Brothers In Blog

Darren Rowse at Prologger has started a series of posts to help rediscover your blogging groove. As for the posts here at Brothers In Blog, I don’t think we’ve lost our groove — yet. Nevertheless Darren’s suggestion is a great way to generate some new content and perhaps a little extra traffic. Today’s topic is to write a tip post.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but on sites such as eBay and Craig’s List a good picture is often the difference between closing the sale and not. But how do you take good photos without high end photography gear or the knowledge of a professional photographer? Easy, follow these simple steps and your digital photos should improve significantly and those online sales might just go a little smoother.

Simple Steps for Taking Better Digital Photos for eBay et al

• Start with a decent digital camera: Sorry but the camera built into your cell phone doesn’t cut it. You need a real digital camera to take decent photos. Fortunately you don’t need a digital SLR such as the Nikon D50. I’ve taken some excellent photos with my trusty old Canon PowerShot A310 3.2 megapixel digital camera.
• Take all pictures outside: Indoor photos often require the flash, and you’ve probably seen the result of those pictures: dark background and an excessively bright object.
• Make sure the sun is behind you: Your photo gets over exposed when you shoot into the sun. I’ve actually had much better photo success on slightly overcast days.
• Set your camera to the highest possible quality setting: The photos will be gigantic and use up a lot of memory; however, you’ll most likely crop and resize these photos before using them in your listing. Therefore it’s always best to start large and then trim down because the reverse never works out too well.
• When possible, use a tripod: Rarely required for outdoor shots but if you have a tripod, use it. It’ll help stablize the photo and reduce the risk of taking a blurry shot.
• Take shots from multiple angles: You can describe for pages about what’s on the back of the item you’re selling, but nothing quites compares to a single photo of what you’re describing. Keep your descriptions short and let the photos do the talking, and nothing does this better than photos from multiple angles.
• Take LOTS of pictures: Don’t set up your item, take one shot, and then walk away. You lose nothing if you take 20 shots of one item, use 2 of the 20 and throw the rest away. Your not paying for development so go ahead and go shutter crazy.
• Learn the features of your camera: Sounds simple but that manual that came with your camera is anything but “exciting.” Needless to say, your camera probably has more features to help take good photos than you realize. Brew a pot of coffee and make the investment of time and read that manual.

Common sense guidelines? Probably, but usually the most useful tips are just that — practical common sense. If, however, I’ve missed something, then by all means please share in the comments below.