ROUND 1 Panzer Lehr - Caen 1944 vs German Mercenaries

[Captain Blood]

[Malebolgia]

Argh...another hard choice! Both photos are very nice and have cool backdrops. I like the gritty painting on the second one but in the end I think smooth effect on the first one looks a bit better. I do think that the cobblestones are a bit weird though (look a bit like lego ). The first one got my vote for the total look.

[argsilverson]

I voted for the 2nd, I prefer their look and WW1 themes

[Pil]

I think the first one is a near perfect entry. Great painted models, great backdrop, and good photography. The second one is really nice as well but the flash photography kills the effect a little.

[Hitman]

Tough choice. The painting on the tank looks so real. Too bad the figure`s don`t have better faces...due to the sculpt, not the painting. I also like the photo shot effect. The light on the second entry is a bit too bright, but the painting is very nice.

[Mr.J]

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on photographing figures? I agree the photos really let me entry down and I have round two ready now, any hints/tips etc that could help with them would be greatly appreciated.

[D@rth J@ymZ]

Although it might not be apparent by my hastely submitted (read: last minute) entry , I believe the key points would be:

lighting, lighting, lighting

- background can make a difference (plain or scenery) but having 3 points of light minimum makes a huge difference (a plain background can more easily be set up in a photo booth/light tent). 3 point lighting reduces shadow to a minimum.
- do not use your flash (unless its a special flash desighned for this type of photography)
- tripod or camera resting apparatus (pile of books etc.)
- adjusting the white balance (manually or after)

and I am by no means an expert...

[Mr.J]

Thanks Darth I'll bare that in mind next time. It's the flash that killed it this time I think!

[Vingthor]

hi!

mr j it is a pleasure!

for taking photos check these tutorials:

http://sweetwater-forum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=1648 it is german but the pics are good

and

http://www.twfigurines.de/main/workshop/photos.htm


i personally use two 60 watt lamps (the same as in the second tutorial). my camera has whitebalance for artificial light which i use otherwise the pictures get very yellowish. after that i adjust them in photoshop (contrast, color temperature etc), crop them and make other little changes like text etc.

a program where you can adjust the color temperature is very helpful cause you can really affect the atmosphere with this setting. cooler ones for odd zombies, beasts and warmer ones for heroes and beloved ones or simply that it fits the story or the terrain. is it warm or cool on that day? is the sun shining?

picture composition is also a subject. i usually try to place the miniatures so that they tell a story. also some advanced things can be very interessting like rule of thirds and drawing the viewers eyes through the picture with some details.

hope i could help
cheers
kevin

[Mr.J]

Thanks a lot for the links they're really good! If only I'd seen them earlier!

I love your tank by the way, very, very real looking!

[Vingthor]

thx. now that it is out of the hat i'll make more detailed pictures for my website in the next days. also from the panzer lehr guys

[Ray Rivers]

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on photographing figures?

After the shot, check your software to make sure you get the best out of the picture.  Mine has a "maximum pixels" button which makes a huge difference and I also tend to manipulate the "sharpness" and "brightness" of the photo if it didn't come out as well as I would have wanted... almost always.

[garyapsledene]

Hard to pick, both the background are very well presented. Just love the copplestone road on the first picture.