Photography Issues.....Is Using Stock Photos OK?

[i-love-my-sheep]

I'm trying to photograph some things to list this afternoon and I'm having big issues. I'm really having issues with purple things, they keep showing up as royal blue. I only have the camera on my newish Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, which normally is spot on with colours, to the point I rarely need to do any touch ups before listing. Even before I take the photo, they are showing up as blue on the screen. I have tried flash, no flash, artificial lighting (LED torch) with flash and no flash. The light coming in from outside is virtually non existant as it's pouring rain and probably about to snow, so quite dark for 2.20pm.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get my phone to recognise purple as purple? If not, I'm wondering if it's OK to use a stock photo, making sure I mention that the main photo is a stock photo, then add a couple of the carppy photos so people can see the actual item they would be buying, even though the colour is wrong?

Thank you wonderful people!

[digital*ghost]

Check your phone settings and see if you have any filters or other settings that will adjust the tone of the image - look for something like a warm filter (red based), with purples, sometimes I had better luck with the cool filter (blue-based), even though it was coming up as too blue already.

If you can edit them on a PC, try using Windows Gallery or PhotoFiltre (both free) to adjust the colours - Windows Gallery is pretty simplistic, and you can adjust colours with temperature and hue, and PhotoFiltre is a little more advanced but the effects are more dramatic, so I tend to find something that works well in WG for one photo won't work as well in PF for the same image, and vice versa.

Often, I'll take the image on a white backgroud, adjust the colours on the computer so that the item itself looks right, then touch up the background of the image to make it white again in PicMonkey (free online tool for the basic stuff, can also be used to edit colours, temperatures etc if needed).

If you're still at a loss, feel free to send me a pic to see if I can do anything with it - I used to touch up pics sometimes for another seller a while back, no guarantees, my skills are still pretty basic  but I'm happy to give it a shot anyway.

[digital*ghost]

Oh, and sometimes, it'll actually work better if you include a contrasting coloured item in the shot that you can edit out later - sometimes digital cameras over-compensate when there's not a broad enough spectrum of colours in the shot, so including a red item or blue item etc can sometimes help it to adjust properly.

[extra-keen]

As suggested above, make sure there is plenty of other stuff in the photo - a good average across the board of colours and contrasts, then crop down for your listing.

However nothing replaces a good camera and a decent editing program for slight corrections of colour, exposure and contrast. It is good to experiment with your equipment as it does help you know what its abilities and limitations are.

Have fun, photography is fun!

[mckma04]

As a buyer, I will not bid on items that have a stock photo.

[sonya0576]

I use my S4 for most of my photos and when I have problems with colouring I turn off the lights and use the flash, my picture comes up with clear colours then.

[phorum_junkie*]

My camera never plays to the same tune, one day the purple is spot on and the reds come out wrong, another day it is turquoise, I am now so used to adjusting the colour when editing that I don't even think about it.

I never use a stock photo for a second hand item as the main one but may crop a piece out of it and say that is the actual colour or if it is a style that is hard to show I may use a stock photo if I can find one but make it clear that it is not the actual garment for sale.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful suggestions! I'll give them all a go and see how I go. If I can't get it to work, I'll hold off listing them until I get my tax back and get my new camera (I pay second job tax on purpose to ensure I get a good return every year). Even if my old digital still worked, it would be no good for what I want because I need to use macro for these items and that camera didn't have macro. Normally my phone takes exceptional photos, it's only these 2 things I'm having issues with. Interestingly, I photographed and listed larger purple items (amethyst and ametrine) and the colours were spot on, so not sure what's up with these 2 things, give that one of them is an amethyst cut stone.

[davewil1964]

As long as nothing comes out cerise....

[cherry*135]

All listings* on eBay.com.au (and most other eBay sites)  may not:

• List an item without at least one photo

• Use stock photos for used, damaged or defective items

  crikey wrote: as eBay has a stock photo album for things such as books which some sellers do use for second hand books - I think that rule means, with no other pictures or something to say - this isn't the actual item, it just shows you an example.

  No that rule doesn't mean that. If the item is not brand new, then you can't use stock photos at all. A stock photo of a new item, isn't 

  If I am buying a used book, I want to see what the book I am buying looks like (what condition it is in). Not a stock photo of a new book.

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

As long as nothing comes out cerise....

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But I like cerise!