Elouchard Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hey all, Lately, my figures have been looking more and more generic due to the light blue gradient background I have been using. It doe do a nice job overall but everyone and their dog is using light blue gradients now so the things are looking the same. The main problem is actually both lighting and color background. I used to use a blue shirt and two lights to get a directional light effect and that really made nice shadows but was sometimes dark and had alot of texture in the fabric that, while sortof artistic, was sometimes distracting. Then I switched to a light blue gradient printed on a piece of paper with an inkjet. This makes an huge amount of background reflectance, especially with the 4 lights I was using. It illuminates fully but washes out the figure "dimensionality". Many of the figures I have posted lately have this background and some just don't look good with it. For a test I made a dark blue piece of paper in a printer and used that instead of the light blue one. I went back to two lights, one desk lamp on the right (figure hand) and one halogen lamp pointing directly at the figure. This gave some good shadow and depth. I used this with a goblin standard bearer and and warmachine figure. For the warmachine figure I made a very dark gradient background in photoshop to see how it looked. I think it is interesting but not good for all figures. Still, the dark brooding look is much more to my liking as the bright lighting wasn't fitting my painting style. Anyways, I just felt like sharing some photo experience with you all. Eric 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikinglodge Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I really like the Female warrior she looks great must have been hard to get the eyes right with them being half hidden but still you managed to bring out great charachter from her face. If I may ask a a few questions, How do you change the background for the females picture? I have Adobe photoshop. I have seen this before but have never been able to do it. What type of setting so you use on your camera with so much light on the miniature? I have seen other peoples light setups they have the lamps really close. I have mine a little further back and if I direct the light straight on the miniature the picture will come out really washed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kheprera Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 If you don't mind some constructive criticism... The goblin's background seems to merge too much with the overall color scheme of the figure. The blue of the banner is almost the exact same color as the background, so it doesn't stand out quite so much. Maybe a little more red or gray into the mix would change the color enough to make the little guy stand out more. While the green really stands out well against the color chosen, you completely miss really seeing the banner. The same thing with the female. Dark-haired minis, just like in portraits of dark-haired people, should have lighter backgrounds so their hair doesn't blend into the backdrop. The blue gems on her belt, in contrast, seem to scream at me, so that's when I end up looking at and having my eye drawn towards, rather than really seeing her face or the splended blends of her clothing. I've seen so many people ask "Can you lighten this photo so my face doesn't look like it's floating by itself?" My only answer could be "Yes, but then your face, the main subject of any portrait photo, will be washed out." Mind you, I wasn't working for a custom lab so we couldn't use any burn or dodge techniques. Photographing miniatures is an interesting mix of close-up and portrait photography. By following the basic rules for both (you've got the close-up part down pat, no problem) you can get fantastic results. Take a look at some of the backdrops portrait photographers use (not the static scene ones) such as the neutral grays, grayish blues, and grayish/pale beige, and you will find the best contrast color for all hair and skin colors. BTW - love the teeth on that banner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elouchard Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 I like criticism. Photographing the figures is the hardest part for me. I should try a light blue mixed with gray for the background and see what happens. The old shirt I used to use always blended in with the colors of the figures and the dark blue paper is doing the same thing. VL - I do tape tissue paper over the lamps so I can pull them in very close. I used to keep the lamps clear but hotspots would occur too often in clothing folds. With photoshop, you can use the magic wand to select all of the area around the figures, then delete it and put in color with the paint bucket. The gradient tool is part of the paint bucket also. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbuddylee Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Thanks for posting this, I have the hardest time getting pictures to turn out right, I'm going to use some of the stuff discussed here. yours look great. I would like to see the gobbo on something other than blue, it looks good, but a different background may make it really pop out, I think you're losing something with the blue on blue, but again, I'm no expert. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almathea Toes Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 What is the name of that female fig? I'd love to paint her, but finding her in the racks of minis at my FLGS without her name or number is a daunting task that would probably take hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mengu Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 What is the name of that female fig? I'd love to paint her, but finding her in the racks of minis at my FLGS without her name or number is a daunting task that would probably take hours. I believe her name is Lanyssa. She is an Iron Kingdom rpg model (Privateeer Press/Warmachine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elouchard Posted January 4, 2005 Author Share Posted January 4, 2005 I played with the goblin and added a photoshop gradient and increased the brightness and contrast overall. A tan background seemed like something new to try. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Gradients are fun... I just have gone with mat board from Dick Blick. I can use and entire piece and direct the lighting for shooting. Plus a shot of Dull Coat takes away any reflective qualities... But overall I think the more neutral a background is, the easier it is to shoot against. But then again, I've shot against black, white, tan, red... used filters... Oh, Eric, just double up some wax paper to place over your lamps... :D Now I just need to steal Bugeye's camera again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kheprera Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Much better. It shows off the colors of the mini without blending the overall color scheme with the added benefit of being a fairly lighter colored background. The blues definately stand out now. The brown is a little on the greenish side (according to this monitor anyway ) and that might detract somewhat from the little guy, but overall the effect is much better. It's very difficult sometimes to find backgrounds that enhance everything, especially when you've got a colorful paint scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 What is the name of that female fig? I'd love to paint her, but finding her in the racks of minis at my FLGS without her name or number is a daunting task that would probably take hours. I believe her name is Lanyssa. She is an Iron Kingdom rpg model (Privateeer Press/Warmachine) Lanyssa Ryssyll - Nyss Sorceress Privateer Press PIP81008 hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikinglodge Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thank you Eric I played with the magic wand the other morning and learned how it works. The Shift button helps to add areas. Also I noticed that you want a plain background. I printed out a blue gradient sheat with my super cheap printer and noticed I would have to use different bulbs normal bulbs give to much yellow light in this case. I guess my castle wall soakes it up normally. Is reveal bulbs better with a blueish background. The other thing with making a gradiant background is its hard to use the wand with a mini who has a color similiar to the background is there any way to adjust the chosen areas so you dont deleat parts of the mini? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Yes there is. When you've chosen the magic wand tool, there should be a box in the bar across the top of the screen where your tool settings are located called "tolerance". You can adjust it so that the wand is more or less selective of the colour area it selects. You can also use "quick mask" mode (the button just below and right of the boxes where your paintbrush foreground and background colours show) to colour in the areas you have selected. Then you can switch to the paintbrush or pencil tool and either add to or subtract from the selected area by clicking on either the foreground or background colour box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Froggy the Great Posted January 7, 2005 Moderator Share Posted January 7, 2005 Someone posted a few gradiants that they printed and used as backdrops. As I do not have photoshop, could I please get someone to direct me to good gradiants I can download and print? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.