Ott Light Madness!

[Kharsin]

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...

 

 

 

[ShadowRaven]

looks good. 

[CashWiley]

Ditch the white background and put in something more medium value. Doug Sundseth likes 50% grey. I still like my colored photo backdrop, which I can move around to adjust the value behind the mini.

 

Having more light on the minis has drastically improved things, though!

[Kharsin]

I've seen some really great backdrops on this forum! Anyplace in particular sell these?

[Baugi]

I have to say, for a guy with 8 completed miniatures to his name, you're putting out some seriously stellar work!  I agree with Cash though about the background.  Either grey (which I wasn't terribly fond of for my own), or some sort of proper backdrop (I've recently started using the same online freebie coloured ones Cash is talking about, and love them).

[Kharsin]

Thanks for the compliment! I'm inspired by all of the great work I'm seeing on this forum, and it has helped me progress a lot! I think what drives me nuts is the slow rate at which I complete things, as I tend to fuss over each mini a lot... well, at least over the Bladesinger and Orc as I wasn't following a LTPK. That, and the fact that I really have no idea what I'm doing. 

 

What are y'all printing the freebies out on? Cloth? Cardstock? I've seen some great ones, that's for sure! I looked for some black felt today, but didn't have any lying around the office. I've considered ordering a small lightbox that comes with several backgrounds, but have heard so much negative about them that I'm shying away from them now. I'm about to search Amazon and see what I can find....

[Baugi]

I had a friend print mine on his office printer, just on standard printer paper, but it's got a bit too much shine for my taste.  Probably going to take them into a copy place and get them done again on something a little more buff.  If you google "Miniature Backgrounds", under google image search, you'll see 4 or 5 of the same one in different colours.  Green, blue, sepia, a reddish one.... those are the ones that I've been using, and I think the ones that Cash uses.

 

http://corvusminiatures.blogspot.ca/2010/04/cloud-backdrops-for-your-miniature.html

 

Those.

[Kharsin]

Sweet! Much appreciated! I think I'm seriously about to trade in the iPhone 4. Every other phone has a better camera than what I've got right now, with the Casio included. That should help a bit as well. LOL! I may just bring the office camera home with me one day, as it just sits in a cabinet right now. I'll see what I can get with it as well.

[Bloodhowl]

I've seen some really great backdrops on this forum! Anyplace in particular sell these?

There are some free backgrounds here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?43844

Edited March 11, 2014 by Bloodhowl

[Kharsin]

Thanks! I'm going to try to print some of these up this week and see how they work. It's a crazy week though, so we'll see what happens...

[CashWiley]

I had a friend print mine on his office printer, just on standard printer paper, but it's got a bit too much shine for my taste.

I think those are the ones I use. I just did a google search for photography backdrops, iirc. Mine are definitely too shiny and they are very delicate and scratch easily. We have a wax-based printer at work. I imagine getting it done by someone with a dye-sublimation printer would be the ticket. More matte finish and embedded in the fibers rather than sitting on the surface.

[Wren]

I like the backgrounds at http://www.hangar18miniatures.com/. They are wonderfully matte fabric type sheet. You do need to take some care with them - it is possible to scratch them if you've got gravel or something on the bottom of a base and drag it over the surface, but then this will be true of something you print out, too. Use double sided tape on the back to secure them, as tape on the front will also cause damage when removed. Michael Proctor also has these. If you look at the figures credited to us in the Previews section on the main website, they were taken using these backgrounds.

 

The cheap option I've found for very matte is large foam sheets from the craft section. (The same kind of foam that is sold already cut up into shapes for kids to make pictures with.) The trouble there is that it's hard to get more neutral colours, and there are no backdrop style patterns. Black and tan are easy to find, but I've only ever found gray from Hobby Lobby. Foamies is one brand, the one in Hobby Lobby is Silly Winks. The foam marks up a little, and you'll need to occasionally remove pet hair or lint, but overall it's  been very durable. I've used the same black (for OSL figures only) and gray pieces for years and only recently bought new ones because I was doing an important project. The pictures in the Bones FAQs were done using the black foam, and anything on a gray or black background in my CMON gallery is on a piece of foam. http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/Wren

I have tried various printed types, including some nice patterns printed up by a very kind friend who works somewhere with a good printer. The ones printed on home paper looked cheap. (Though granted that was the blue to white fade popular at the time, maybe there are some better patterns kicking around now.) The pro printed ones are SHINY. Spritzing them with Dullcote helped, but it didn't kill all the shine. (And it made them super sensitive to scratches.)

[EngineerJeff]

+1 what Wren just said.. Hanger18 has some nice backgrounds.  I just started using the blue gradient one for my photobooth.

[Wren]

I should also add that I think your picture quality looks great, and I agree that a non-white background would be a good thing to try. Extremes of white and black can make things look off in a photo in my experience. Nice job on the painting, too!

[ShadowRaven]

I have taken to using scrapbook paper (avaliable at almost every craft store, everywhere) you can get somewith interesting patterns in all sorts of colours, from the muted to the blinding