I gotta say, I don't see how people own such lousy cameras...even my cheapest $150 digital takes far better shots than those. I remember the days when a picture was worth a thousand words....
GregSY: Some of your recent comments I agree with 100%. As to bad pictures, the Internet gun auctions are a glaring example. Some of the people trying to peddle expensive shotguns have their head (and camera) where the sun don't shine. Taking good pictures is as simple as capturing light at the right angle plus correct focus. Practice with a digital camera costs nothing and provides instant feedback. Here's some tips:
Do not use orange or red backgrounds; sky blue is best to complement the metal and wood. Cha's Semner takes good detail pictures of his Remingtons using blue backgrounds; see the DGJ.
Resolution: Set the camera to transmit at about 60 kb, which is high enough pixels to view clearly on the Internet while loading quickly. The pictures in auction catalogs (James Julia and RIA) are typically at 6 mb to 8 mb (that's 6,000 to 8,000 kb's for those who vote in Florida). Sixty kb is good for eBay and e-mail.
Lighting: A regular 60 watt household light bulb in a hand-held fixture can be moved around to get rid of shadows and bring out highlights, but will cast a yellow tinge; fluorescent will tend toward to green; a blue photo-flood from a camera shop will come closest to replicating true colors, and shooting outside on a cloudy day is best. All the photos in my books are shot under six $3.89 brooder lights with ceramic sockets housing 500 watt blue photo-floods reflected in a white light box, plus one or two movable 250 watt blue photo-floods to minimize distracting shadows and bring out highlights. I once asked Bill Headrick how he got such great lighting; he said, "Twenty-two lights." Lighting is important. Going outside on a cloudy day costs nothing.
Another cheap trick: A piece of white paper can be moved around to reflect light in favorable ways.
Set the camera to Macro (the flower icon). Any worthwhile digital camera should be able to focus on your thumbnail and fill the viewfinder with it in perfect focus. If not, get a new camera; anyone thinking about a Parker 28-gauge can afford a digital camera that works. My digital is a Sony Cyber-Shot 7.2 that cost about $200 a couple of years ago.
One of these days I'm gonna figure out how to post pictures on this website...investigation continues. EDM