By the way, how do you guys take your pictures? How many and how powerful bulbs for example do you think is absolutely necessary? Or do you prefer to wait for a nice and sunny day and use the natural light? Do you zoom as close to the miniatures as possible, or do not get that close and simply crop the image later with any software you are using? In any case I would like to learn how to take these photos properly and efficiently, so that they are as close to reality as possible. Thanks!
Maister.Petz makes great pics! he gave me some good advices about this issue
http://www.sg.tacticalwargames.net/forum/index.php?topic=169.0Here are some advices taking out of my experience:
- Put a bend sheet of paper. white sheet use to overexpose the photograph and the figures goes to be dark shadey, maybe a colour sheet could be better. The gold color used to be enhanced with a red background... I have never use this in figures, but in my work I used to take pics of golden objects and it works. Neutral grey is recommended. It is funny because I do not use it for taking my own figures pics, just take the pice of paper closer to me... too bad too lazy!
- Light is very important. The best: natural indirect light. If you only have artificial light, use white one, not the yellow dinner room light, or you should to enhance the blue colour with a software.
- The use of tripod and timer is highly recomended. pw uses. Again I only use it in my work, my pics are made at hand so the most of them are blur due to the vibration of my hand, not for focus. The less light you got, the more time the shutter had be open so the more probability the vibration causes a blur.
- Try to avoid flash. It "burns the figure colours, and make flat look.
- Always use Macro option. The figure should be in the center of the pic. All the compact cameras optics has geometric aberrations in the edges of the camara, so the edges do not get sharp. Forgot all you have about frame theory when shoot to a single unit for the gallery put it in the center of the image.
- Never use zoom. If you have tripod and timer you could use it. As much Zoom as much vibrations of your hand influence the pic. The point is get a sharp colour balance image. Nowdays the compact digitals cameras have good definition and lots of pixes, so you could enlarge and "cut" the figure with photoshop or something.
- Depth of field is so important in macros pics. Unfortunatly I only know how to manage it in the old reflex mechanical cameras, so I am lost in the "very-clever-automatic-robots-cameras". If it helps to increase the depth of field the shutter has to be close (not less than 5.6 or
so the velocity swiftness should go to long times (1/4 or 1/2 seconds).
Hope that helps or be useful! (in essence that is very close of what pw do)
But lets see how the rest make their pics!
