Once the backdrop's been assembled (OK, taped to the desk), you can set your products on it, as shown in Figure D.

FIGURE D

The two Pocket PCs are secured with a bit more tape. Click picture for a larger image.

If you look carefully, you'll notice the Navman PiN has a blob of blue tape behind it. That's because, when I set the handhelds on the backdrop, they kept sliding down. A blob of blue tape behind each resolved the problem. It took some additional futzing to get both to line up together, and then I took my shot.

Once the shot was taken, I did the normal Photoshop magic. I cropped the image tight. Because it was intended for presentation on the Web (rather than art for my wall), I down-sampled it to 72dpi and resized the image to 480 pixels high, which works great for a Web-based image.

And, there ya go. A $0.69 piece of cardboard and you've got a backdrop. By the way, you can extend this idea a bit. You can buy larger cardboard sheets at your local art supply store for a buck or two, and you can also get different colors, so you're not limited to white. If you're taking a picture of a piece of silver jewelry, for instance, you might want to try placing it on a piece of black cardboard.

After all, when the backdrops are only $0.69, you can certainly afford to experiment.

Product availability and resources For more information on the Dell Axim X30, visit http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/pda. For more information on the Navman PiN, visit http://www.navman.com/land/products/pin/index.html. For more information on $0.69 pieces of cardboard, visit your local art supply store (although we found ours at the corner Wallgreens). To get your own blue painter's tape, visit http://www.homedepot.com.

James Booth is the Senior Editor at ZATZ Publishing. In addition to writing for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer, he's the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and handheld specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.