Okay, first off I’m a photographer and graphic designer by trade. I like to make things look nice, it’s my nutured nature, naturally. Someone recently pposted this up on the UP forum and after looking at it for less than a minute it was amazing how much you can learn from the settings in which some people take these pictures for eBay.
I’m forever in giggle fits because of these ridiculous pictures.
Maybe I can give a few helpful hints to you “would-be” eBayers.
If you want to use your bed as a background for your instrument, please make your bed before taking the photograph.
If someone is modelling the item for you, have them comb their hair and brush their teeth.
An instant cringing feeling is produced when you shoot your expensive uilleann pipes (or flute) on something scratchy and dirty.
Pay attention to the items in the background of your shot - put away your personal items – could be embarrasing!
If your camera sucks, borrow one that doesn’t.
When possible, use natural daylight – tungsten bulbs get really yellow (is that brass or siver??)
This didn’t happen on eBay, but I loved a photo I saw this morning on MSN of a dog in the Westminster Dog Show. What the photographer apparently hadn’t noticed was another woman in the background shaving her poodle’s … um … rear end. I’d put it in here, but I don’t know how. Here’s the link:
The really silly thing with that shot, (aside from the hairdressing job on the poor creature in the foreground, which is pretty darn silly) is that with a moment’s cropping to focus down on the foreground dog, one could have eliminated dog-butt and anonymous-breasts and strengthened the composition of the photo, for essentially no time or effort…
Maybe the background is part of what they intentionally wanted to show… The movie Best In Show did a good job of illustrating just how bizarre the world of dog shows can be. Similarly, this photo is an excellent illustration of dog show behavior. I mean, aside from veterinarians with a medical reason, who else would actually shave a dog’s butt?
I have a “theory” about dog shows. Know why the toy poodles always win? Cuz the other dogs are having such hysterical fits over how the darn things look that they can’t do whatever it is they are required to do in the ring.
Just what IS that poor creature in that picture??? I love dogs, have two boxers (which have absolutely NO brains, but that’s another story). But that dog is just WRONG.
Oh, to stay on topic, I don’t have a link to it, but remember the infamous “tea kettle” man picture where the guys reflection showed he was taking the picture in the nude? EWWHHHH!!!
That dog comes by that haircut naturally. It’s a Chinese something or other, as I recall.
One of them lives in my building. The first time I saw it I thought it had some sort of ghastly mange–miraculously sparing the head. “Oh, poor little guy! What an unusual distribution of the hair loss!”
Well, it wasn’t a guy and it wasn’t mange. The owners were horribly offended.
It suffers from the cold. Even here in Florida. The alligator doesn’t recognize it as food, as it is attired in pink flannel footie pajamas. With a drop seat.
The dog in the foreground is a Chinese Crested, and that’s how their coat grows naturally. They’re totally hairless except for feathering on the ankles and tail tip and on the top of the head.
They are cute, and very sweet, but their skin requires special care. There’s also a variety known as “powerpuff,” which has a full coat, but it’s usually the hairless variety that is seen in the U.S.
