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Hi there! I just posted new tutorial about making better pictures of our minis. Hope you will enjoy it! All comments are most welcomed.

http://www.tinyarmies.org/en/2015/09/10/how-to-make-better-pictures-of-your-models/

Well, not much I can do with 13megapixel phone camera, but I will try use your guide next time I post pictures.

Not to do with megapixels or camera price, DC.
I did a photography degree using a camera with less megapixels than your phone. It's to do with understanding settings, controlled environment and such. You can do it, fella.

Agreed. I take all my photos with an iPhone 5 and it suits me just fine :-)

Cool article thanks!

Thanks Guys!

I guess you can still benefit from the article even if you do pictures with your smartphone. It's good too know how things work.

What kind of material should I use for the shade tent?
Is it just white paper to reflect the light source, or some kind of special material i need? like cloth?

Im thinking it would be a fun cheap project to get a decently large box and make a shade tent of my own
I have never taken any real good photos before, usually its just a pic of them on my desk.

Thanks

Hey, yes - you can definitely do this.

Good reference point is to simply use tissue paper - the idea is for material to be translucent and diffusing. It's not about reflecting, but letting in "soft" and "matte" light without losing too much brightness.

If you want something more rigid I would try to find some cloth having similar qualities as tissue paper - just check how light get pass through it.

Try to find something close to very bright window blinds.

Get one of those sterilite containers, the kind with the cloudy translucent plastic. Use it as a light box. It diffuses light pretty well.

For those wanting an easy time, consider grabbing a foldio. It's a cheap foldable photo booth. If you're limited on space the folding option is great and it's a good size for miniatures.

Very good article!

One thing that I think deserves mention is that the depth of field is related to the focal length of the lens. I find I often use my cheap fixed 35mm (Nikon DX, so 50mm equivalent) lens for taking photos of minis, rather than my "better" lenses, just to get that extra depth of field.

As for using smart phone I just googled the IPhone lens and it seems it is about 35mm equivalent. Even better depth of field and, yes, there are enough pixels! If you follow the other ideas in this article I am sure you can get excellent results with a smartphone. Just make sure you have sufficient light!

Great, Thanks a lot Sotnia!

Well now. I made a couple of pictures using this guide. Not the whole guide, just partialy. I played with the light and angle and I tried to build something like a "tent" from large foam pieces, but I dont have the room and the time for this. Here is what I managed to do, I named it: The painting evolution of a mini:

http://imgur.com/a/P5EnK