Random question
Why do some sellers (e.g. on eBay) have photos of their items sitting in the SNOW?!!


Seriously, WTF.

Yes, furniture
Here's one I just saw on CL.

Better light outside for...
Better light outside for photography. As for putting objects directly in/on the snow-that's just the usual idiot factor

Wow, robert
Are those wooden legs?

Wegner, anyone?

Lovely scenery.

Ha...funny. EBay sellers...
Ha...funny. EBay sellers aren't exclusive to this approach. Visit Wright20th's home page. In the homepage slideshow, you'll see two pictures of Eames DSR's proudly standing in snow.

Interesting technique

Hmmmm
Well it ended a couple weeks ago. Same seller (802ken) as the other Wegner above.

Risom

Please
Write to Mrs. Wright, right now.

.
I am with SDR on this one.

However, I always wanted to ask: What's up with the strange choice of (the very limited) title words ?

Case in point: Just type "beautiful" in Ebay (all categories) and see what happens.. (I retrieved 4 500 ! pages full of stuff)-see also "Very", "top" etc.

I wonder which customers actually use this keyword to find anything ? Oh, I want a new thing to hang on my wall: let's just type "beautiful art" ??

i don't get it

I understand...
And appreciate the point about lighting with an all-white background. My main issue is how a seller can let their "valued, vintage goods" (and they are promoting them as such) come in contact with snow and not expect potential buyers be perturbed and perplexed by it... especially the wooden parts, for obvious reasons.

SDR
You wrote "No one can deny that an all-white background makes an ideal contrast to the object being photographed -- can they ?"

I think some people can deny that the white sweep is not ideal. I'd point to the iconic images of Wormley's designs as photographed in the Dunbar catalog and the beautiful pictures that one sees in many Wright auction catalogs where they chose to show pieces in striking environments over the usual white sweep.

The all-white environment certainly looks stark and "artsy", but showing an object in an environment has merit as well.

We went back-and-forth on this for when we considered how to show the pieces on our website and have done both. We weighed the austere but elegant look of the white sweep against the warmth and scale you can get by shooting furniture in an environment.

These are things that one should live with, relate to, and use. By putting them into a context that one can recognize I think that it can give a human scale to them and make them more "real". If you want to simply admire the design, maybe the white room is the way to go, but if you want to convey that these are real things that one can incorporate into their life, why not show them in the real world.

Granted, there is good photography and bad photography, and I think good design can benefit from good photography. Just like a great painting can benefit from a nice frame. That said, I think there is plenty of bad photography on eBay or other sites. Whether folks should put the things they want to sell out in the snow, I'm frankly indifferent. If they have half a brain, they would not leave them outside for long. Extreme temperature changes are just as destructive (maybe more) than the moisture in snow.

I'd hope that anyone selling something like a handsome Hans Wegner chair would have the common sense to take it outside, quickly get the photo they want, and then run back in where they wipe down any snow that was clinging to the legs. Of course, I live in an area that sees extremes in winter weather so I'm used to dealing with it. I'd be just as concerned with someone taking the same chair out to the middle of a stand of cactus to take pictures. Dry heat can be just as damaging as wet cold.

Pegboard

I distinguish between the more informal photos you refer to, and the auction catalog, where the seller has the responsibility to show as clearly as possible (in one or at most two photographs) the object, so that the prospective bidder can assess the condition of the object. It is that sort of photo which I would want to see as well-lighted as possible -- and with no distractions.

Yikes !

Is there no end to the madness ? What are people thinking -- snow is good for furniture, or something ?

Wood -- especially finished wood -- DOESN'T LIKE WATER. If furniture needs to be wetted for any reason, it should be toweled off and thoroughly air-dried as soon as possible.

If it was on top of the pile...
Then I'd be impressed.

Tres

artistique. . .

ha....some one is having...
ha....some one is having crustaceans for dinner.

She sells side shells...
by the sea shore.

Don't get the last couple from Wright, those aren't nice photos. Some of the others I kinda get, those two, not so much.

Bad photos and bad weather...
What's not to get?

It's Snowing
here too ..

Someone bring those Brattrud's in from the cold.

.

Ouch

Indoor/outdoor set
?

A couple of George Nelson...
A couple of George Nelson chairs in the snow, currently listed

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Cane-Back-Dining-Chairs-George-Nelson2...

Here's another...
Here's another...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1920-1940-LOUNGE-CHAIR-early-vintage-CA5...

nope
you are thinking of Yrjo Kukkapuro (in regards to the sitting in the snow) although i am sure most chair designers in a winter climate have thought of it once or twice in the process..

A snowy rug...

There's nothing quite like it!

I know I know...patio furnitu...
I know I know...patio furniture. They look good in the snow.

*nevermind cant link photo

Sofa
...

The noted Irish seating designer
Paddy O'Furniture.

Thanks and good night, folks. I'm here all week.

Knock knock
Who's there?

You said

You said who?

You said that damn joke three times.

The Brothers Eames

Humbly accept your apology.

Getting on the bandwagon
I was thinking of putting some of our Woodard chairs on eBay.
Is this how I should photograph them to get the best results?

Hahaha

Just make sure you state, "snow not included".

Hope you're keeping warm and stocked up on bread and stuff!

Rock on.
...

Christ on a bike!
That's brutal!

How about this
R M Schindler plywood chair. The listed price is $24,000.


http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=203729

We had our first significant snowfall...
of the season last week and I thought about this thread.

I even considered taking a nice piece outside in the snow and taking a picture to post as a joke.



Then I came to my senses.

exterior shots
I don't know that it's the "white" that folks are looking for when taking pix outside. I think that their cell phone cameras take lousy interior pix, that are either too dark, or bathed in yellow or blue light. Outside, that isn't in issue. As for the snow, it's incidental. Some of us have to live with it!
There was recently posted online an ad for a teak framed daybed/settee with tufted black vinyl pad -- for free. Sitting in the snow in a small town in the boonies hours from anywhere. I cried, for many reasons.

Not if you whisk the stuff ou...
Not if you whisk the stuff out of there quick and dry it off.

Not that I'm advocating snow backdrops. But yeah, I think a lot of people just take pics as they unload before they put the stuff in their overstuffed garages with no lighting.

I think it's less offensive than the ones who don't bother to clear clutter away for the indoor shots. I saw one recently with a big honking ashtray nearby that was overflowing with butts. Nice.

You're right.
I'm the eternal optimist. And sometimes it bites me in the butt.

When I toured the Herman...
When I toured the Herman Miller Design Yard, they had a silver Marshmallow Sofa in the snow. :|