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I've decided that with the price of the models and the fact that I don't really play games very much, I should take my time painting and try to really improve. Here's the first product of my quest: an Eldar Guardian! I like how he turned out, although I'm iffy about the base. I must say though, that the pictures don't do the model justice - practically none of the blending I did shows up in the photo, and some areas are too dark. But I guess that's what I get for taking them with a camera phone and makeshift lighting setup Comments/critiques are welcome!

Edit: post updated with new photos

He's tabletop quality.

A quick way to improve your photos is to take a large piece of white paper and brace it against the wall, and then curve it under the models base.

This gives you a nice white background which will help bounce light onto the model and bring out a bit more of the details, and it also eliminates the hard edge corner that cuts your subject (the guardian) in half and draws the eye away from what you want us to focus one.

Another tip is to make or find a rig that will act as a tripod, and seeing if you can set your phone camera app to take a delayed photo. Focus, hit the camera button and set back so you aren't touching it.

Even with my high end camera, when I photography toys/miniatures I make sure my camera is set to take a delayed photo and I use a tripod.

Also, since you are using a camera phone, you want to use natural light. Try to find a place where you can get indirect natural sunlight on the figure, artificial lights and flashes are great for unpainted models and sculpts because you want all the hard shadows and details,

Hope that helps! Model looks pretty good, but I would like to see the detail you say is missing

Chris_P wrote:He's tabletop quality.

Just curious as to what you mean? I've heard this term used a lot but I'm not entirely sure what it entails.

thegrav wrote:A quick way to improve your photos is to take a large piece of white paper and brace it against the wall, and then curve it under the models base.

This gives you a nice white background which will help bounce light onto the model and bring out a bit more of the details, and it also eliminates the hard edge corner that cuts your subject (the guardian) in half and draws the eye away from what you want us to focus one.

Another tip is to make or find a rig that will act as a tripod, and seeing if you can set your phone camera app to take a delayed photo. Focus, hit the camera button and set back so you aren't touching it.

Even with my high end camera, when I photography toys/miniatures I make sure my camera is set to take a delayed photo and I use a tripod.

Also, since you are using a camera phone, you want to use natural light. Try to find a place where you can get indirect natural sunlight on the figure, artificial lights and flashes are great for unpainted models and sculpts because you want all the hard shadows and details,

Hope that helps! Model looks pretty good, but I would like to see the detail you say is missing

I'm going to try and get some better pictures soon here. But thanks for the tips! I'll try those techniques out right now and see if it helps.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ta-da! Time for new pictures!

This time I took them with a better camera. I also took them outside for the natural light. Unfortunately, whenever I tried a white backdrop, it darkened the model way too much for whatever reason. Instead, I tried either a gray cloth for it to sit on or a brick, and both turned out much nicer than my original set up.

Here's (IMO) the best picture of the ones I took. Hopefully you can see the blending on the helmet and some of the armor now.



And a few more, although not as good:





Thanks guys! Hopefully these are better. And in all honesty, despite my best efforts, I fully recognize this model isn't very good; I'm just trying to step up my game.

Tabletop standard hands down. He looks pleasing to the eye.

I take my photos on a camera phone in my bedroom so I know it can be tricky getting a good shot. Things I've found that help.
rest the phone on a solid surface.
use a white background. I use two sheets of plastic card (floor and backing board).
Light: I take the majority of my photos in the evening so natural light is in short supply. I try and get multiple light sources but I only have one movable lamp. popping a thin white T-shirt over the lamp makes defused light giving you light without the glare bouncing off of you mini.
And the biggest difference was some free software I found called GIMP2 that I simply use to resize and one click auto adjust the light levels so the whites are white
and for painted minis I don't use a flash.

Great job, definitely tabletop quality.

Quarterdime wrote:Tabletop standard hands down. He looks pleasing to the eye.

Thanks Pretty much what I was going for.

VonKessler wrote:I take my photos on a camera phone in my bedroom so I know it can be tricky getting a good shot. Things I've found that help.
rest the phone on a solid surface.
use a white background. I use two sheets of plastic card (floor and backing board).
Light: I take the majority of my photos in the evening so natural light is in short supply. I try and get multiple light sources but I only have one movable lamp. popping a thin white T-shirt over the lamp makes defused light giving you light without the glare bouncing off of you mini.
And the biggest difference was some free software I found called GIMP2 that I simply use to resize and one click auto adjust the light levels so the whites are white
and for painted minis I don't use a flash.

My new pictures (see updated post) were actually taken outside with a proper camera, but thanks for the tips! Most of the rest of my eldar models will be photographed with a camera phone, so I'll be sure to use these techniques. Would you recommend trying a blue scale background as opposed to pure white? The pure white behind this model seemed to almost make it show up darker.

Fozalica wrote:Great job, definitely tabletop quality.

Thanks! Glad you like it.