KatieS Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I wanted this mini since the moment I heard it was going to come out. Got my hands on one at Gen Con, (thanks Tanya!) and here's what I have managed to do so far. Btw, sorry for the somewhat blurry pictures, my stupid camera sometimes chooses to focus on the background instead of on the mini <sigh>. Hopefully you can see enough to comment on my color choices, etc and I will try to get better pics for my next WIP update. Btw, not happy with the hair and going to redo it completely. Have to anyway for a section of it because of a moldline I missed. Bah! Looking for comments and constructive criticism as I intend to bring this one to Reaper Con next year and I want to at least get a silver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Unfortunately those shots are just to blurry to make any kind of meaningful advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieS Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Unfortunately those shots are just to blurry to make any kind of meaningful advice. That's what I was afraid of. I need a camera with a manual focus. For some reason about half the time mine likes to focus on the background instead of the mini. Any advice on how to get my camera to behave? Or should I just go out and buy that digital SLR I have been dreaming about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 What kind of camera do you have now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Any advice on how to get my camera to behave? Or should I just go out and buy that digital SLR I have been dreaming about? Well, I won't suggest that you avoid a DSLR; they're really nice. That said, the first thing I would try is using a background without a pattern or detail. Autofocus works, as I understand it, by edge detection and then focusing to get the edges to be sharp. When you have texture in your background, the autofocus can pick up the threads (or whatever other pattern might be there) as the important edges and focus on them. Now, it turns out that a piece of light gray cardboard is a bit cheaper than a good DSLR, so you could try that first. BTW, the reason I suggest light gray is to make it easier to get a decent auto-exposure level. Auto-exposure time is determined by the total amount of light reflected to the camera (most of the time, anyway). If you use white, your miniature is likely to be underexposed; If you use black, your mini is likely to be overexposed. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixminis Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Hey Katie! That looks like jiggle/shake vs. focus (or both). Do you use a tripod and timer when taking photos? Does your camera have a spot/matrix/etc. focus option? Spot focus + appropriate depth of field setting should be a good start towards good focus, and tripod/something for the camera to sit on + timer should avoid the shakes. I'm so shaky (when holding cameras) I finally broke down and got a camera with vibration/shake compensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Does your camera have a macro function, it is usually represented by a flower on the function wheel/button thingy. This helps on taking pictures of small things up close. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakandara Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 In addition to what Michael mentioned regarding shake, remember that the effective shutter speed of even a digital camera is partly dependant on the amount of light present when you take the picture. Bumping up the illumination around your piece (preferrably with multiple, diffused light sources) should help your camera fire with a faster shutter speed, reducing the impact of shake on the images as well. ~v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieS Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 OK, after getting home and taking some different pictures, here is what came out: Clearer pics anyway, though there was less lighting (I didn't want to break out my whole photo setup again for one pic...). To answer everyone's questions: I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300. I have a tripod and use it religiously. The problem here seems to be I was trying too hard to get a deep depth of field when I didn't need it. And my camera was definitely having focusing issues, it had nothing to do with camera shaking since I used the timer and took multiple shots (using the best shot selection feature of the camera). Not to mention I took several other pictures at the same time that were decently in focus. These pics I just took quickly with minimal lighting and a different background. Guess that's what I get for trying to be too complicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I know you said you plan to completely redo the hair, but I actually rather like it. It might could use a bit darker shadows and a few of the highlight patches span multiple strands of hair, but that can be fixed with dark lining. The, hmm, tabard(?) looks like it needs both higher highlights and darker shadows, but I like the color quite a bit. The same can be said for the corset*. I like the bronze armor quite a bit and the general color scheme works quite well, IMO. (I might try to use a brighter and more saturated purple on the pauldrons, but then I might be wrong about that, too.) The {face} looks very nice (to the extent it can be seen), but I think you might have missed an ear tip sticking out through the hair on the left side. (The latter might be just an artifact of the lighting in the more-recent pictures, though.) * I'm not sure how a corset over armor really works, but that would be a question for the sculptor. Edited to add "face" to 4th 'graph. So it will make any sense at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieS Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 I know you said you plan to completely redo the hair, but I actually rather like it. It might could use a bit darker shadows and a few of the highlight patches span multiple strands of hair, but that can be fixed with dark lining. I'm not sure I like the effect of the wash I used which is why I planned to start over. That and the mold line which I need to cover up somehow... The, hmm, tabard(?) looks like it needs both higher highlights and darker shadows, but I like the color quite a bit. The same can be said for the corset*. Sorry, I should have mentioned the only part I consider "done" at this point is the armor. Though I did work on the tabard and the light blue leggings a bit tonight... more pics when I have time. I like the bronze armor quite a bit and the general color scheme works quite well, IMO. (I might try to use a brighter and more saturated purple on the pauldrons, but then I might be wrong about that, too.) I was a little uncertain on the color scheme, I am not very good at color theory, so that was one thing I was looking for people's reactions on. Glad to hear it's not completely out there at least. Hmm, the purple is another thing that isn't done yet, and I will have to see what happens there. I may not get to that part until she's all put together anyway. The looks very nice (to the extent it can be seen), but I think you might have missed an ear tip sticking out through the hair on the left side. (The latter might be just an artifact of the lighting in the more-recent pictures, though.) * I'm not sure how a corset over armor really works, but that would be a question for the sculptor. ROFL, that thought hadn't really crossed my mind, but it probably should have... Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated. Hopefully I will have time to get some more pics up later this week showing what progress has been made (or will be made...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 She looks nice, I like the face and eyes, and the armor is nice, too. Not sure about the color choice on the blue leggings, but I'll wait til it's finished and see how it looks then. The hair color looks nice and it is nicely done. Did yours have a mold line across the top of the head/hair too? I seems like I always end up with the minis with the bad mold lines on the hair, face, or fingers. For me, they are impossible to remove without removing all of the detail. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieS Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 She looks nice, I like the face and eyes, and the armor is nice, too. Not sure about the color choice on the blue leggings, but I'll wait til it's finished and see how it looks then. The hair color looks nice and it is nicely done. Did yours have a mold line across the top of the head/hair too? I seems like I always end up with the minis with the bad mold lines on the hair, face, or fingers. For me, they are impossible to remove without removing all of the detail. John She had one on top of the hair which I was able to get rid of (after many milliput washes...), but she's got another really bad one on the left side on the part of the hair that is by the braid. You can't really see it in the pics, but it's obvious if you pick her up and look at her... which is why it must be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 much better pic Miss Katie! I love the gold armor with the purple and I love the color that you are using for the tabbard! I do agree with a previous crit- higher highlights and darker shadows. As for the pants, I dunno if the light teal really works, it just seems like it would make too many bright colors on one piece. I am personally envisioning a neutral color for the pants. I am just not sure which one. We might have to get Cutebutpsycho in on this also for color suggestions lol I think that the hair looks good also. The face is pretty as well. It just looks like the blends need to be smoothed out a little more for the skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captenglish Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Overall, I like the color scheme (incl the pants). I have to know what color(s) you are using for the tabbard as that might just be the color I am looking for my current project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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