Taking Photos of Minis
- Thread starter daz2001
- Start date
No Such Agency
New member
There are several tutorials on this in the Articles section, as well as numerous previous Forum discussions. In a nutshell:
1. If your camera has decent resolution but poor Macro, take the photo from farther away and then crop it down to more closely frame the mini.
2. The blue background is a blue-white gradient - easy to make in any image editing program but just for you, here is one. Print it in colour on a sheet of paper and use it as a photo backdrop.
1. If your camera has decent resolution but poor Macro, take the photo from farther away and then crop it down to more closely frame the mini.
2. The blue background is a blue-white gradient - easy to make in any image editing program but just for you, here is one. Print it in colour on a sheet of paper and use it as a photo backdrop.
darkartminiatures
New member
And me. Thanks No such Agency
*clicks print*Legacy Account
Active member
Make sure you\'re not too close to the mini as well.
airhead
Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Daz, welcome to the boards.
look at my sig where it lies about my intelligence. Click that link. It will take you to a home-made photo tent. (or do an ebay search - they go about $30 there)
There is also a link there for a blue/white fade, but it seems NSA beat me to it.
Try the articles section. There are several good ones here on photography. Unfortunately, your photo work will influence the scores as much as the actual paint job.
As to blurry pics:
Are you useing a tripod? That is a must. Set the camera to delayed release (like if you were going to run around and get in a group shot.)
Are you in macro mode? usually a little flower icon. Not knowing your specific camera, I cannot help there.
Are your focus options set correctly? Focus on the middle of the pic (on the mini). Set your shutter speed to 1/4 second or so to narrow the aperature and increase your depth of field.
Are you simply too close? All cameras have a minimum picture distance. Take the picture further back. Zoom the camera? or crop the image with photo software.
Keep shooting and asking questions. I did and still do.
look at my sig where it lies about my intelligence. Click that link. It will take you to a home-made photo tent. (or do an ebay search - they go about $30 there)
There is also a link there for a blue/white fade, but it seems NSA beat me to it.
Try the articles section. There are several good ones here on photography. Unfortunately, your photo work will influence the scores as much as the actual paint job.
As to blurry pics:
Are you useing a tripod? That is a must. Set the camera to delayed release (like if you were going to run around and get in a group shot.)
Are you in macro mode? usually a little flower icon. Not knowing your specific camera, I cannot help there.
Are your focus options set correctly? Focus on the middle of the pic (on the mini). Set your shutter speed to 1/4 second or so to narrow the aperature and increase your depth of field.
Are you simply too close? All cameras have a minimum picture distance. Take the picture further back. Zoom the camera? or crop the image with photo software.
Keep shooting and asking questions. I did and still do.
Here are a few random thoughts from someone who is still trying to get it right.
If you have a decent camera, you already have way too muc camera. I can easily get 600 pixels wide from only a small portion of the photo. Since I don\'t focus well on the closeup, I don\'t even try to make the mini fill the frame.
A background is your friend, and your enemy. Sometimes the camera focuses on the background and not on the mini. Not sure of the bet solution other than to keep the two as close as possible to each other to minimize the problem.
Light is your friend and your enemy ... mostly your enemy. Too much light produces glare ... too little light produces darkness. Too much focused light causes glare and shadows ... I\'ve seen minis I taken where it looked like I missed large areas of paint ... no it\'s not the black primer showing through, it\'s an annoying shadow. I think diffused light is better than multiple non diffused light sources, but that\'s my next experiment.
Last thought, but it doesn\'t always work. Set your camera in time mode. Gives you a chance to step back from the tripod (Yes use a tripod) and not have movement blurr the image.
You know, when I was in college (many years ago) I used to take rainbow holograms of my minis. No worry about focus, backgrounds, light sources (assuming that the laser was working), just get up your vibration proof sand box, allign the mirrors, set the film raise the shutter (aka a dark cover in front of the beam) and pause while the film was exposed. Develop and enjoy.
If you have a decent camera, you already have way too muc camera. I can easily get 600 pixels wide from only a small portion of the photo. Since I don\'t focus well on the closeup, I don\'t even try to make the mini fill the frame.
A background is your friend, and your enemy. Sometimes the camera focuses on the background and not on the mini. Not sure of the bet solution other than to keep the two as close as possible to each other to minimize the problem.
Light is your friend and your enemy ... mostly your enemy. Too much light produces glare ... too little light produces darkness. Too much focused light causes glare and shadows ... I\'ve seen minis I taken where it looked like I missed large areas of paint ... no it\'s not the black primer showing through, it\'s an annoying shadow. I think diffused light is better than multiple non diffused light sources, but that\'s my next experiment.
Last thought, but it doesn\'t always work. Set your camera in time mode. Gives you a chance to step back from the tripod (Yes use a tripod) and not have movement blurr the image.
You know, when I was in college (many years ago) I used to take rainbow holograms of my minis. No worry about focus, backgrounds, light sources (assuming that the laser was working), just get up your vibration proof sand box, allign the mirrors, set the film raise the shutter (aka a dark cover in front of the beam) and pause while the film was exposed. Develop and enjoy.
