .Would you say use an editing programme on each image every time?
 
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jonny pallisey said:
thanks for that ,very good info there .Dyou think that taking photos indoors[ of for example a shoe] with good lighting is better for results than outdoors in good light
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The key thing is whether the lighting makes the shoe look like you want it to. Indoors you can control the light, but outside that is more difficult.

As for images having a wow factor, that's extremely unlikely straight out of camera, and some kind of image processing software is likely to help.
 
This is a very basic tutorial, not only about how to photograph products, but why https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/photography-for-amazon-ebay.157/

It's largely about the lighting, and getting the lighting anywhere near right when shooting with natural light depends on weather and luck, it's so much easier, and so much more controllable, indoors.

But, there's far more to it than just lighting, camera position and other obvious ingredients. If you're trying to sell a highly competitive product, where most people buy mainly or completely on price, the photos need to be so much better than if you're selling something that people don't want to buy but actually need, here's an example of a product that sadly I have to buy, so the photos are really of little or no importance. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/yuasa/ybx7096/

My approach - but I'm old-fashioned - is to try to get the images perfect in camera, but the reality is that even I accept that a fair bit of retouching is always essential, and that's a separate skill.

The camera, BTW, is neither here nor there.

My advice? Research your competitors thoroughly, concentrate on those who have the highest sales, see what they do in terms of both photos and text, and use that as a model. And feel free to come back with more info, and to ask more questions.
 
Your problem is that you will have to hope that the light is good or postpone your listing until you can align your time with the right light. And the time of year / day could give colour cast issues.

The advice about setting up an indoor studio should not be dismissed. I used to sell cameras and lenses, etc on ebay. I had some large pieces of white card from an artist's supplies shop that could be assembled into a curved backdrop around a small plinth with white base and top so the flash light distributed evenly with minimal shadows and highlights and no distracting background. Camera and flash on manual, same settings every time.
 
jonny pallisey said:
This is for folk who are posting stuff on ebay etc what would you say is a great set up just for this ? iv been taking my photos outdoors[iphone or old fujifilm finepix] in good light but my images never have a wow factor .Would you say use an editing programme on each image every time?
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Indeed the camera used for this doesn't matter much, as slong as it can produce a sharp image. The lighting obviously does matter, & as mentioned if using daylight you might have to choose when to shoot. Partially overcast can keep contrast within bounds.

I favour RAW files & post-processing to maximise control of colour & tone, but if your lighting control & exposure technique are good that's less important.

That's a fine boot!

A sales shot is usually better not just if the subject is nicely lit, but also if it's isolated from any surrounding clutter - this concentrates the viewer's attention to greater effect.

So the boot photo doesn't really make it. Anyway I'd be needing a pair ;-).
 
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petebuster1 said:
Gear wont make things any better,
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Not so. In order of importance, IMO . . .
1. Knowledge of photography/lighting/physics
2. Knowledge of marketing
3. Care
4. Gear
 
jonny pallisey said:
friend of mine says that if i took a photo of that old boot using a dslr from same distance straight after i took it using my fujifilm finepix id see a real improvement ,in sharpness.is he right ?
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What you don't seem to get is that the sharpness of a photo is only about No.11 of the top 10 things that matter in product shots:(
 
jonny pallisey said:
friend of mine says that if i took a photo of that old boot using a dslr from same distance straight after i took it using my fujifilm finepix id see a real improvement ,in sharpness.is he right ?
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You might see an increase in detail if you view the photo reasonable large, but as Garry implied, it's not going to sell the boot on its own.
 
ancient_mariner said:
You might see an increase in detail if you view the photo reasonable large, but as Garry implied, it's not going to sell the boot on its own.
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i understand . no difference in sharpness if i took that same image with a different camera, thanks for your info
 
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jonny pallisey said:
i understand . no difference in sharpness if i took that same image with a different camera, thanks for your info
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There will potentially be a difference in sharpness with a different lens (and a different camera means a different lens) - however, it's more a case that for an image the size of a typical online listing, the visible differences image sharpness between what you are using, and a more expensive camera/lens combination will be small - and the other factors Gary mentioned will have a greater impact on the 'wow' factor.
 
OK, let’s see if I can explain the what and the why – I’ve written a book on this subject, what you have below is as basic as it gets.


There are, at its most basic, just 2 types of product photos. Photos of products that people need to buy but don’t want, think car battery, and things that people want and don’t need, like the product below.

All that the photos need to do for essential items is to satisfy the customer that they’re buying the right product, e.g. size and spec, so the photos matter less.

The product below is one of many designs that I shot recently. They are all action figures that are used in Dungeons & Dragons games. They are made on a resin 3D printer, which produces incredibly high detail, which we need to show.

People buy them as is, they then paint them by hand, which apparently takes many hours, and then they do whatever they do with them in the game. They don’t need them, and they certainly don’t need them to be as detailed, complicated and as expensive as these, so the photos need to show what the potential buyers need them to show.

These photos aren’t finished, there’s various post processing work to be done including retouching, cropping, balancing exposure, sharpening and so on.

These figures are incredibly small, I think that the largest of them was less than 2cm high, adding a bit to the technical difficulties, depth of field is very limited, they may not be properly sharp but that is far less important than any of the things that really matter – shooting height, shooting angle, lighting, reflection and showing the fine detail.

First off, we need one against a white background, because if the background of the MAIN pic isn’t white very few potential buyers will even see the listing, these online sales platforms downgrade photos that don’t have a white background, and some don’t even allow them. So, the photo of the old boot would be useless.

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And then we need to show the product at all possible angles. Products with less than 6 images are downmarked anyway, so get shots at all possible angles.
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jonny pallisey said:
can see why youd need a good camera and lens for such tiny items -thanks for the info garry . iv been selling stuff on ebay about 6yrs starting off using a canon powershot a460 and about 3yrs ago got a fujifilm finepix s2000hd which defo was a step up in clarity of image . After reading the advice im going to hold back on any upgrades to the gear-i had no probs with that original powershot folk still bought from me and no change in sales with the fuji. cheers for the insights garry
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Did I use a good camera and lens?
I haven't even mentioned those items, they simply don't matter enough to consider. This is the point that you seem to be fixated on and which everyone else is trying to steer you away from . . .
 
It's my most modern digital camera, a Nikon D7200, so about 9 years old.

I picked up that particular camera simply because it only has a cropped sensor, so better for this purpose than either of my much older full-frame cameras, which would really struggle with depth of field.

I don't have the luxury of a macro lens, I just added an extension tube. The lens is probably at least 30 years old.

I spend nearly all of the money on lighting, having said that all of my flash heads are also old, which doesn't matter in the least.

What I REALLY spend is time and care, these are the things that actually matter:)
 
jonny pallisey said:
im now going to hang back on buying ,thanks for your info again. Might look into the indoor lighting set ups, when i first started ebay selling i did try indoor photos,just items sat on my sofa -not good results which was why i started taking images outdoors only.Spose thats a common misguided route in the long term to take .By the way that old camera you have dyou use it much? iv been taking about 50-100 photos per week,on average
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Sorry
This is the best thread on product photography since the guy who’d rented a studio, bought a £3000 camera, had £150 for a lens and hadn’t considered what equipment a studio might require.

You fundamentally refuse to read what you do need. When told the camera isn’t important but you need to do xxxx

You only read up to the word ‘camera’.

Garry’s posts tell you all you need to understand and all you’ve done is responded to ‘camera’.

I’d suggest that you grab a drink and read the thread again from the start.
 
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