Bad Photos in the Classified Ads

[W5DQ]

Why does it seem many people on eHAM, when posting about a piece of gear they have for sale, put in a picture so out of focus and blury from shaking that it looks like it was taken by a dog $h1ttin' peach seeds!!!! It does ABSOLUTELY no good and wastes time and bandwidth to upload that sort of junk!  If you can't take a decent clean focussed picture, please don't waste our time posting crappy ones. 

If you shake so bad you can make a milkshake simply holding the milk jug, get someone else (who knows how) to take your darn pictures for you. A bad unfocussed blurry photo tells me nothing other than you can't use a camera correctly. If you can't run a simple digital camera and take a decent picture, how do I know you could take care of the gear you're so proudly listing to sell as LIKE NEW, MINTY, EXCELLENT SHAPE, etc. For all I know the gear could be abused as bad as your photo indicates!!

    

Gene W5DQ

[KE5JPP]

Why does it seem many people on eHAM, when posting about a piece of gear they have for sale, put in a picture so out of focus and blury from shaking that it looks like it was taken by a dog $h1ttin' peach seeds!!!! It does ABSOLUTELY no good and wastes time and bandwidth to upload that sort of junk!  If you can't take a decent clean focussed picture, please don't waste our time posting crappy ones. 

If you shake so bad you can make a milkshake simply holding the milk jug, get someone else (who knows how) to take your darn pictures for you. A bad unfocussed blurry photo tells me nothing other than you can't use a camera correctly. If you can't run a simple digital camera and take a decent picture, how do I know you could take care of the gear you're so proudly listing to sell as LIKE NEW, MINTY, EXCELLENT SHAPE, etc. For all I know the gear could be abused as bad as your photo indicates!!

    

Gene W5DQ

Maybe it is intentional.  A blurry picture does much to hide cosmetic defects.  Otherwise, I've noticed that because the typical Ham is so cheap, he tends to be using a 10 - 15 year old computer with a 640 x 480 monitor.  On his monitor, that 120 x 48 pixel picture looks HUGE! 

Gene

[KI4SDY]

Having used cameras professionally from film photography through the digital age, it is surprising to me that someone can take a bad picture with today's wizz-bang do everything for you cameras, but they can!  

If you can't hold the camera steady, use the flash. You can't shake as fast as the short impulse of light from the strobe fires.  

Still fuzzy? Your too close for the auto focus to work properly. Change to macro mode, which is included now on even the cheapest cameras, for that good sharp close up.  

Would I buy a radio that is advertised in "mint condition" from a fuzzy picture? No! It could be intentional to hide flaws and or abuse!

[W5DQ]

Exactly what I was saying. Today's cameras (I too have shot all modes 35mm thru large format since the early 70's) can almost take the image themselves. All the photographer has to do is compose the scene in the viewfinder.

The worst offenders seem to be posting at eBAY. In many of those photos, I can't make out what the item is suppose to be even when I own one of the same model.

The main point here is if a person really wants to sell an item(s) using photos, make them clear, sharp and numerous. I mean you as the photographer are making a 'in person' inspection available to prospective buyers.

Gene W5DQ

[ONAIR]

Why does it seem many people on eHAM, when posting about a piece of gear they have for sale, put in a picture so out of focus and blury from shaking that it looks like it was taken by a dog $h1ttin' peach seeds!!!! It does ABSOLUTELY no good and wastes time and bandwidth to upload that sort of junk!  If you can't take a decent clean focussed picture, please don't waste our time posting crappy ones. 

If you shake so bad you can make a milkshake simply holding the milk jug, get someone else (who knows how) to take your darn pictures for you. A bad unfocussed blurry photo tells me nothing other than you can't use a camera correctly. If you can't run a simple digital camera and take a decent picture, how do I know you could take care of the gear you're so proudly listing to sell as LIKE NEW, MINTY, EXCELLENT SHAPE, etc. For all I know the gear could be abused as bad as your photo indicates!!

    

Gene W5DQ

    Hey, many of the ops are old!  Why do you think hams are called "old man"?

[KI4SDY]

If that is an excuse, should they be operating automobiles? 

[W5DQ]

  Hey, many of the ops are old!  Why do you think hams are called "old man"?

No disrespect meant towards any one, especially seniors. Heck I am almost ready to apply for membership Unless I'm off base here, calling a ham 'old man' is a term of respect from the old days of Hiram Maxim aka T.O.M (the Old Man ie founder of ARRL).

I like to peruse the want ads and really hate to see a listing that interests me only to find a 'squatch-style' photo or two of the said item. Ever wonder why it seems that  squatch/UFO/aliens photos are always out of focus with poor lighting, etc?

If the listing OP can't get it right, get someone to help them out and take GOOD photos. It's not just eHAM but seems like all online swap/want ads suffer from this malady. People appear to think a phot is required and many just don't know how to take a decent want ad photo.

Gene

[WZ3O]

Many good points on "bad" pics, but my favorite is no Pics &/or "Pics on request but only if you're serious...." & the best one is IMHO "can't get the Pics to upload..." Makes ya' wonder about the item, doesn't it.
I get that some Hams have limits, but asking someone to help is what this hobby is about, I hear?  ;-)
 
I just avoid dealing with folks who do any of that, it's just not worth the time. I understand the "Cheap Ham" deal &/or lack of camera/computer skills (however see "Help" comment above). If a Ham really serious about sell/trade then ASK, even many younger Hams will assist. HiHi

So happy "hunting" & don't you eat the yellow snow....

[K7CB]

Many good points on "bad" pics, but my favorite is no Pics &/or "Pics on request but only if you're serious...." & the best one is IMHO "can't get the Pics to upload..." Makes ya' wonder about the item, doesn't it.

