PVC Lightbox improves quality of product photos

    Between Etsy, eBay and other online commerce sites, there are a lot of people hawking wares on the internet.

    And to promote these products, the sellers put up pictures, and the quality varies from professional-looking product photos to something someone took with a cheap phone camera on a kitchen table with no thought for lighting.

    Poor photos don't necessarily lead to sales, or getting the best price in an online auction. People can't see how good the product looks.

    But there is a way to get good looking product photos. Use a light box. It's a device that surrounds the product in soft light from multiple sides, eliminating reflections and shadows, as well as distracting backgrounds.

    There are some DIY versions made from cardboard boxes, but the best, in my opinion, is the one made from PVC pipe. PVC Fittings Online has a Youtube video showing how they put together one for product photography.

    I built one, using two 10-foot lengths of ½-inch PVC pipes, with four three-way connectors and four elbows. I use the elbows to put the extra two-foot sections across the bottom as feet. It cost me less than $11 in PVC parts at Lowe's.

    While the video calls for making the walls out of curtain, I found that blank newsprint works as well. You can usually get a roll of the material from your local newspaper for a dollar or two.