Issues with still photography (clothing)

[mobobs]

I buy clothing and resell it online through ebay and other e-commerce sites. I noticed that pictures make the world of a difference between items that sell and items that don't. I've been doing this for over a year now so my pics are pretty good compared to most other sellers. I'm having two issues I was hoping you guys could help me with.

1. White balance I set the white balance manually (took pics of a plain white wall with flashes on it). It helped a lot with the colors but I'm still having issues with the lighter colors, especially beige, green, light brown, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

2. Clarity- I'm shooting still pics from about 5-8 feet away. When I zoom in for texture pics they aren't alway clear. I'd expect a 12mp camera to be able to pick up designs/texure easily from that distance. (Someone mentioned it might be my focus on the camera). Even when I do get clear pictures, I need zoom in and crop that to avoid moire although that's not the end of the world. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a more general note, I was wondering if anyone knew how the major companies have such clear pics with seemingly no backgrounds. Are they edited? Do they just use bright flashes? If so, how do they keep the clarity and color? I don't mind investing in some new equipment if I know it'll make a big difference.

 

[thebutler4]

If you are trying to get really close a Macro Lens would be a good idea.

as for the white balance .. not really sure here .. other than make sure your shooting in the same light and same room colors as the others. Also .. make sure you are using something as close to the color white that you can get. I usually use printer paper or a WB lens cover.

What kind of camera are you using? .. that would be great information to help you further.

 

[KmH]

Major companies hire professional photographers who are experts at doing product photography.

What you need is education and experience, not equipment.

You, the photographer operating the camera gear, will make the biggest diference.

 

[Derrel]

Try rotating the camera a few degrees to eliminate moire; shoot a slight bit loose, and then crop in. If the images are not sharp enough with a 12MP camera at normal, studio ranges, there's something wrong with your technique or methods.

 

[Village Idiot]

What equipment are you using? Post examples.

It sounds like your white balance issue could be that you're overexposing the items and washing the color out. Clarity could be an issue of the lens you're using. Some lenses are just soft. Most lenses are softer wide open. If you use a narrower aperture, it should get you a sharper shot. Try shooting with the aperture closed down 2, maybe three whole stops from wide open and turn your flashes up to compensate. Also, are you shooting in JPEG or RAW? If you're shooting RAW, you definitely need to sharpen the photos in post processing. Are you even processing at all? You can fix some of your problems in a program like photoshop if you can't do it in camera; it's better to get it right in the camera.

 

[mobobs]

It's a Nikone D300 with a Nikno DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G (no idea what any of that means lol)

 

[imagemaker46]

You've been doing this for a year and your photos are pretty good and yet you have no clue as the name of your camera or what any of it means, you haven't been able to figure out the basics of photography either? Really you're serious? Nikon or maybe it is Nikno.

 

[mobobs]

New Burberry London Mens 44R XL Trench Rain Coat $1,395 - eBay (item 130496142487 end time Mar-23-11 18:58:07 PDT)
Thats a link to one of my listings. The first pic is the stock photo i got from the brand web site. The next pics are mine. As you can clearly see the color just isn't coming out right. Happens mostly on lighter colors. If you look through my other listings you'll see that they're not all like that. What I really want to do is a have the background flashed out without distorting the colors.
This is another listing of mine NWT Gray Textured IZOD Mens 42L Blazer Sportcoat $250 - eBay (item 140526316448 end time Apr-20-11 11:00:30 PDT) Here I got the color but I can't seem to flash out the background without ruining the color. I can't use photoshop on each image since I list so many every day.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Take it easy. He bought a dslr to sell his stuff online. It is not like he is running around charging people to take product photography. Yes, some people just buy DSLR and shooot it in auto mode. Yes, it will take better pics than point and shoot.

You've been doing this for a year and your photos are pretty good and yet you have no clue as the name of your camera or what any of it means, you haven't been able to figure out the basics of photography either? Really you're serious? Nikon or maybe it is Nikno.

 

[mobobs]

Thats acutally just spelling mistakes I know it's a Nikon. I just type to fast. I think I got the basics down pretty well. I know how shutter speed, aperture, iso sensitivity and whit balance work in general but I can't seem to make it work for me. I guess I gotta really learn this stuff better. Any suggestions on where I can read up on it?

 

[mobobs]

It's acutally not on auto mode but thanks!
Here are the setting I'm using now.
Shutter speed - 1/50
Aperature- F10
Iso- 200
and white balance is preset like i mentioned earlier

I also have three 100-120V flashes pointed at the items.

 

[Robin Usagani]

you should adjust the temperature prior taking the shot. Do a custom WB. Look at your manual.

 

[Robin Usagani]

You didnt know what the prints on your lens mean, I just assumed you shot in auto. I would have if I didnt know .

 

[mobobs]

I did a custom white balance like i mentioned before. i pointed it at a blank white wall with flashes. is that what your referring to?

 

[Robin Usagani]

yup.. and you still need to set it to custom wb after you did that. If it doesnt look good then your exposure is off due to the flashes are too powerfull or your camera setting.