This will be a first in a series I will publish detailing what you need to do to obtain high quality commercial looking photos for your eBay auctions.  Part one deals with the basic equipment needed.
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Well after many years of shooting everything from people, travel, product and other photos, I ended up becoming pretty good at product photography by becoming an eBay seller.

With 7 years on eBay now and over 6500 positive feedbacks (meaning I have probably shot over 25,000 images for my auctions or more) I feel I have it down pat now.  Most people like me are now shooting digital.  In the beginning in 1998 when I started I had to use my digital video camera to shoot my still shots.  It had a floppy drive that attached to the camera and enabled me to shoot my still on a floppy and bring that over to my computer.  I was able to get at least 4-5 images on each floppy then.

Well today we can get hundreds of images, even thousands on a single memory card, and the quality is excellent if you know how to do it.

I invite you all to view some of my auctions and you can see them at my store:<br><br>

http://stores.ebay.com/Lens-Friendly-Auctions

You will notice that they are all crisp, clean, full of color and detail and it is all done on my dining room table with a simple backdrop, one light and my little Olympus C-5050 digital camera.

Here are some tips to taking images like mine.

1. Get a decent digital camera.  I would advise one with a moderate zoom lens (even a 3X optical is fine).  One that takes memory cards that won't cost you a fortune (I like Compact Flash, but others are also fine) and a camera that offers you manual as well as auto adjustments.

Make sure the camera feels good in your hands. I don't like those thin credit card cameras for my eBay work because they are hard to hold, usually have a fixed LCD screen (mine has one that can be tilted and adjusted, which is great when I shoot a low angle) and a camera that can handle some rough treatment or even survive a drop to the floor.  My older Olympus has stood up against all of these and more over the past 3 years. It is built like a tank.

2. Now that you have the camera, you need to set up your little studio.  I use my dining room table which is located in the middle of the room, so I purchased a Background stand to hold my backgrounds.  You can buy these at most of the better photo dealers for around $100.  B&H Photo in New York sells the Savage Brand for $99 and it is two stands with a cross bar and is a must if you can't attach the backdrop to your wall with some push pins.

Go to B&H Photo and put in "Backdrop Stands" and search there site you will find a bunch.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

3. Now that you have the camera and stand you need a professional looking background material.  I use and also sell ( this is not an offer to see them to you, just a statementof fact) a special material made by a company called Flotone.

You can see what these look like again at B&H by doing a search using the word "Flotone"

Here is what they are from the description at the B&H web site:

A synthetic PVC material with beautiful, smoothly graduated backgrounds that afford interesting lighting effects. In a few minutes, a photographer can achieve beautiful effects that would take hours with lights and single-tone backgrounds.

Each sheet is individually handmade to achieve a silky matte, non-glare surface.

The material and colors do not absorb water, so they can be used with ice cubes, fruit, flowers etc. They can be cleaned with a mild soap solution and soft cloth, making Flotone reusable.

I use a few different color combinations as you will see in my auctions and change them from time to time to make my ads look different.  In the old days we would achieve these results playing with our lights and also using color gel filters over the lights.  You can achieve the same effects with the Flotone's or similar background materials available.

At a cost of $55 each and a life on these that will be good for years, I think it is a great investment and less expensive then buying multiple lights and light stands and gels.  If you need some I still have some available for sale at an eBay price

4. Now what light do we use.  Well depending on what you are shooting you can use a monolight flash head on a light stand with a softbox or umbrella as I do.  Or you can use a hot light (continuous light) again with a soft box to diffuse the light, you can use one of the newer high output compact Flourescent lights ( sell these as Grow or Aquarium lights, but use one for my product shots too...again not a commercial to purchase mine) or last but not least available light coming in from a window.

For control I use my Flash head (never use the built in flash on your camera, it is flat light and hard to control).  I have a sync cord taht goes from my camera to the head and set my camera on manual, set the lens opening to what I need for my flash and shoot away.  This is a cool light, but is expensive and can cost hundreds of dollars to get one, the soft box and the light stand.

A less expensive and effective way is to purchase a halogen worklight that already comes on a stand. They sell for around $30 or so in most Home Depot Stores.  Advantage is low cost, but they are very hot, can only be used for short times, have delicate bulbs that will blow out if you happen to hit the light by accident when  hot, but can do the job.  I have even seen some at HD that have a nice diffused front glass instead of clear that will soften the light.  They call this one a Painters Light and they charge another $20 or so for this one over the other lights.

The third solution is the new High Output Flourescents.  I remanufacture an outdoor flood light that only draws 65 watts of electric and delivers the same as those hot 500 watt halogen lights.  They are very cool to the touch, won't blow out as easy as a hot halogen and is a softer, diffused light.

At a cost of around $60 modified for indoor use they are a steal and if you are handy and want to try your hand at modifications, go to the Home Depot and see what they offer.  Some of the outdoor floods can be modified for indoor use and these new breed of Full Spectrum Flourescents not only deliver the light you need, but are low cost, will last for years, won't burn up the object you are shooting or your table top and can be used literally inches away from your subject.

You can see some examples of things shot with my Flash Head and the Flourex lights at: http://mtigrp.com/ebay/studio

I think I have taken you to a place now to get you started.  My next guide will take you to the next step of actually shooting the objects and finally taking them into Photo editing software to get them ready to go into your auctions.

Even if you feel you only want to sell a few items each week or are searching for a new way to make a living, the better you present your products the more success you will have.  Invest some time and money and get the tools and knowledge you need to do it right in the beginning. By doing so now you will only improve your technique in time and will absolutely be more successful and consistently get higher prices for your items on eBay.

Hope you find this tutorial helpful.  Let me hear your thoughts. If I see this helps I will write other guides to take you the the next step in taking commercial quality images for your auctions.