TREATS FOR ME

I have been selling on ebay for almost two years now and I keep taking crappy pictures. I know, sometimes it is the picture that sells an item. I should do my best to take the best possible pictures. The trouble is that I have had to do it in stages.

At first I was taking pictures in front of my pantry door. It's dark brown wood. But the light was pretty good. Lots of natural light. But I didn't like the door knob in all the pictures!

Then I moved to another room and the light was not as good. So I rigged up a system using reflector lights on some display stands that I had from my craft days. Not too pretty, but they worked fairly well. I always had trouble with reds coming out pink, blacks coming out brown and sometimes all of the colors were yellow. I was using natural light bulbs. A constant struggle and lots of retakes.

I needed a light box for a long time for smalls. I made one from a cardboard box and tissue paper. It was fine for a while. But one of my daughters cats thought it made a pretty good napping box. That didn't last long. So I upgraded to a nylon light box. Wow, what a big difference that made. If you decide to upgrade to a nylon light box, go big. They fold up like those folding laundry bags at the $ store. I got a 24" and sometimes that is not big enough. If you have something large, like cookware, it is hard to get a good shot without getting the sides of the box.

Now I've upgraded to better lighting. At first I was just going to get white nylon umbrellas to diffuse the light. Then I started looking at the stands. They were nice!! You could get the stands, umbrellas and light bulbs for the cost of 4 just plain umbrellas. I ordered the set. The stands adjust up and down and are smaller than the old ones I was using and if I ever need to they fold up for storage.

Do yourself a favor, and your pictures, and get a set up with the umbrellas. It diffuses the light really well, the bulbs are florescent, and they are much cooler and more energy efficient. And the colors are much better. Trust me on this one.

One more treat for myself.

I had been using an IKEA tape measure. You know the paper ones you get free when you go to IKEA? I had taped it back together dozens several times and it was still barely holding on.  I got this really nice one, 60 inches long, in a vintage sewing box I purchased several weeks ago.And I went straight to the trash and threw the IKEA on right in. But it's on top, in case I change my mind ;)

Don't call me selfish. I did it for the good of my ebay store, and ultimately my customers. Plus it makes getting things ready for ebay much easier, and helps me get my listings done faster.

Thank me, thank me very much!!