When a Photograph is TOO Good!!

I had acquired a couple of engines 2 years ago that I no longer needed. So I decided to list them locally for sale. Since I felt a photo would help sell the engines, I went to the shop with my newest camera, a tripod, an off camera flash and as much knowledge as I could find on how to take a good picture of this type.

I unpacked an engine, made sure there was no dust on the engine and started to look for a background. The shop is kind of dark even with the overhead lighting turned on. The lighting is fluorescent, I had read this would produce funny colors. I decided to use the natural light that comes in the shop when the garage door is open.

Since I don’t like working on the floor, I found a suitable height stool to put the engine at a nice working height. Next a background. Little in the shop is clean enough to be a photo background. My friend had just bought a large tool box that had been packed in large sheets of styrofoam. The styrofoam would be a perfect background.

Two sheets of styrofoam were used. One under the engine, the other vertical behind the engine. Next the stool was moved until the engine had the sunlight on it at a nice angle.

The camera and flash were set up. The photos were taken.

 

 Click on the photo to enlarge.

No post processing was done, these photos are just as taken. The styrofoam is so white, I did not need to cut out the background. Even the shadows that are seen are from the original photos.

 

 Click on the photo to enlarge

 

In this photo in the upper left corner you can see the end of the styrofoam background. I love the shadows.

Well, the end result of using these photos in the for sale ad was I received NO responses! I felt my price was low enough, I am convinced the viewers felt I used a “stock” photo so they were not interested. I believe too good of a photo ruined the sale.

What should I do next time? Throw it in the grass and snap a dark photo like everyone else does??