When you start selling items online, you quickly realize how important a good description and good photos are.  Even though there are items that have standard sizes like trading cards or DVD’s, you will run across items that can have a deceiving size when you take photos of it.

When you come to list the item for sale online, you can go ahead and take some photos of items and hopefully not confuse people on how big the item is.  When taking photos, did you know that you can use other items in the photos to help show the true size of the item you are selling?

As you can see in the photo of the clock above, you would think the clock by New Haven would be pretty big.

With the next photo of the clock, you can get a better idea of how small the clock is when you include something like an apple.  When you see an apple, you automatically have a good reference to compare the clock to because of the fact that you automatically know about how big an apple is.

Another trick that you can do is to use a tape measure to show exactly how big an item is.  All you need to do is to show the tape measure next to the item—this will show exactly how tall the item is.

This is only a few tricks that you can use when you take photos of items that you are going to sell.  What tricks do you use? 

Not to long ago, I ran into an interesting problem when I was taking some photos of an old oil can spout.

I wanted to take a photo of the spout with it standing up, kind of like how it would be when it is on an oil can.  Then it hit me—prop it up on something.

I tried a few different ways to prop it up, but nothing really worked that well.  Then it hit me—what if I prop it up on something like a pencil or a dowel rod?

As you can see at the bottom of the spout, the tip end of the pencil is in a hole on the table while the end with the eraser is holding up the spout.  It worked great to help hold up the spout so I can take some photos to look like it is being used like in the photo below.

This would be easy to set up—you can hold the pencil or dowel rod up in a vise or even prop it up in the top of a bottle.

You can see the oil spout in my Etsy shop here.

This is one trick that can help with taking photos for the items that you are going to sell.  What are some of the tricks that you use?

When it comes to selling jewelry, it is often said that a picture is one of the best-selling tools that you have. There will be times when you produce nothing but blurred, out-of-focus pics, or photos that show the item off-center.  A simple tripod will help you eliminate these problems.  But what other tricks can you use?

I often use a mannequin arm to highlight the beauty of a bracelet or ring, and a bust or a necklace display.  Another option is to use a real-life model for the jewelry.  This could be your sister, brother, or even one of your children.  This type of display helps the buyer know what the jewelry could look like when they have it on before they purchase it.

Don’t be afraid to play with the settings on a camera.  We all know that digital cameras come with a macro setting.  But be sure to try other settings (for night shots, fireworks, or even snow pictures).  You never know which setting will show off a piece’s best attributes!

Take a ton of pictures along the way.  Play with the angles of the photograph, and even use the flash of the camera.  You can even put a table lamp near the jewelry near the jewelry to help give the stones in the piece more of a sparkle affect.  What works for me is to use natural daylight.

I even play with the background as well.  If you have something that has a silver tone to it, a dark backdrop behind or underneath it really plays up the shine.  A piece of construction paper can be all the backdrop you need.

Another way that you can make those pictures “pop” is to take a piece of glass (this can be from a picture frame that you are not using anymore) and lay it on top of a piece of colored construction paper.  The reflection of the jewelry can be picked up in the glass.  There is a product called a light box, which can produce a “halo” effect around something like a pendant.  Instead of investing tons of money on this equipment, a flashlight can come awfully close to doing the same effect.

So what kinds of tricks do you use to take photos of jewelry?