Photographic equipment and techniques

[Admiral Benbow]

Just thought it would be a nice idea to get some opinions and tips from all you experienced miniature photographers out there: what bulbs are you using in your lighting, what camera equipment, what kind of setup.

I'm currently using my Konica Minolta Dimage Z6, which seems to be a good camera, but have difficulties with whitebalancing: my pictures always tend to the blueish side. I'm working with energy-saving longlife bulbs in my two lamps, maybe that's the reason?

Thanks for your comments and tips.
 

[Mike D. Mc Brice]

Maybe this can be of some help: http://www.twfigurines.de/main/workshop/photos.htm

[WitchfinderGeneral]

I'm totally fed up. I'm taking my pictures outdoor because there's better light. Yesterday it was much too dark when I had the time to make some shots, today it was raining the whole day... :x
Wednesday I'll buy 2 lamps!

my pictures always tend to the blueish side. I'm working with energy-saving longlife bulbs in my two lamps, maybe that's the reason?

Maybe, energy saving bulbs produce a different kind of light than normal filament bulbs. Just change the bulbs and look if the affect disappears.
You could also try to edit the pictures on your computer, if you're able to do this.

[abbot_amaury]

High Admiral,
I would also recommend that you try some ordinary incandescent lamps first instead of the energy-saving bulbs. Incandescent lamps have a smoother color spectrum (with a high red-ratio) than the fluorescent lamps which have only a few narrow color bands. The colors of objects reflecting fluorescent light therefore often look unnaturally and totally different compared to sunlight conditions. If the color of the conventional incandescent lamps is to red for your taste you could also try some halogene lamps: also a smooth color spectrum, but a higher blue ratio (looks 'whiter')...

Gruß, Hagen

[Prof.Witchheimer]

my experience is that each camera has its colour faults. I don't believe there is a camera out there without its colour faults. Also my old Olympus CZ-3000, a bit too much yellow though i'm using the artificial light colour correction. Finally I'm correcting that with my software. That's all there is to it At least very often. But it's very improtant to use the camera's internal light correction at all, without that you'll never get decent pics

[Neldoreth]

Picture taking is a hobby unto itself unfortunately

I agree with everyone with the Prof. You really need to activate your light settings based on the type of light that you are using. I have used normal incandescent lighting and natural lighting with my photos and you really have to try out all of the options to see what works best.

Currently I am using a single 100 watt incandescent because i have found that two lights provide a bit too much light and I have to increase the exposure on my camera anyway. I shine it from one side and put a bright white surface on the other side to reflect all the extra light. I put all of my miniatures behind a neutral grey background, which I find works better than white or any other colour (that being said, similar shades of blue work well also, as shown in the Prof's pictures in his blog).

Here is an example where I forgot to activate the colour correction for incandescent light:

http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/miniatures/?view=armies&which=gk&pic=9

That one looks quite reddish, even after I used Photoshop to take out much of the redness. Here is an example of the same miniature (with some others) taken using exactly the same conditions but with the colour correction:

http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/miniatures/?view=armies&which=gk&pic=10

The second one looks much more like natural light, and makes the figs look better also! For those pictures I also turn on the macro setting as well as the vivid colour setting of the camera. The vivid colour setting simply turns up the contrast slightly, which can be done using your favourite photo editor as well.

So, you should try to experiment with different colour correction settings. If you are using the incandescent colour correction setting and your images turn out blue, then it is likely that you don't need the incandescent setting (as using that setting with natural light means that it will look blue!). In any case, hope that helps.

n.