SOLAR TUBE Skylight GREEN - Saves Electric

This is a solar tube we had installed in our kitchen because it was so dark.  There is a back porch with a roof that shades the window and we found ourselves turning on the light in the middle of the day -  total waste of electricity and money.

The round solar tube in the ceiling.

 It is a tube lined with bright, shiny aluminum and goes up to the roof on an angle.  There is no heat loss and no heat gain.

It is so bright it took us a few months to not reach for the light switch when we left the room.  LOL

It is hard to get a good photo with the sun coming in so bright.  It took them just a few hours to install.

Our neighbors roof with several solar tube domes on top.  They come in different sizes too.

These skylights are a fantastic alternative to the old fashioned skylights with the plastic covers that yellow and crack, leak and get dirty.

We have never had to clean ours at all and if we do, the panel just turns off inside the house.  They are perfect for any area, room or closet that is dark during the day.  As the old saying goes - try it; you'll like it.  

Web site - tell them Louise Sanchez sent you 

How I take Photos for my eBay Listings

I am not a photographer but have had many compliments on my pictures, so I thought I would show how I set up to take a batch at a time. 

The round white spot is a SOLAR TUBE.  It is not a light.  It is sorta like a sky light but does not loose heat or allow heat gain into the house. We have a back porch just outside the kitchen window , so the kitchen was always very dark.  As long as it is light out, the solar tube provides enough light so we do not have to turn on the light every time we are in there during the day!

This back ground is what the kids use for science fair displays.  It fold flat of easy storage

The little white tabs on the back are Velcro strips.  I use black fabric draped over the cardboard, that also has Velcro.  With the Velcro there it prevents the fabric from sliding off and it is even each time I set it up.

The back with the fabric attached. Notice the lamp on the left.  I place that on the table behind the display so it shines down on the item.

The front with the fabric draped.  Once it is all set up I slide the table under the solar tube and turn on the kitchen light, and the floor lamp and wait for the right time of day when the most light is coming in the solar tube. 

I normally take 50 -100 photos at a time and rarely more than one of each position of the item. After the photos are taken, I upload them into Picassa (a free Google product) in a special folder and edit them as I need them.   

 

When I edit, I can crop, straighten, adjust the brightness and highlights, and sharpen the image in less than a minute. 

From Picassa they go to My Pictures (with titles of the items rather than some code) and live there until I am ready to list them and upload them to Vendio (IMO the best listing program)  for storage and watermarking. After they are in Vendio, they are then moved to a external hard drive to live for ever and ever!   

Sounds like alot of steps but it works for me and is very fast because it is done in an assembly line method. 

To see my photos, check out my eBay store  The scarfs pictures are take in a different room on the mannequin (thanks to the suggestion from Griff.)