Luckily for me, my husband was a professional photographer many years ago. He knows how to set lighting and which color background to choose. Me, I’m camera challenged, always have been. The color of the item you are going to take pictures of denotes what color the background needs to be. You want to be sure you are highlighting what is for sale and not confusing it by a busy background where one has to study the picture to figure out what is for sale. I have seen some pictures like that on various web site, it’s not easy to see what they are selling. We went to an art supply store and bought sheets of back ground paper in many colors and test shoot some items to be sure which back ground color is going to compliment the item to be sold. There is no easy answer on this one, it’s try it and see how it looks, and change it if it doesn’t work.
Good luck to you.

pastel colors

A professional photographer advised using light gray. That hasn’t worked well for me. For my items, I prefer soft white or jet black backgrounds, soft white being preferred. Crystal clear glass seems to show best on black. And of course, white items are best on a dark background, so again I like black. For everything else; soft white. I don’t used flash photography, which probably would not work well with white or black backgrounds.

If you have a good camera and great ambient light, your photos should turn out well. Of course, others will have their own preferences :)

Not being a great photographer, I use what ever color background will work best for the item being photographed…so I use different color backgrounds, depending on the item. I have experimented with different colors but really haven’t found any one single color that will work for everything.

Most of the time, solid WHITE.

Other times, a nice solid BLUE.

I don’t use anything with patterns or variations in color.

On a rare occasion, I use black, but find it plays with the camera’s settings.

For a perfect photo I like white,Except when shooting a white object,Then it dark blue.

A white or very light gray color works best for me. Since the background isn’t a crazy color I can use it to set the white balance in my camera and photo editing software.

I also use clear plastic or glass display stands to pick the items off the ground and soften any drop shadows created by lighting.

As it was stated above, it depends on the item. Solid black or white can wash an item out. Have several colors to choose from and pick one that really makes your item pop. Keep it solid with nothing to distract from your item.

I generally use white backgrounds. I use natural sunlight as much as possible, with the tiny little flash on my digital camera to help fill in. I have a folding 6 foot white plastic table that does the job for most small items. Using white it’s easy to crop out most of the background, leaving just the item I’m selling. A busy background detracts from what you are trying to photograph. White complements just about any color, so a pair of jeans hanging on a white door works fine, too. Even lighting is the key, to avoid heavy shadows. On some very small items I may work at my desk, using CFP’s, experimenting to get the color balance just right. My photo software (Kodak EasyShare) has a white balance control, making it easy to get that correct. Also, a lot of experimenting is needed before you start to get it right. Just hang in there and keep trying. Good luck.

I’d say using any color that accentuates the item you’re photographing is important with lighting being a prime neccessity. For photographing tips go to this thread.

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Good luck with your photo taking…

I use poster board. I have white or light blue. I use the white for darker colored items and the light blue for lighter colored items. These are the two colors that I find work best for me. I also use 4 lamps. I have two on the sides, one coming from on top, and a flood light right on. I don’t use flash at all.

I used a very large box (packing box) cut out one side and covered the inside with a piece of biege cloth that I just pinned it on. I had several pieces of other colored cloth and when I needed a different look for a special item I draped it neatly around it. I used natural light when I could. I usually took several pictures. I used a digital image program to crop, and enhance the picture. I have a photographer friend and I hid my Photo Studio when he visited. You have some great responses so you will have great pictures. I used Purple velvet for Copper Pans and they sold ASAP. Good Luck. Will look at your pictures.

I use the back of a door, or bricks outside, or landscape if I hang my stuff in a tree on a nice cool day.

When I first got started in internet sales in 2005, I used Griff’s eBay Bible book’s ideas. I have 2 pieces of material I use, blue for white & light objects & beige for dark objects. I never have anything else in the picture to distract from the object. If I need to hang something up or lay something on a table, I cover the background with my cloths. The only exception is when I have someone model an article of clothing. This has worked very well for me. Last Christmas Santa brought me a portable photo studio which i love & it included a reversible blue & gray background.

Photography is the tricky part to get right, particularly with glass items. I find the using my photo tent with a solid white backdrop or a solid black works best. What I still am working on is getting enough light when using the black to avoid flashing of the camera. I think I need Photography 101 class! LOL

Just play with different colors until you find what looks best. Lots of trial and error to get it right, unless you lucky like johngermaine to have a pro at hand to help you. Good luck and don’t give up.

I have the same portable photography studio that [look what bob found]has.
I brought it from a catalog comes with two lights its a nice tool.
Natural light works great for me.
Best of luck to you.

I usually use a white sheet for background, I actually have it pegged to the wall and it covers the top of my filing cabinet. I have a dark colored towel for lighter items. I use a book or similar item under the sheed to lift up the item if need be. Then I have a clip on light that I attach to my tripod that I can adjust to get rid of shadows. I find the flash often will reflect off items and distort the item so the spotlight relieves the need for flash.

I have used different colored poster board. I have a few colors. The light blue seems to work best most of the time. For smaller items, I bought some sheets of 12 × 12 textured scrapbooking paper. The texture in the paper makes such a nice background, I really like it. I cover books and sewing patterns on the scanner with the same paper and then drape a towel or something over everything to keep the light within the scanner.

I use fleece fabric. Black for light colored items, and Ivory for dark colored items.

This fabric absorbs the light and doesn’t cause flash spots.

Always have good lighting, as the flash will wash out your item.

I use shower curtains. I use a black or blue one most often. When I want to spread out a skirt on an item, the plastic in the shower curtain holds scotch tape quite well.

For years I set up a photo booth using a hall closet that was already all WHITE…even the shelving!…IT WAS PERFECT..
Had a natural light lamp with extension cord.
It was like a private photo booth ready to shoot anytime I had something to sell…and I could adjust the shelving to a LARGE boxed area.

NO distractions of what your selling is best.

But I think having fun and offering both..a clear white background as well as a fun picture to catch the eye or show the real size is good.

That is what I do know, but my closet is in use. Use a designated area corner white shelving seems to work out fine and my other designated area a white bench.

Lighting is key..if you don’t have it or a good flash
Your image will not show true colors or detail.

Hope this helps..
HAPPY SELLING!

Most of my items are china or glass. I use light blue or white fleece depending on the color of the item. As someone else mentioned, it absorbs the light evenly and accentuates shiny objects. I have also recently found the white balancer in my photo software. It really makes my photos pop. If you look at my booth, you can see the difference between the older pictures and the newer ones that are balanced. If there is no white in my item, I put a little white china piece in the picture to crop out later.

Good question! For the most part I just use a white background, but I read somewhere that the best thing you can do when selling is have a consistent background so that people know it’s you when they are viewing items to buy. I’ve tried to abide by that and I’m learning very slowly. I’ve taken some bad shots, but as time goes by I’m improving slowly. I like this “round table” business! It’s good to be new! ;)

Black or white work best.

A lot of folks have said it but use dark backgrounds for light-colored items and light backgrounds for dark objects—then again, I see a load of scanned items which look killer! Experiment with it—the main goal is to have fun…[right?]…or, izzit—to sell the item, making it look as good as possible…Well, only you can decide that—I’m out for the fun of it! Then again—I’m flat broke…