Just a few tips on how to get some nice shots of your hard work even if you don’t have a jazzy SLR or professional mini-studio in the comfort of your own home.
1. Flash is not your friend
First, disable your flash, force it off, do it, do it now! Flashes are evil, when taking closeups they burn out the foreground, over emphasise the background and create really strong shadows which just look ugh. I’m guilty of doing this myself in the past.
2. You can’t beat natural light
It’s invisible to the naked eye, but the majority of indoor lighting emits a yellow-orange tint that you can’t correct without the use of filters or post production. So whenever possible take your shots during the day in a nice well lit room with the light source behind you.
3. Lose the clutter
Having lots of bits and pieces surrounding your kit is great for WIP shots, it gives a nice feeling of the work that’s gone into the kit and subtle hints to your tools and methods. For completed shots though you want your kit to be 100% the center of attention! Some people drape a sheet behind, usually white or black depending on the colour scheme of the kit being photographed. Personally I use the back of an old Clash poster 🙂
4. Give Macro a go
If your camera has a macro function, give it a go! It’s great for ultra closeups and captures an awesome amount of detail(or imperfections in my case!). When using this function definitely use a tripod though as the slightest move will make your pictures a blurry mess.
5. Be sneaky with base placement
If you’re using action bases to create dynamic flight poses, try and be a bit sneaky with their placement. For instance, angle your shot so it’s obscured behind the suits leg or shield.
Hope these quick steps are of use and you get some great shots of your Gundams! If anyones got an insight into posing please write a post on that as I always struggle to think of interesting shots to do.
I may write another tutorial in the future covering editing shots in photoshop if anyones interested 🙂