Looking for help. My photography bites.

[Naukhel]

Yeah. The title says it all.

Lately, I\'ve been painting a lot, and some of my minis, I\'m plenty darned proud of.

But, alas, my photography skills are very substandard, so my minis aren\'t getting
the love that I feel they deserve in the ratings.

In general, this doesn\'t bother me, but when I do a mini for commission and the
buyer is so pleased with the piece that he pays me double the agreed price...

Well, I just wish my photography could show the piece in the same light, so that
I\'d at least be getting above 5\'s.

Here\'s my four most recent submissions.

I don\'t have Photoshop.
I don\'t have a light box (working on making space for one).
I have a tripod for my camera.
I take the pictures with the timer so that
there\'s no chance of my hands shaking
making it worse.

I could really use advice on lighting, with and without a box (until I have space for
one, I\'m stuck working without), maybe positioning of the mini?

Heck, just about any advice would probably be helpful.

And yes, I\'ve read what\'s here already,
and have done what I can with what I have.

Here\'s the links to the pics...

http://www.coolminiornot.com/164780
http://www.coolminiornot.com/164106
http://www.coolminiornot.com/163734
http://www.coolminiornot.com/160850

The Earthborn Troll is the commission piece that got me the bonus.
Personally, I started it with a vote of 7.
By 11 votes, it was down to 3.1.
It has since climbed again.

Thanks in advance.

 

[airhead]

There are a few tutorials here that cover this issue. I highly recommend reading them, but let\'s look at the dire troll:

Here is what I could do with some quick adjustment via P-shop:

As you can see, it is a help, but not a cure-all.

Lighting:
Go to your local mall and find the portrait studio. Notice the lighting. 2 lamps above the camera pointing at the subject. Optional third lamp pointing up or down at the background to help hide the shadows. Consider this your minimum rig. See the big shadow behind his leg? That should not happen. It looks like you have one spot on the subject placed to your right and above the camera. Now duplicat that with another spot to your left.

Background:
Got a color printer? Look in my sig and see the briliant spot? click it. Look around and find the printable background. Use it. Don\'t like it? Go to the local mall, find a Wolf Camera (or similar) and ask for a 30% grey card - 8x10 minimum.

Light tent:
Again, read the article in my sig. I made one from dowel sticks and a window sheer for less than $10. I later bought a pop-up one on ebay for about $20 (watch the S&H charges, some of them rape you there). The light tent was worth an easy point on my scores, but again, you need 2 or 3 lamps.

Software:
P-shop, P-shop elements, Picture-It, GIMP (free) are but a few out there. GIMP is free, but probably not the easiest to use.

Matt Varnish:
A couple of your minis look like they need another coat of Dul-Coat. This can also come from overlighting the mini or shooting pics while the varnish is not quite cured.

 

[Sand Rat]

Another suggestion for a backdrop - I found some really inexpensive 8x10 cloth samples at a fabric shop - one in a light blue and one in an off white - have yet to use them, but they should look marvelous.

 

[Naukhel]

Many thanks.

I\'ll aim to do all I can to improve my pictures.