A good picture can enhance the value of your item and help ensure you get the best price. So how do you take really good photos without spending huge amounts of money on equipment?

The first thing you should do is look at the shape and size of your item. A lot of printers have a scanner and books, tickets and other flat items can be scanned. If you don’t have a scanner these can be photographed.

What type of camera is the best to use? Any camera will do. You don’t have to have a digital camera. When you take your film to be developed simply ask for the photos to be put onto a disk. You can then upload these onto the relevant auction site.

A digital camera means you can upload the photos as soon as you take them and you don’t have to pay to have them processed.

Try to take the photographs outside on a fairly sunny day. Natural light will show the item in truer colour but beware of unwanted shadows. Move the item around until you are happy with the lighting.

A table covered with a cloth makes a great studio. A cardboard box turned upside down and covered with a folded sheet works very well. You can move the box around easily until you are happy with the lighting.

Pay attention to the colours you use. Make sure that your background colour enhances the item rather than dominating it. Silver jewellery looks great on a darker background while books look better on white. For larger items try to cover up the distracting view behind them by draping a sheet over the back of a chair and standing this behind the item.

For small items, either use the zoom function or else bring the camera in very close so that the details are not lost.

Make sure you take close ups of any damage or flaws so that your bidders know what they are bidding on and can’t complain afterwards. Describing the defects are one thing but actually showing the problem up close will help prevent trouble later.

Experiment with photography without breaking the bank and give your item the best chance of achieving its potential.