How do you take pics of your mini's?

[xenobiohazard]

All mine are fuzzy and such and I don't know how to fix it.

[zark]

There should be an option that looks like a flower called macro, its used to take close up shots, The settings I use are motion blur and macro x2 so i can do extreme close up and if my hand moves slightly it wont blur.

[Plarz]

The easiest thing you can do to improve pics is to set the camera on something. I prefer an un-opened kleenex box. It's light, fairly sturdy, and it has a few different heights for different camera angles.

All you have to do is set the camera on top, kinda tip it so you get the angle you want and then slowly depress the camera button.

Because all the camera's shakeyness is magnified (due to being so close to the subject) you have to take the picture like you shoot a gun at a target range:

Aim.
Be steady, not impatient.
Slowly add pressure to the trigger (camera button)
Let it suprise you.

Just take 10 minutes and try it.

Hope that helps!

-Plarz

[lowlygaunt]

A note added to the setting the camera and pressing button note, if your camera has a delay timer use that, then you guarentee no shakyness.

[Koyori]

Another thing if you use a digital cam (which I assume everyone here does) take a ton of pictures from all sorts of angles. Its a digital cam so dun worry about using up to much expensive film. if your flash card gets full upload to comp. I don't have a cam my self but I know its better to take 1 pic to much then 1 to little.

[krazyboris]

Also, sunlight is your friend. Not direct, but ambeint. Most people either dont have the cash, or know-how to make a good light box for photos, but the sunlight provided day in and out helps to keep the colours nice and true, whilst providing a lot of light.

[magnus]

firstly use macro, or even better, buy a macro filter lens for your camera if you can get one.

second, dont use zoom, even if you have to crop out 3/4 of the picture it should still be big enough

thirdly, get a tripod, and use the timer function

fourthly, no matter how much extra lighting you use, it will still look bad, even daylight will be quite directional if it is straight out of a window. instead, switch your camera into a mode where you can manually adjust the shutter speed, on my camera it is called "shutter speed priority shooting mode" but yours may be differnt if it isnt a sony. you will need to use a long shutter speed, and a tripod is essential, somewhere between NR2" or NR5" usually works well for me. (although, i dont have a clue what these mean myself....)

hope that helps

[gauntsftwlol]

Use a tripod or something, use macro, and don't hold down the button when taking photo, just a quick press. That works best for me.

[Luisjoey]

Some general advice for taking pictures

- Place the miniature with a contrasting background, for example if your miniature is white and red use maybe a dark blue background. You could play with those combinations

- Use the flower option of your camera (Macro)

- Never use the flash

- The best light is from Sunlight, but you could use some hallogenous light for nice effect.

- use a tripod or exercise pulse

[Haraio [MALAL]]

If you're taking pics of details, you really should have at least a 7 megapixel camera^^
Otherwise it won't show very well^^
I have a Fujifilm S5700. Awesome, as long as you use the macro feature^^

[rudypicardo]

I've had problems like this before. I wanted to use this lengthy post to discuss how I take photos of my Tyranids.

=================
THE PHOTO SET-UP
First, lets take a look at the set-up in my apartment when I want to take photos. You noticed that I used several lights to help light the model better. The light in your room is fine, but I find the flash from the camera often makes the shot too bright, messing up the look of the model, so don't use the flash.

In my set-up, there are two main light sources, the white flourescent lamp, and the table lamp. Technically there are 3 light sources in this shot (the room light), but I can discuss that in more detail, if you wish. I like this table lamp because I can vary the intensity of the light (by switching one or two bulbs on) and/or maneuvering the lamp to get better angles to light my models. You'll notice that I'm putting the models on white poster board, but a clean white sheet of paper will do. I also like my black futon because if I have pieces that are primed white, I can just remove the posterboard and take photos as normal on the black background.


=================
I KEEP ON GETTING BLURRY PICTURES, RUDY
If you're like me, you've taken quite a few photos that come out blurry, like this one.. There are 2 ways you can deal with this.

Method 1: Don't shoot so close
If you use autofocus, sometimes your camera gets confused on what you want as the main subject. If you photograph your models on a table or carpet, often the camera puts the carpet in focus and blurs your model. So you want to keep your camera away from the model and keep the zoom away from the model, so you get an image that looks like a wide angle shot. You then want to use your camera's zoom capabilities and zoom closer to the model, as shown here. This method makes the image not as blurry, but as you can see, its still not great.

Method 2: Don't shoot so close and use a manual focus.
Most cameras have a manual focus and or macro lens. Each camera is different so I can't go into detail. So you might have to look through the manual to see how you can do this. The manual focus will allow you to keep your camera relatively close, but get cleaner looking shots. I've used the manual focus, in this photo.. If you can use a manual focus the photos you take will themselves have depth, creating a model that looks more 3-dimensional, instead of 2-dimentional. As an example, take a look at my Tyranid Warrior WIP

A macro lens, for you professional photographers, will allow you to shoot even closer. Its meant to shoot close detail shots. Most of us don't have this, but know that its an option.

=================
OTHER QUICK TIPS
Suppose you want to have a shot underneath a model. Use a few books to elevate the model, then instead of a posterboard, put a white piece of paper between the base of the model and the books. I also put a piece of posterboard behind the model, as shown with this Tyranid Leaping Warrior conversion . I find the white backgound helps make your models stand out better.

Lighting is really important, especially if you're asking for critiques on modeling or paint scheme. I made a quick tutorial on advanced lighting for a school project several years ago. This may give you some ideas. I did use "expensive" lighting equipment for this tutorial, but you can get away with 2-3 lamps and the light in your room.