thats actually a cigarette lighter with the knob missing.
Ha! That speaks volumes to your advice to me that I need to see actual motorcycles, not just pour through the parts books.
As to crappy photos, yeah, I am astonished how bad some are. The best advice was in Easyriders back in 1971, when they pointed out to keep the front end straight when you take a picture. I have also learned to use fill flash, no matter what. I do think you can get good results from a box camera or a phone, if there is plenty of light. For some eBay or Craigslist ads it seems it would be so simple to pull the bike in front of the closed garage door and get a decent background.