Round 1 - Under Fire vs. Camp Life

[Prof.Witchheimer]

[von der Tann]

Tough choice ....

[Rob_bresnen]

both great choices. Cpt Bloods style is noticeably more 'realistic' that his usual bright colours (not a criticism, just an observation.)

[Timbor]

My first LPL round and I get placed with one of the legends 

Great job, Captain! What historical period is your picture?  Also, would you mind sharing some detail on your camera settings?  I have just started learning how to manually set my camera, and so am using the LPL as a testing ground to try and improve my miniature photography. 

[Elk101]

That's lovely work Timbor though I feel for you going up against Captain Blood in 'awesome' mode! That's a great composition Richard.

[Mancha]

Camp Life is good, but I think I succumbed to the draw of the artfully cocked hat in Captain Blood's entry.

[Captain Blood]

Ah yes, can't be modelling Tommies without a rakish tin lid 

That is a lovely scene Timbor - I've painted the landsknecht with the German Shepherd. I think eh appeared in a previous LPL actually. A brilliant Hicks sculpt. I am very sorry about your bad luck in the draw

In answer to your question about the figures, they are Perry WW2 8th Army.

In answer to your question about the camera settings, I've recently switched to a DSLR which is blinking complicated to get the hang of. I've set it to maximum F-stop, giving a longer exposure, which allows more of your image to be in focus (hopefully all of it!). Auto white balance. Use the timer to avoid any shake at all. Shoot under a bright daylight bulb. I'm sure there's a science to photography, but I'm utterly non-technical and have never really understood the physics of what's going on. I tend to shoot about 100 shots, endlessly fiddling with the settings and light levels, just to get the one shot I think works. All quite time consuming and very hit and miss. I basically subscribe to the approach that if you shoot enough pics, sooner or later you'll get a good one!

[Licantropo]

really good two, the miniatures painted for Timbor are superb, but Cptain Blood for me is one of the best in this moment

[Hammers]

Ah yes, can't be modelling Tommies without a rakish tin lid 

That is a lovely scene Timbor - I've painted the landsknecht with the German Shepherd. I think eh appeared in a previous LPL actually. A brilliant Hicks sculpt. I am very sorry about your bad luck in the draw

In answer to your question about the figures, they are Perry WW2 8th Army.

In answer to your question about the camera settings, I've recently switched to a DSLR which is blinking complicated to get the hang of. I've set it to maximum F-stop, giving a longer exposure, which allows more of your image to be in focus (hopefully all of it!). Auto white balance. Use the timer to avoid any shake at all. Shoot under a bright daylight bulb. I'm sure there's a science to photography, but I'm utterly non-technical and have never really understood the physics of what's going on. I tend to shoot about 100 shots, endlessly fiddling with the settings and light levels, just to get the one shot I think works. All quite time consuming and very hit and miss. I basically subscribe to the approach that if you shoot enough pics, sooner or later you'll get a good one!

A.k.a. the Gatling gun approach. I am more of a duelist: I am putting all of my faith in one precise shot.

[Orctrader]

[Photography] I basically subscribe to the approach that if you shoot enough pics, sooner or later you'll get a good one!

My approach too.  

As for the match, another "Epic" from the Captain.  And the "camp" I think is just great.  

[Hammers]

Gorgeous result, by the way, Richard.

[Monty]

Two very nice entries!

Richard, those Desert Rats are a blast! Wonderful pieces, really.

[gamer Mac]

Timbor if this is you just learning to photograph miniatures you are doing a very good job
Richard I like some of the poses in particular the guy lounging on the sandbags with the bren gun

[Timbor]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!

Ah yes, can't be modelling Tommies without a rakish tin lid 

That is a lovely scene Timbor - I've painted the landsknecht with the German Shepherd. I think eh appeared in a previous LPL actually. A brilliant Hicks sculpt. I am very sorry about your bad luck in the draw

In answer to your question about the figures, they are Perry WW2 8th Army.

In answer to your question about the camera settings, I've recently switched to a DSLR which is blinking complicated to get the hang of. I've set it to maximum F-stop, giving a longer exposure, which allows more of your image to be in focus (hopefully all of it!). Auto white balance. Use the timer to avoid any shake at all. Shoot under a bright daylight bulb. I'm sure there's a science to photography, but I'm utterly non-technical and have never really understood the physics of what's going on. I tend to shoot about 100 shots, endlessly fiddling with the settings and light levels, just to get the one shot I think works. All quite time consuming and very hit and miss. I basically subscribe to the approach that if you shoot enough pics, sooner or later you'll get a good one!

Those Hicks sculpts are quite nice... was going to pick up the ones Warlord released, but realised I would not have time to paint them up. I use a DSLR too, and for this pic I think I used f18 and a 2 second exposure time.  I don't have a tripod so propped the camera up on some books and put the timer on to avoid shaking the camera.  I've got 3 kids keeping me busy, so taking 100 photos is not a luxury I have at this point 

[Captain Blood]

Practice helps Timbor - although like I say, my old point-and-shoot compact camera was more consistent...

Thanks Stefan, Peder and Colin 
Yes, the Perry Rats are lovely little figures. So full of character. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them, because they're so flipping small and fiddly to paint. Brilliant figures - I just wish Michael hadn't made them so bloody titchy!
(I have some of their opponents coming in a later round - and they were even more fiddly!)
But thanks for the comments.