Well, I've had a problem with uploading photos when I've sold stuff on QRZ and I'm not sure why because if I use the same photo when I post the item here on eHam, it uploads just fine.  So that leads me to believe it's an issue with QRZ...although it could be the size of the photo.

Good topic though...I've encountered it many times and often wondered how they could NOT see their photo looks like crap.  That does NOTHING to get me interested in buying whatever they're selling.  In fact, it has the opposite effect.  But, like others have said, perhaps it's intentional.

[AC4RD]

If you can't hold the camera steady ...

The old joke is:  "The best lens I own is a tripod."   :-)

[K0OD]

Why do New York fashion models (and photographers) charge so much? Great photography is well worth the cost and effort.   

Yes, some of the blurry pics I see on ebay are stupefying. But Ebay is mostly about bored rural housewives making pin money.   

My firm has sold products, not ham related ones, online since the dawn of the web, and I agonize over the quality of our graphics. We take manufacturers' photos, crop them, enhance them for color and sharpness with software, and reduce their file size to speed page loading.

We sometimes try a different graphic when a good product isn't selling as it should. In one case, switching photos improved a product's sales by 40%. And we had been using a professional product shot to begin with. 

[KD4EBL]

The problem may also be in the resolution of the image. While my camera can take a High resolution photo, most sites require the imagine to be smaller (and thus take up less space to store). Perhaps someone who understands the process much better that I do could write a short tutorial to be posted in the Articles section.

[W5DQ]

The problem may also be in the resolution of the image. While my camera can take a High resolution photo, most sites require the imagine to be smaller (and thus take up less space to store). Perhaps someone who understands the process much better that I do could write a short tutorial to be posted in the Articles section.

A low res photo that is clear, focussed and cropped to show only the gear and not the living room in the background with the gear a small portion of the foreground will relay more information than a super-hi_res photo that look like it was shot by an epileptic in mid-Gran Mal seizure (no disrespect meant to anyone with epilepsy - its a serious malady). The point is take good photos and your good clean gear will most likely sell faster and with less haggle than if it looks like there is something amiss in the photo due to focus/lighting problem.

For most sites that take photos via an upload process, they usually will downscale a submitted photo automatically. I have no problem in uploading photos to any site that will accept them. But the main thing is to ensure they are good photos.  Even a 3 Megapixel photo shot off a cheap cellphone will give a nice photo if there is enough light and camera hel steady. I routinely shoot photos at 3 to 5 Megapixel and then run them through Windows Photo Editor to crop down and auto-fix color and brightness levels to obtain a nice clean shot of enough detail to show the item I am selling.

A couple of ideas for better photos for selling gear.

1) Use a backdrop. It can be a simple as a piece of clean cardboard WITH NO PRINTING on it. Or a nice clean towel or piece of pressed cloth wil work too. I like to use a couple of pieces of medium light grey photo matting board I have that is appx 30" wide and 18" high each. I set them up as one flat on desk, item sitting on it and other propped behind. In case you aren't aware, medium light grey is around 18% grey (basically nuetral grey in photo-speak) and will enhance most items placed in front of it as it gives digital cameras a base tone to calculate exposure against. Try it and see if it doesn't work for you.

2) Stabilize your camera.... whether it be with a tripod or just resting your hand. Relax if shooting off hand and easily pressed the shutter button. Check the photo. If too dark, increase the light by adding more room light, more a small lamp closer or use the flash. If photo is bad, delete it and shoot another .... there essentially FREE!!

3) Speaking of flash ... DO NOT shoot a flash closeup directly square on to the item especially if it is reflective. You'll end up with a nice bright spot in the photo. Instead shoot slightly off angle so the main reflection of the flash bounces back at the reciprocal of the angle to the camera (i.e the other way from the lens). Not too much or you'll tend to defeat the flash's purpose but just enough to keep the bright spot reflection out of your photo.

4) Cropping .... either crop at exposure (i.e move closer or back up from item) to get the full frame of the viewfinder / display filled with the item. Do not get so close that the image of the item hits the edges of the viewfinder/display lest you crop off part of the image. Leave a visually appealing border around the item. If the image is high enough resolution, you can crop with some photo editting s/w. MS Windows has Photo Editor that works great for quick photo touchups for posting images for selling.

5) Take more than one photo. In most instances, the first photo you shoot is not going to be the one to use. While looking at your photos, ask yourself "Would I be interested in this item based on what I am seeing?". Unless your selling a paper poster that only has one side of print, your gear is usually 3 dimensional and as a prospective buyer, I would want to see the WHOLE thing, not just the front. Closeups of damage will allow buyers to assess whether that is a problem for them BEFORE they buy it and then you have a problem with them. Of course if you have something to hide, may be you don't want to show details Also if you are technically able, take the covers off and shoot a few inside photos, especially if it is older gear and inside are emmaculate. This is a big selling point and you'll want to emphasize it to buyers.

6) Lastly, in using photos as selling aids, you won't have to be so precise in describing the gear or items you're selling. Like the old saying .... "A picture is worth 1000 words". You're prospective customers will thank you for them in better sales and hopefully less haggling and more $$$$

If you sell more than the occasional item on any electronic forum be it eBAY, eHAM, QRZ, QTH.COM, whatever, it will benefit you (and us) if you were to take a short course in digital photography and check out the use of a flash tent. A flash tent is a small enclosre that as a translucent covering that softens the harsh flash for closeups. Professional catalog shooters use them and that's one of their little secrets to those nice catalog photos you get in yur junk snail mail.

Good Luck and I hope these few pointers help you out,

Gene W5DQ