How do I fix my HORRIBLE pitures?

[wolfthemage]

I'm not a photographer but i'm trying to make some nice, clean, clear pictures of comic books for posting to eBay. The problem is that most of them are in plastic sleeves and cause all kinds of glare problems. Taking them out of the sleeves is not an option. My results so far are less than desired.Here is an example of one of my pics:
http://www.20search.com/ebay/300bookspidermancollectionpic3.jpg

You can see the glare on the top and the pic is not as clear as I would like for it to be. Here are a couple of pics of my picture station so you can see what I'm doing (wrong) to achieve this:
http://www.20search.com/ebay/mypicturestationpic1.jpg
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http://www.20search.com/ebay/mypicturestationpic2.jpg

I'm using a Kodak DX3900 3.1 megapixel. My budget is limited. Do I need a new lens, and if so which one? Do I need a higher megapixel camera, how high? Am I doing something wrong or am I getting about all I'm going to get with what I have to work with? Any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

[octospit]

when i sold my comics(together), i just used a scanner...scanning the covers helped show buyers the condition of the books. after getting the scans i posted them all together in tables with thumbnails linked to the high res scans.

[hypertech]

Can you take it out in the garage on a moderately sunny day?

You are getting glare because you have a light shining across them in an otherwise dark room. Try to get indirect uniform light and it should help.

[jacuff]

You can see the glare on the top and the pic is not as clear as I would like for it to be. Here are a couple of pics of my picture station so you can see what I'm doing (wrong) to achieve this:
http://www.20search.com/ebay/mypicturestationpic1.jpg


I'm using a Kodak DX3900 3.1 megapixel. My budget is limited. Do I need a new lens, and if so which one? Do I need a higher megapixel camera, how high? Am I doing something wrong or am I getting about all I'm going to get with what I have to work with? Any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

Your using a Kodak Easyshare DX3900... Do you need a new lens, a fast lens will help but you can't exactly switch lenses on your P&S camera. 3.1 Megapixels is plenty of resolution for your eBay postings. You don't need a higher megapixel camera.

Scanning them in a scanner instead of taking photos is probably the best idea, but if you want to go with photos and keep your same setup... here's what I suggest.

Get some brighter lights and instead of pointing the lights directly at the product, use a diffuser (or softbox) to more evenly spread out the light. This will help to cut out glare.

Here's something small that doesn't cost a lot of money. You should be able to experiment with it and get good results.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/67100-REG/Westcott_1107_14_Diffuser_Reflector.html

[siejones]

Use a circular polariser. It will cut down if not eliminate all the reflections. Just rotate it until you get the best results by eye then hold it in the same rotation in front of the kodac.

Oh and your exposue time may increase by up to 2 stops.

[5x5 photography]

How about using a little less light, diffuse it, and shoot with a low ISO, and off a tripod.
A polarizer would help but if you are just needing it for this one image it would be a waste to spend the money on something you would use only once.

[Kraig C]

hmm, use a reflected light flat bed scanner.. That's what I did for my books