Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey all you photo experts, here is a picture I have taken. As you can see it is pretty clear but I feel like it could be sooooo much better. This is btw on the macro setting of my camera.





What I want to know is,

What is the best kind of lighting to use to photographing minis?

What kind of background is the best when it comes to taking pics of minis?


As you can see, I'm not the greatest painter in the world, but this Vulkan model looks TONS better in real life than in this picture.

How can I make my pictures better show off my models?


Thanks!!!

Natural lights are good, but sadly, since the window is behind the mini you have it on the front. Try to have the sun behind you next time.

Also, does your camera haves a tulip icon on it? If it does, activate it, that's for really close snapshots.

I hope that helps a bit.

Ya, I was using the close up (macro) setting. I will try out your advice. Thanks!

Any more advice?

I've been having the same trouble man. I bought a new camera, that was 14 megapixel, got a stand, built a lightbox, been playing with the settings for like a month, and I STILL can't take a photo worth a &*^%$. This is about the best I've come up with so far:



And they look mono-shaded in that photo and the camera flash is casting super long shadows. My guess is that the part the folks are forgetting to tell us is that you need a camera that can support external flash bulbs, to get proper lighting. I'm frustrated enough that I'm not going to test this theory, but maybe someone will pipe up here with a link for us photo-challenged folks to help. lol

Try moving the camar away from the model, and use the zoom, optical zoom if your camara supports it. That way there is less difference from the background to the foreground, as far as focus. Also try putting it on a large single piece of paper, so the entire background is a single color (ie white). Use the flash, but soften it using a filter if possible (even a piece of thin paper would work, like tracing paper) or indirect flash if you can. Natural light is best for color, you dont want to wash out the colors using harsh lighting.

Lord Manimal wrote:I've been having the same trouble man. I bought a new camera, that was 14 megapixel, got a stand, built a lightbox, been playing with the settings for like a month, and I STILL can't take a photo worth a &*^%$. This is about the best I've come up with so far:



And they look mono-shaded in that photo and the camera flash is casting super long shadows. My guess is that the part the folks are forgetting to tell us is that you need a camera that can support external flash bulbs, to get proper lighting. I'm frustrated enough that I'm not going to test this theory, but maybe someone will pipe up here with a link for us photo-challenged folks to help. lol

I turn off my flash. But, I get this kind of quality:

The key to taking any great picture not just miniatures is lighting. The more light(within reason) the better your results will be.

Also the color of the light makes a difference in how the colors of the miniature will be recorded by the camera. Light is rated in Kelvin. The higher the kelvin the bluer the light and the lower the more yellow. Natural sunlight is approx 6,500 K, while bright white light will be closer to 10,000 K. Light in the natural sunlight range will appear similarly to how the human eye perceives the color in daylight but wont necessarily be 100% true to the tone as it will add more yellow hues to the colors.

The light should also be indirect, or defused as this will help to eliminate shadows, and help to prevent the subject from washing out, glare etc.

As Adagna says indirect or diffused think of when you last had a professional photo done or take a look in a photo studio if you have one in your high street they shine their light at reflectors to diffuse it and it is there for not direct either the other thing I recommend is to use multiple light sources. I try and put a light above and in front of a subject to make sure any shadows are behind it and not seen by the camera.
Also don't be shy of Photo Editing software, If you cant set up spectacular lighting due to cost or space then good software can compensate. I use Photo shop to rebalance the white by eye f its too yellow and it will sort out the rest of the colour as you do. this can be done with pretty much all photo software including the stuff bundled with windows (just not too well)

Here is another attempt. I think it came out a little bit better. (I know this is threadromancy, but I would still like some help)

I can guarantee you 100% its still taken too close.
Having macro on doesnt mean its fail safe for taking close pics.

If you lense is constantly having trouble adjusting between the 2 points's depth aka the body vs the spear tip ,
then its an obvious sign its too close.

it's not threadomancy as you're the OP! if one of us did it, it might be.

i think it came out pretty good this time and you've incorporated alot of the tricks suggested in the thread. the only thing i'd do is change the direction the fig is pointing. even with the macro function, the camera focuses at a certain distance (most likely the body/face) and anything outside of a narrow range around that is blurry (like the spear tip). unfortunately, vulcan is a very 3D mini with parts sticking out in all dimensions. if you turn him to either side so that the spear and flamer arm aren't point directly toward or away from the camera, i think the entire mini will be well lit (already is) and in focus.

That's a depth-of-field issue.
While the face is in focus, the speartip and fist are both closer and not in focus because the DoF is so small at that range.

Does your camera support manual exposure settings?
Can you alter the F-stop and shutter speeds separately?
Is your camera a compact or DSLR? (and there really isn't much difference in price between them anymore).

Stabilised camera? Tripod, stack of books, beanbag?
This will be necessary to take any decent photos of minis.

If macro isn't working then perhaps zooming (optical only, digital zoom is crap and not worth the effort to use) might work (from further back).

Experimenting with aperture controls as well.

Photography is all about practice. Lots of it. At least you won't be wasting film with a digital camera.