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Obviously not painting for nearly 15 years will take a toll on one's skill.

And not knowing how to take a damned photo surely does not help either.

This is the Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures Heavy Goblin Command Group (currently the only Command Group by Thunderbolt Mountain.

Off the top of my head, I need to thin the white paint a bit more.

And I need more contrast in the flesh, mouth and teeth.

I forget that in painting miniatures, it is much like doing stage makeup, where contrast needs to be cranked way up.

I also need to get used to using new paints.

The last set of paints I worked with were the Original Ral Partha paints, which were made by Al Pare at Genesis Gaming Products (formerly Heritage USA). I had a hand in making those paints to work with how I painted, so I got rather good with them.

And they seem to work VERY differently than the Vallejo paints I have now.

The Vallejo seems to dry much faster, so I need to buy some retarding fluid.

And I need to thin some of the paints quite a bit for the drybrushing and wet-to-dry brushing.

You cannot make out the eyes in this photo, but I got those right at least (even though I LOATH how Tom decided to sculpt the eyes - rather than spheres, they are dots for the irises around a recessed area that is supposed to be the whites... Doesn't work very well if you are used to painting spherical eyes).

In any event....

Any commentary regarding how to take a better photo (obviously more light, better light, and a better background is needed), or on the painting would be appreciated.

I am used to real critique, so... if something looks crappy, say that it looks crappy, please, and try to explain why.

I have a thick skin regarding criticism of my work, and I NEED the criticism if I am going to regain any of the talent that has decayed for nearly 30 years (with a small collection of inis painted between 2000 and 2004).

MB

P.S. For those who have seen the thread where I had the Goblins I am working on sculpting, they are supposed to be the Lesser Goblins for these "Greater" Goblins/Orcs.

These are supposed to be Hithaeglir Goblins/Orcs (from the Region between Gundabad and Moria - roughly Goblin Town Goblins/Orcs, but they would probably also be the same as those found in the vicinity of Carn Dûm) - that is "Misty Mountains" for those who are not familiar with Middle-earth. So the leader is basically what Bolg should look like (If Peter Jackson bothered to read The History of Middle-earth, vol X: Morgoth's Ring, or the letter in The Letters of JRR Tolkien which contains the description of Orcs and Goblins).....

He is based as a Field Commander for Field of Glory or Hoplon

So... if you could have a look again at the work I had done on the Goblins I am sculpting to compare to these, and give an opinion on how well the ones I am doing work as Lesser Goblins (they will come up to about the Shoulders on the Leader).... That would be appreciated as well.

Looking good to me. Try putting your models on a white surface and backdrop (like paper or cloth) to help make it easier to photograh the detail.

Those do look nice, both in aesthetic and artwork. As for photography, as said above a white background and natural light will go a long way, at the moment the green-brown minis are fading into the brown background.

I really like the style of the miniatures and the palette choices. The freehand banner is pretty awesome too. I think what I like best is the base though, oddly enough! It looks really good.

I can't make out detail on the faces unfortunately. It is probably the light (and maybe your camera) that is the issue. My own photography is also crap, but the advice I have seen most often is:
- Set up a light box with multiple sources of light preferably coming through photogrpaher's "diffiusion gel" which comes in sheets. This gives you lots of diffuse light which is useful for making out details clearly.
- Photograph against a white or at least pale background to show the detail clearly.
- Use the macro setting on your camera and if possible get a tripod for it to reduce shake.

These are all things I've seen lots of people say and Dakka has an article about it. Gotta admit I don't do it myself!
People who are a lot better at photography than I am have written these articles:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/categoryhotography