Round 3 - Charge! vs. Coppers

[Prof.Witchheimer]

[Braxandur]

Does anyone have any tips on how to take good pictures of group shots? I seem to be having some problems getting decent pictures of my men  :cry:

(Though I still don't paint well enough to score many points, crispy pictures would be somewhat nicer)

[Captain Blood]

Well, I'm no expert, but I believe the essentials on your camera are:

1. Timer feature, so you don't get wobbly shots.
Set the timer, then just prop your camera up, focus the shot, press the button, and step away. No more blurring from trembling hands.

2. Something called a 'macro' which is basically a focus device which allows you to take pics of small things at very close range. Without this it's impossible to get tiny, close-up subjects in focus.

If you don't have these two things, then you're never going to be able to get pics which are not fuzzy from either movement or out of focus.  

And it's hard enough to get the figures in focus, even with a macro. I still can't manage it. If you look at my pic above, the two foreground figures on the right are more or less in focus. The two on the left aren't!

Then, if you want to produce pics like the real superstar figure painters, you need additional features:

3. Manual exposure feature - the ability to set the shutter time to provide better 'depth of field' so that all the miniatures in a shot come into focus (I think, but I might have got this wrong).

4. Something called 'white balance' which allows you to automatically adjust the results to compensate for artificial light sources. If you want the ultra-clear, high-def results of the real ace painters, you need that feature on your camera too.

Good luck with it.

My top tip: take pics in natural daylight as much as you can (but not bright sunlight which just results in over exposure).

In terms of your painting, honestly - the more figures you paint, the better you get at it.
IMHO, painting figures in this scale is maybe 30% artistic skill and intuition, 70% technique. So even if you're not one of life's artists, you can still reach a pretty good standard by developing your technique.

Hope this helps. Good luck in Round 4  

[D@rth J@ymZ]

Great cavalry! and great tips for photos too...

[Lt. Hazel]

Oooooh very nice Captain! What make are your Cavalary? Bicorne?

[Captain Blood]

Oooooh very nice Captain! What make are your Cavalary? Bicorne?

They are a mix actually. Bicorne and Renegade ECW and The Assault Group (TAG) German Reiter, but they all match in pretty well because they're all sculpted by Nick Collier, who is currently churning out renaissance figures by the bucketload for TAG. Yet another Collier-sculpted ECW range is now promised for TAG.
Will that man never tire of the C17th?! (I hope not)  :wink:

I have now painted 20 of these guys - hard nuts in buff coats. Once round 3 is finished I'll post a few pics of the whole squadron.

Now I'm working on the Royalist opposition... 20 more. And I've done another 24 as border reivers... Sheesh. That's a lot of horses. I love painting horses - but I hate painting saddles, bridles and reins - so damn fiddly!  

But will be worth it when done!

I now just have to take a bit of a diversion for some robots and a mad scientist!

[Lt. Hazel]

I love painting horses - but I hate painting saddles, bridles and reins - so damn fiddly!

I feel you!

[Braxandur]

Thanks for the tips Captain,

I'm going to try to get somewhat more decent shots next round. (I indeed forgot using the Macro  :oops: )

If I get my SWAT team finished they shall be the victims of my experiments -MWWuuuuaaahaaa haaaa (<-- supposedly evil laughter)

[Braxandur]

Thanks for the tips Captain,

I'm going to try to get somewhat more decent shots next round. (I indeed forgot using the Macro  :oops: )

If I get my SWAT team finished they shall be the victims of my experiments -MWWuuuuaaahaaa haaaa (<-- supposedly evil laughter)