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Hi all. I recently acquired a few bookshelves which have become the new home for my miniatures and gaming materials. The shelves came with a good out section in the middle and I think it might be the perfect place for a photo set-up. I currently use a white sheet of cardstock as an infinite backdrop with the two 1520 lumens daylight LEDs that I use for painting and a light source from either side. It works well enough but it's just inconvenient enough to set up that I'm looking for change. I figure now is a great time for an upgrade. I'm thinking I've never really worked with lighting and anything electrical so I think that's mostly where I need guidance. I'm hoping I can fasten some LED strips to the walls and top and then run the wiring out that hole that was conveniently cut out of the back. Other than that, I'm thinking I can just tape in a sheet of white poster paper and swap it out if it starts to get too beat up. If I'm really lucky, there will still be room inside to store my camera bag. I also am wondering if some kind of diffusion will be necessary or if the LED strips will have a general enough soft light on their own. I also have to be mindful of wall placement because the arms of the "door" brush against the wall about midway when closed. For the curious, the shelf is about 14" deep, 13" high, and 25" across. And the open "door" is about 14" Thoughts/advice of any kind are welcome! **** As a side note, if the LEDs work well here, Iight try swapping out the old lights in the display cabinets up top. They are a gross old orange color.

Newly finished, WIP here: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/87616-making-another-background-for-photographing-miniatures/ This whole piece went faster and easier than the first. This final step was using a very heavily watered Burnt Sienna (Apple Barrel) with (too much) dish soap. I usually aim for a small drop or two, but this ended up with a squirt! So using my sponge to apply, it actually sudded up pretty bad, but I was able to poke at the bubbles and blow them off the paper to get basically what I envisioned. I'll call it a win! What I don't know is whether to call it. Is it finished sandstone or yellowed parchment? Suggestions on names? Next theme? Anything? Enjoy!

Finished this a while ago actually, but am just now posting the finished product. I got a bug and am now making a few variations on these--just on art paper for the moment, but I wouldn't mind having them printed on neoprene or something a little more durable. Now I just need more minis to photo in front of them! Let me know what you think. WIP here: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/83003-attempting-to-paint-generic-backgrounds-for-miniature-photography/&tab=comments#comment-1760821

I started this in a WIP and have finally finished my first background for taking pictures. This one is made with fairly lightweight watercolor paper. I taped it down tight, primed with gesso, and built up from light to dark layers (all cheap craft paints). The concept was for the whole thing to appear nebulous, as a dark cloud with obscured lighter flashes. I think it turned out pretty close to my vision. The half-painted creatures are just my first test shot with the background. My phone camera did occasionally try to focus on the background, so on the next attempt (some kind of brighter theme) I will try to soften the edges (paint started to dapple on the blacks and grays). What do you think? WIP here: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/83003-attempting-to-paint-generic-backgrounds-for-miniature-photography/&tab=comments#comment-1760821 For those curious, the bug is primed in Reaper brush on primer, black, and it's carapace has two coats of Golden's Interference (purple-green) paint. Boxy is clean Bones, primed with Brown Liner with Old West Rose fleshy bits. They'll get their own WIP soon.

I recall reading an excellent tutorial a long time ago regarding how best to shoot one's finished minis, but I've been unable to find it. I largely suck at it. I'd like to acquire a background against which to shoot, and I don't know from where I could purchase one. I need to know what kind of lighting is best. I think I read that you need at least two light sources, and I wondered if a certain kind of bulb was best. If anybody has the link to that tutorial, I'd like to go over it. Thanks.

Greetings to you all, Following the advice I got from here first I have constructed myself a brand new light box. And procured some 5000K daylight bulbs as suggested, and here are the results: The ships are from the board game Black Fleet from Space Cowboys. After taking pictures I corrected the color levels using the GIMP tool and acquired these final images. I did try some shading on the sails of the purple navy ship, but considering the fact that these are meant for tabletop purpose and I really did not want to spend so much time on them so I dropped the idea. I am yet to find a suitable background but for now I'll make do with white... As always c&c's are welcome and I hope the admins will delete my post in the Shutterbug section soon, since this topic was related more with photography I had initially tried to post it over there and found out sadly that I was unable to upload images in there. What's worse I couldn't even manage to delete that post...

NSFW link: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jul/09/thousands-strip-naked-in-hull-for-spencer-tunick-photographs 3200 British volunteers took off their clothes and were painted four shades of blue and photographed in the streets of Hull as part of an art project by American photographer Spencer Tunick. Tunick specializes in large photographs of crowds of nude people. The blue color is symbolic of Hull's relationship to the river and the sea. I was amazed at the cheerful volunteerism exhibited -- the models are unpaid -- and the sheer variety of people participating. It seems to me an eye-opening sample of what regular people look like naked (well, partly, since in this project each person is painted monochrome).

