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This is something that I've been wondering about for a while. When looking at showcase pics of a miniature or group of miniatures, what sort of background do you prefer? I'm trying to decide what the best background is to use when I'm photographing my own miniatures for showcasing.

Voted for white because up until now it is all I used. Curious about using other backgrounds though.

Blue to white grad or a neutral grey-white grad.

Having learned the hard way about autofocus, over/underexposure and white backgrounds, I prefer something with 'pop' that won't confuse an imaging sensor (as white backgrounds still do to many cameras).

I still have about half a roll of each leftover from my old photography job.

I need to make a trip to a photography shop. Time to get serious about my pictures.

You can DOWNLOAD blue-white gradients and print them out yourself.

Just google image search " blue-white gradient background" (without the inverted commas worked for me).

Whilst a roll of the paper backdrop isn't overly expensive - you don't need that much of it.

I enjoy the darker backgrounds for my paintjobs, but am looking into something a little more artistic than the basic black I've been using.

Lately I've been using 2 different 3 ring binders as my backdrops. 1 white and 1 blue, depending on what I'm shooting.

chromedog wrote:You can DOWNLOAD blue-white gradients and print them out yourself.

Just google image search " blue-white gradient background" (without the inverted commas worked for me).

Whilst a roll of the paper backdrop isn't overly expensive - you don't need that much of it.

Great suggestion. Much appreciated.

No problem.

Not all of you used to be pro-photographers ...

(I did, hence why I still have rolls of the stuff.).

I found the images just by looking for them.

I've got one on my photobucket page.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r221/chromedog/blue_gradient_background.jpg

My mini (and foldable) photobooth comes with a reversible Grey or Blue backdrop.

So, Grey or Blue.

kronk wrote:My mini (and foldable) photobooth comes with a reversible Grey or Blue backdrop.

So, Grey or Blue.

If you've got one similar to mine, I've found the blue can really mess with the white balance of images. I've haad better luck with white, although that has issues as well... But easier to correct for.

I typically use the Blue for my Black Templars.

Once I move, making a photo booth for pics is on my "to-do" list.

Interesting results so far - I thought there'd be more for the textured backgrounds. I've just been using plain white so far, though I might give the blue-white gradient a go at some point.

White is great if you want to be able to do stuff with it (like do a close wrap in a page layout program, or layer it over other graphic elements on a web page).I think ti looks a bit 'sterile' in a gallery setting, though.

Yeah, very true. White also makes it easier to digitally put in other backgrounds, hehe. I suspect most, if not all of GW's gallery photos with the blue-white gradients are done digitally - mostly because I've seen pics where they've accidentally left white spots in closed-off areas (like between the legs in the top two models in this pic, hehehe).

Personally I prefer the white backgrounds when showcasing a model just because it doesn't distract from the model itself - but it doesn't work so well with lighter-coloured models 'cause they tend to blend into the white background.