The meeting was held in Yorkville, IL. The meeting was opened by Jerry and Sheri our facilitators for this month.
ATTENDANCE:
Our attendance for this meeting was 17 members and 3 guests.
SECRETARY’S REPORT:
The secretary’s report was given by Jerry who asked the membership for a motion to accept the club minutes as posted to the club website without any corrections or additions. A motion to accept was made by Shelley and seconded by Cindy. Motion carried.
TREASURE’S REPORT:
Also given by Jerry, reported that the clubs balance at our last meeting on Mar.12, 2013 was XXX Since then we have received $10.00 in membership dues. Also the club purchased a get well gift basket for Sheri for $XXX. Our club treasury balance is $XXX A motion to accept made by Don and seconded by Nancy. Motion carried.
ECO REPORT:
The ECO report was given by Sheri who said the Oswego recycling will be on Saturday April 20, 2013. The working hours for our club will be from 8:00 to 11:00 AM and from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Sheri also informed us that after April the Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club will be discontinued from the recycle program because of the lack of volunteers.
PROGRAM:
TAKING BETTER PICTURES.
The program for tonight will be given by Jerry and Sheri who encouraged the members to share their own photography tips at any time during this program.
A good photograph will help you sell your product, It can make or break your sale. With a few tips your product will have better color and be more professional looking.
1. LIGHTING:
Do not use flash unless you have to; it’s the worst thing you can do. Use up window light or go outside. The best time is early evening in the open shade.
2. BACKGROUND:
Use a solid color for a non-busy background. Your focus should be on the product, not parts of your house or anything else. Crop out anything unwanted. eBay has a cropping tool built in.
3. EXPOSURE:
Make sure the image is not too bright or too dark. Most point and shoot cameras have exposure correction controls. If your camera does not have it, eBay has basic exposure control after you have uploaded your image.
4. FOCUS:
Get in close to eliminate background light noise and show detail of the product but not too close as it’ll be distorted.
5. SHARPNESS:
The brighter the light, the greater change; it’ll be in focus. The darker the light the more likely there will be blurriness due to handshake. If you need to, put your camera on a tripod.
6. WHITE BALANCE: (color)
The actual color if your product is very important. In certain items such as Jewelry, Clothes, Flowers etc. Do not use tungsten indoor lights, items will appear orange. LED / Fluorescent lights make it appear bluish. The best light is outside in the evening on a cloudy day or in the shade. Most point and shoot cameras will adjust the white balance before you shoot the image.
If your camera doesn’t, there are a number of free photo editing software programs you can download online; a very good one is Picasa from Google. www.picasa.com
7. DETAILS:
Its important to show the details of a product, especially if there is a defect. You don’t want someone to buy a product then give you a bad review because you didn’t show the defect.
8. MULTIPLE ANGLES:
If your product has important details that aren’t shown in one photograph be sure to capture those as well in a second photo.
9. STOCK IMAGES:
Do not use them ! Take photos of your product, Buyers want to see what they are getting.
10. IMAGE SIZE:
Take the photo using the highest resolution possible, if using a point and shoot camera or I phone or an Android. This will make the image as clear as possible.
We also had a demonstration of an inexpensive light box ( also known as a photo studio ).The light box was made from 3/4 PVC pipe and only takes about 5 minutes to assemble. An assortment of cloth backgrounds in many colors were also used. The members had a firsthand look at the way the light box was set up and ready to use for you to take your photos.
A group discussion followed our presentation with a question and answer.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday May 14, 2013 See all of you there.