Hiyas! So I got some reveal bulbs to try to help out some of the issues I've been having with my pictures, as well as a couple of clamp on work lights to help direct it better. I think the back drop paper Im' using is making it appear more yellow to the camera (it's a kind of ecru beige colour) what can I do t o get more natural colours? I'm not good at this =/ My camera is smarter than I am I have a Nikon coolpix p510 - using it in macro "scene" mode thanks in advance for any advise!

I just found a nice secondhand photography book which reminded me that if you are looking for visual references for city streets & alleys, the photography of Bob Thall is extraordinary. It's mostly black-and-white, but he examines details of the urban environment that most other photographers gloss over.

Hey all! (I heard that groan!) Yes, George is back to pick your collective little grey cells again! I have heard that people are using photo shop and such to change the images of figures they are painting to black and white to improve their high lights. Now, I don't have that capability atm, but I can have the Camera do this, I just need to take extra photos... So I am going to post some B&W photos of current WiPs and ask people to comment on the photos as to where I need to high light / shade. First up, Vourgha the Ogre: Next, the Vulture Demon (Use the images from the WIPS with the same date) As I look at the pictures, it looks to me as if there are no high lights at all! Now I believe this to be untrue, as when I look at the color images, I can see the high lights, and I darn sure know that I painted them! This is what I mean by needing help with using this tool. (Any military ex Photo ops specialists out there?) Also, would it be easier to do if I put the color image side by side, (top & Bottom), or is the black and white image enough? Thanks all! 8) George Mods, I believe that this is the right place for this, but I have been wrong before.... I Can't post photos on the shutter bug area, and the whole discussion is worthless without them...

I've just whipped up a very cheap and easy light stage which will make photographing my miniatures about a bajillion times easier. That's not the best photo in the world; I probably should have moved the light out a bit so that the stage isn't so over-exposed. Essentially, it's just a seamless stage built from foamcore and light card, surrounded by a cardboard cylinder, painted on the inside with matte white paint (I also tried silver; it's not that great), and with a cut-out in front to shoot through. A single daylight bulb provides all the light I need; a key overhead light, and lots of diffuse reflected light from all around. It's not a lighting setup that would suit portraits of human beings, but it shows promise for little toy tanks and roleplaying dollies. I've done some quickie test shots to try out various parameters — the results are entirely unsurprising. The best, easiest results come from using a matte white reflective shell, and a neutral grey background. That ensures that the stage itself isn't affecting the colour balance or under (or over) exposing the image. White shell, neutral grey stage Silver shell, neutral grey stage. Not too bad, but I notice it starts to blow out some highlights. White shell, light blue stage. The background colour forces the camera's automatics to under-expose the image, so the miniatures look darker than they should, and tonally flat. It could be fixed with post-processing, but why go to all that trouble if you don't have to? Silver shell, light blue stage. Pretty much the same issue as the last one, but slightly worse.

Well here she is! I'm having camera problems again, probably because this is the first time I've used photocopied backdrops. The camera isn't having it as the pics came out pretty grainy, and these are after enhancement. At any rate, Liriel is finished! I may break out the Nikon or a borrowed Canon for better pics, but I'm ready to get her out of my hair. Also, Jazzy wants everyone to know that she picked out where the flowers and tuft went. LOL! Enjoy, and comments are always encouraged and appreciated! Close-up, her left eye still freaks me out... Thankfully it looks good at normal size! LOL! These last 2 were an experiment on placing her on a cork rather than on the foam covered wooden block. I may experiment with my white felt later... I'm still trying to master my photography skills which are still lacking. HOWEVER! For those of you who have been following my grumblings on photography, today I placed a pre-order for the new Samsung Galaxy s5, which is supposed to have a very good camera in it! It should be in on April 10th, and for those who know, this makes me really, really happy! P.S.: For the WIP of the entire project, which is much more than just Liriel, please check out Jazzy's Garden of Eden.

I tried to post this under the Shutterbug section, but it wouldn't let me add pics.... here we go! Okay, so this is what I ended up with. I think this is pushing the camera to its limits. I had the chance to go to Lowe's today and pick up 2 8.5" clip lights and 2 Ott light bulbs rated at 1500 lumens a piece. I set the clip on lights at approx. 45 degrees to the models, and set an Ott table lamp overhead. These are pics of minis I've already completed, but under the best set up I've been able to manage. There's not much more I can do to improve on these pics so... What do you think? P.S.: It looks like one of Jazzy's hairs snuck onto the fleece backdrop... It's amazing what you don't notice until you blow these things up! LOL! Bladesinger Front Bladesinger Left Bladesinger Rear Bladesinger Right Phoebe vs. Varaug Group Shot of ALL My Minis...

