Since the typical monitor is about 1,280 pixels across, the original image is three times too big to see at once, even if you wanted to fill the full screen. And, since the typical eBay picture is much smaller, you need to only grab a small part of the picture, as shown in Figure C, to post online.

FIGURE C

Once the picture's taken, I just cropped it in Photoshop. Click picture for a larger image.

As you can see, since I don't need nearly the pixel resolution the camera's capable of, I can shoot the picture and discard the bulk of the excess material. The result, suitable for eBay posting, is Figure D.

FIGURE D

This picture was not taken with a macro lens. Click picture for a larger image.

As you can see, the image is adequate for our purposes. It shows what the car looks like to a prospective buyer. It's not the best picture you'll get, but it's usable.

Let's look at the two images together, as shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E

Here's a comparison of the two images. Click picture for a larger image.

The top image is the macro photo, the bottom is the cropped, distance photo. There are some things you might notice. First, the lighting on the non-macro shot isn't as good as the lighting from the macro shot -- even though both were taken with the exact same lighting setup. That's because I used a diffused flash on both, and less of the diffused light reached the object at the distance I was shooting.

In practice, you'd want to play around with different shots to get the best lighting. I didn't, both because I didn't really feel like taking the extra time and because this helps illustrate some of the differences in these two photo styles.

Another thing you'll notice is that you can see the clarity of the decals much better in the macro image. You might be able to kick up the quality a little more by hand-focusing and taking a bunch of pictures, but you're just not going to get the same level of detail as you would with an actual macro lens.

Without a doubt, if you can shoot small objects with a macro lens, do so. But if you just can't afford to go out and buy a new camera or a new lens, here's a good technique that might help you sell enough so you can save up for that great new camera.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise, has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com.