Photo booth

I've been spending a lot of time in the past few months acquiring and planning to list a lot of items, mostly smalls like barware and dishes to sell on my Etsy store. I seem to be acquiring faster than I have been listing these items, but here's my process.

After I find these treasures, I give them a gentle cleaning. Then I stage and photograph them. I'm interested in providing a neutral and consistent setting for the items, so that my store has a consistent look, but also so that the items stand out against their setting. I want a rugged, masculine setting, so I use bare wood props and a brown paper backdrop.

I have this shallow shelf unit from InterMetro. I've referred to it as a baker's rack for years. It's just useful enough to keep, but I never know quite how to use it in all the houses I've owned over the past fifteen years or so that I've had it. I've been in my current house for about 3 years, and I've had it on my back (enclosed) porch all this time. It's been heaped with things until recently. The natural light on this porch makes great lighting for photography; I added a small light with a full-spectrum CFL to help with shadows.

On the top of the rack is a small shelf. I set the roll of contractor's paper (available at any home-improvement store) and drew down a length of it down the back of the rack. This photo was taken facing southwest, so you can see some afternoon sun bleeding through the paper.

The photo booth

The photo that will go into the Etsy listing.

My camera is a simple one, mounted on a tripod. 

I try to set up the shot as straight and centered as I can, but I wind up doing a little adjusting in Photoshop, then upload to Etsy.

As part of my pre-listing prep, of course, I do my research on the item, maker, value, and condition, so I can arrive at a fair price.