Hey Everybody, I didn't see a "New people say hi here" thread, so I thought I'd feed two birds with one seed and say hi here while also showing some of the very first miniatures I've ever painted (well, as an adult). That's right. Brand new to painting here. I tried it once as a kid but I didn't know what I was doing and only really managed to massacar a few skeletons and vampires with heavy handed use of enamal paints. I should really try to find those figures some day... If only I could, and strip them down and repaint them - a story of redemption - but I digress. Where are the goblins right? well right here!; It's hard to get a good close up with my camera on my phone - but I'm really into this rock. You should probably go ahead and expect to see me pose just about all of my finished minis on it. Ah yes. Blury inability of my phone to take close up shots. Charming. This guy (with the mace) is probably turned out the best of all of them - either that, or the other mace guy. Another blury spear guy. Well at least the guys in the background look cool... right? And here is the whole scouting party. Yes, it's only half of the Goblins from dungeon attack. The other half is being painted by friend/housemate/indentured mini-painting slave, Kya. So anyway, that's that. If you've read this far, Thanks! and Hi! Please reply with your favorite painting "cheat" - You know, some trick you know that saves time, or just looks super cool. I know a little bit, but I can always know more and I really don't know anything. Also take a look at my trade thread over in the kickstarter trade thread (shameless plug, I know).

In this thread, Reaperbryan mentioned that he was having trouble getting detail when photographing the translucent Bones figures. I made some suggestions there, but I decided to do a few experiments, and this thread is the result. Principles: Transparent and translucent subjects are a bit tricky to photograph. There's an old adage* in photography that, "Light reveals; shadows define". Translucents under even light have almost no shadows, so there is no definition and thus no detail. In many ways this is similar to painting OSL or NMM. You need to put light where you need it for highlights without killing the shadows that provide the shapes you're trying to show. Now, not being Reaper meeple, I don't have any of the Reaper Bones Translucents to shoot, so I decided to make do with a mostly unpainted D&D mini that I had around. For reference, this seems to have been washed with a couple of colors, which does enhance the appearance of the figure. The only post processing is cropping to remove dead space and an automatic lens correction to correct optical aberrations. Here are the results: D&D Miniatures Caller in Darkness Technique: 1) Backdrop: A sheet of white seamless paper. In this case, it was an offcut from a full roll of seamless (like this), but it would have worked just fine with any white paper. 2) Fill light: Translucent and transparent subjects usually work well when backlit. In this case, I used a speedlight (Lumopro LP-160, if you care) aimed at the backdrop and snooted (black craft foam cylinder attached to the light) to keep most direct light off of the figures. The backlight shows the inherent colors of the figure well. The light was at 1/16 power, about 18" from the backdrop behind the figure, and camera right approximately level with the figure. 3) Key light: To get shape and detail, I added a second light pointed directly at the figure. This light was another LP-160, also at 1/16 power, about 9" from the figure, shooting through a Lumiquest LQ-III mini-softbox. (Much the same light could have been obtained by using translucent paper in front of the light, but the softbox makes things easy.) I tried several different positions, but ended up preferring camera left, level with the table, about midway between camera and subject. Note that different figures might look best with different key light positions. You would probably do well to move the key around to see what looks best for the figure you're shooting. Note that none of the positions I chose were similar to the position of a pop-up flash. Pop-ups are almost directly on-axis with the lens, which results in very flat lighting, which is exactly the opposite of what we need. 4) Room light: I chose an aperture and shutter speed that killed the ambient completely. When the speedlights were not shooting, I got a nearly completely black frame even though there was standard dining room light directly over the subjects. This makes it easy to work and easy to control the lights that will actually be seen. For reference, I was shooting at ISO 400, 1/250 second, at F/16-ish after sunset. Cheaper version: If you don't have a camera that can shoot fully manual and a suite of photographic lighting equipment, you can get much the same results with a point-and-shoot camera and a couple of desklamps. In that case, you'll probably want to shoot in a mostly dark room, set the lights in about the same configuration I used here, and use a much longer exposure. I chose to use a tripod here, though it really only gained me a consistent camera position, because the flash duration is so short. When shooting with much dimmer continuous lights (and trust me, all continuous lights are much dimmer than strobes), you will need to stabilize your camera, probably with a tripod. But definitely do not use a lightbox with very even lighting, or you'll get flat photos that don't show any detail. Finally, here are a couple of BTS (Behind The Scenes) shots to help illustrate what I was using. You can see the two speedlights to left and right and the tripod in front of the table. The first was shot with the same settings as the figures: The second shot shows the room with the camera adjusted to show the ambient light and the strobes turned off. (If the strobes were on, the center of the image would be completely blown out.) Here you can see the lights on either side of the figure and the tripod (sans camera) near the edge of the table at left: * FWIW, I read it first from Rick Sammon, who might have even said it first. But he's been saying it for a long time, so it's now an old adage.

I just saw a pretty amazing video of Canon's new image sensor. I don't often use this phrase in predicting the success of new technology but this really is a game-changer. Check it on this page (video near the bottom): http://www.canon.com/news/2013/mar04e.html