OT: Photography Help

[ibuysportsephemera]

Does anyone use a light box to take pictures for your eBay auctions or website. There seems to be some good buys on eBay for light boxes to take pictures of items that stand on there own, but I am concerned that it won't be as effective for magazines and photos that lay flat.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Duluth Eskimo]

I have thought about myself so I am interested to hear if anyone has input. It seems like a no brainer every time you have to deal with flash / lighting issues.

[otismalibu]

I just Googled some DIY directions and made my own bush league version. Basically a cardboard box with sides cut out and some thin foam (old packing material) to kill any glare. Grabbed a couple of cheap lights from the hardware store and it's just a piece of construction paper for the background.
You could surely get much better results with a store bought version or a better homemade version.

[thecatspajamas]

Jeff,

I am by no means a professional photographer, but in my experience, the biggest difficulties with photographing photos, magazines or other flat items are 1) glare from lights and 2) keeping the item flat while keeping the camera at 90 degrees to the item. A light box helps a lot with #1, but presents even more difficulties for #2 unless it is large and specifically made to deal with flat items. Placing a card on a stand is one thing, but getting a curled 8x10 photo or a floppy magazine to stand up straight for the shot is a whole other endeavor.

I do use a light box/photo tent for 3-dimensional items (balls, statues, toys, etc), but find that it's tough to beat a good flatbed scanner when it comes to photos and other flat items.

[Runscott]

I visited a map store today and asked them if they could create quality scans of oversized photos. They could not, but they gave me a couple of businesses' names that I'll check out this week. Will get back with the results.

[thecatspajamas]

Scott,
Something I hadn't thought of when you asked about the oversized photos before is you might check with a duplication/print shop. When I was working in civil engineering, we occasionally had to scan full-sized sets of plans (24"x36") and would have them done at such a place. I would caution though that such places are not accustomed to dealing with high-priced collectibles, and depending on the dimensions of your photos, the scanning would probably be done in a pass-through arrangement rather than an oversized flatbed scanner.