Displaying your products on eBay is probably one of the most vital aspects of selling that is often ignored or done so unprofessionally as to hinder rather than aid selling.

It's easy to spend  large sums investing in expensive photographic accessories - easy - but totally unnecessary. The Celtic Winner guide to making your own tabletop "Photo Tunnel" will give you first class photos for a very low cost. This Do it Yourself Photo Tunnel can be made to any size you choose to best suite the products you sell on a regular basis. The cost including lighting is around 30 Euro. All purchases were made in Ireland at large DIY style stores.

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The first thing is the material list and tools required. Feel free to adjust the measurements/materials to suit your own needs.

•  The Materials

• Wooden Base 14"x 18"x 3/4" MDF

• White Sheet 28"x 30"
• 12 Drawing Pins/Thumb Tacks
• 2 Lengths Plastic Round Tube 1/4" x 40"
• Scissors or Stanley knife
• Needle & White Thread

• Tools
• 1/4" Drill Bit & Drill
• Hacksaw (Serrated breadknife also works)
• Scissors
• Needle & White Thread

BEFORE                          AFTER

Above is the difference between not using the Photo Tunnel (before) and using the Photo Tunnel (after). See the complete PhotoTunnel at the bottom of this page. The concept is not really new, I was inspired by the familar plant growing Poly Tunnels used mostly on the east coast of Ireland to allow year-round growing of some crops.

Making the Tunnel is easy enough. Drill four 1/4" holes about 1/2" in from each corner right through the wooden base. Instead of drilling perfectly straight angle the holes to the front of the tunnel and also to the back of the tunnel. If you drill too close to the edge/corners it may weaken the tunnel.

Next take one of the plastic tubes and bend it gently into a half circle shape. I cut each tube  28" long (using the hacksaw) which gives a tunnel height of  9" with a base width of 14". Insert the tube into one corner and then gently bend to allow pushing into the second corner. It's a good idea to try flexing the tube before purchase to make sure they bend easily without kinking or breaking!

Next cut the sheet to size. A flexible tape measure comes in handy if you use different dimensions from mine. So with a base size of 14 x 18 inches and a back drop of 9" cut the sheet to about 30" x  27". Having a hanging back drop keeps out stray light and also forms an out of focus white background.

Things are shaping up now... Using about six drawing pins attach the 27 inch length  to one side of the base.  Let the sheet run about an inch beyond the front of the base, this can then be tucked in for sewing. Have your needle ready with a few inches of white thread. Instead of sewing the full lenght of the fabric just quickly tack a small area at the top of the tunnel stretching the fabric gently over the curve.

Now move to the back of the tunnel and repeat the tacking starting at the top. Having a helping hand here would be very useful. When finished tacking stand the base on the already pinned edge and pull the sheet towards the other side stretching gently to smooth out any creases. As you can see from my tunnel I forgot to iron the sheet before starting!

When pinned at each edge start to tack stitch along the length of the plastic rod front and back, again stretching gently to eliminate sags & creases.

Nearly there... I have not yet painted my base but if you're going to use a quick drying washable emulsion. Even so don't handle the painted base for at least 24 hours.

That's it! Now you're ready to start shooting. The bulbs I use are 15 watt CF. Each emits 60 watts of conventional light which is plenty bright for small item photography. I always use a tripod and the self-timer to eliminate any possible camera shake. Get in as close as possible using the macro setting, this eliminates playing around in your image editor, enlarging, cropping etc.

Different colour backgrounds are a cinch. In the shot of the glass and the dreamcatcher a sheet of white A4 paper was used held in place by drawing pins.

Always position the lights to the front of the object and as close to the tunnel as you like. The CF bulbs run very cool so are safe and environmentally friendly too. They have an estimated life of 10,000 hours. Cost was €10 euro each in the local DIY store. The plastic rods were 2.99 each. As you can see from the photos there are many ways that this design could be improved upon. I've no need to transport my tunnel around so storage is just stand it on its edge in the spare room till the next session.

A final word. Do a white balance check before you start shooting otherwise the background may have a yellow blue or even grey cast!