Ok, this one just frustrated me to no end...

[Naukhel]

Ok. I\'ve complained about my lousy photography frequently. It\'s dragged
me down on a number of minis that I
honestly believe are worth more on the
ratings than they\'re getting. Meh. That\'s neither here nor there.

Right now, I\'m actually just about ready to throw my camera out the window.
Why? Here\'s Grim Angus... Privateer Press model. Handed it over to the customer
yesterday, and his reaction to it was more positive than I\'d even hoped for.
\"Holy crap, that\'s AWESOME!\" and extended raves and showing it off to
other customers at the LGS.

In other words, I\'m proud of the work on this mini, and people that see it in person
are similarly impressed...

And yet, these pictures don\'t remotely reflect the quality. It\'s painted with a mix of GW, Reaper Master Series, and Vallejo paints. It\'s got one coat of Liquitex Matt Varnish, followed by two spray-on coats of Testor\'s Dullcote.
I did NOT take this picture with a flash.

Or this one....

GAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
I have no space for a lighting rig. I need to hire someone to take pictures for me.
Mine SUCK! I\'m giving up on taking pictures, and getting someone else to take \'em for me.

 

[airhead]

check the tread on \"handy tutorial\" here. Also look in my sig for a how-to on photo booth.
I made my first one with some scrap dowels and an old window sheer. Total cost $0.

It looks like your lights are too much or too close. Even though the mini is matt, there is so much light that it is showing reflections.

Space:
one folding photo cube
two swing arm desk lights from my painting table
one tv tray.

Assembled, about 2\' x 3\' including tripod and camera.
Put up - less than a brief case.

Pop up boxes are plentiful on ebay, but watch the dealers, some of them want to kill you on shipping.

There are even a few dealers that will sell you a complete kit, cube, lights & tripod.

 

[Naukhel]

I\'ll have to see if I can get those. I\'ve got one lamp. I\'ve got a tripod for my camera.

Thanks, airhead.

Hopefully this together will help.
It could just be me. :/

 

[generulpoleaxe]

my light isn\'t powerfull enough for a light tent so i no longer use it.
i have also stopped using editing software for tweeking light levels and contrast.

the problem was me (as well as not being able to use photoshop properly!)

take time to mess around with the light levels on your camera as well as the distance from the model.

also, have the light at different distances and see if it makes a differance.

do each change one at a time and your photography will improve.
it\'s just like painting, all of the theory doesn\'t help unless it is put into practice.

hope that helps.

 

[PegaZus]

Airhead answered most of the issues, and I didn\'t read carefully enough before charging off on a quick experiment. However, the articles didn\'t seem to have a direct comparison, and it seems a waste to waste the work now.

The following picture was taken of one of my son\'s Eldar warriors (he\'s five, so he\'s very happy with the paint job) with four similar setups. The first, on the left, was taken with the light tent that we bought a couple years ago from eBay. I think it was around $30 with shipping.

Then, continuing to the right, raw light from the same single lamp, a paper towel held in front of the lamp, and a piece of wax paper held in front. Now that I\'ve posted it, it looks small. Sorry!

I haven\'t messed with the light levels with the camera (5 year old Sony Cybershot, 1.3 mega pixels), only the macro function. No photoshopping either, just moving all the pictures together.

 

[Naukhel]

Light levels on the CAMERA?
Ugh... Where\'s that instruction manual?
Kodak CX7430 .. 4.0 Megapixels..

 

[PegaZus]

Originally posted by Naukhel
Light levels on the CAMERA?
Ugh... Where\'s that instruction manual?
Kodak CX7430 .. 4.0 Megapixels..

Why, that would be here! Only problem was that I didn\'t see any light level entry.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

it\'s exposure comensation in the menu.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/publications/urg00206toc.jhtml?chapsec=urg00206c2s12&pq-path=1931/1954

 

[No Such Agency]

Dullcoat or not, that mini is still SHINY. If you don\'t fix that, no amount of camera work will make it look much better. (IMHO)

 

[johnboyjjb]

I\'ve been messing around with a good setup for photography. I have that light cube posted earlier and one lamp. I put the light about a foot from the cube and the cube about six inches from a white wall. If the room is totally dark except for that, I go ahead and mess with some camera options. So far I am happy with the pictures I am getting. I think most of the light is reflected off the wall and back into the cube.

 

[Naukhel]

Now, I\'m just cracking up...
It\'s been a while since I\'ve had anything to post as the batteries in my camera
died, and I didn\'t have replacements, then kept forgetting to buy more.

A friend hired me to paint his spiffy new alternate Eiryss sculpt, which is very pretty,
and I took this WIP pic to just show him how it was coming along, and somehow
got the crispest, prettiest photos I\'ve ever taken...

The only thing I can guess is that I have to quit TRYING to take a good picture,
and just snap them in a hurry.

Sheesh.

lol