Pendraken Painting Competition And Rules 2011!

[MiniPatton]

Have a few that I finished up and was able to post...waiting for a few more to finish drying (Dull Cote) before I post the picture...hopefully I have time.

I think my painting skills exceed my photography skills - does anyone have tips for taking better pictures?  Mine look dark, so maybe some type of lighting?

[Leon]

I think my painting skills exceed my photography skills - does anyone have tips for taking better pictures?  Mine look dark, so maybe some type of lighting?

I have that problem all the time with the Pendraken figures, I have to have two big photography light units to get enough light on them.  Have you got any desklamps or similar?

What kind of settings are you using as well?  I'll ask MaximumJpeg for some advice.

[MiniPatton]

I think I got better pictures this time - I put the miniatures directly in the windowsill with lighting above as well.  Looks brighter - not sure I will have time to re-shoot the other pictures as I have to take my son to an appointment.  Fun to paint so much this month, I think it's the most painting I've done in a long while.  And I bow down to the awesomeness of my competitors - there are some excellent miniatures in the competition and I do not envy the judges.

[fred.]

Exposure Settings
One problem you can have with a white background is that the camera will see all the white and adjust the exposure down, which will make the model look dark.

Either try getting an exposure setting using a middle coloured card or similar, or just adjust the exposure settings manually, I find I often increase the exposure by a full "unit", and that is often having the camera using "centre weighting" on the exposure.

You can also bracket the exposure - which means taking several pictures will slightly different settings, then picking the one you like the most.

The camera screen is usually quite bright - so can be hard to judge the exposure on it. Also computer screens vary quite a lot.

Lighting
Take care that you don't end up with harsh shadows if you use bright lights - a light tent can help a lot with this. A light tent can be a purchased item (they are fairly cheap) or make one from a box with windows of greaseproof paper for the sides.

Minis are especially tricky as they are so small, so getting lights low enough can be tricky.

The only problem is once you get all the above sorted you will realise that what looks a good paint job by eye, now looks awful when exposed to a high resolution photo!!

[fred.]

Something else that can improve your photos a lot, is crop the photo once you have it on the computer.

MiniPatton - your Airborne command looks lost in a sea of white - but your Stuart looks good.

[Pruneau]

I find that whatever setup I try with a simple desk lamp, the lighting becomes directional and hard.  I will have to do some 10 mm tests in my minibooth I normally use for 28 mm, the lighting there is omnidirectional, I just have to make an adapted background, coz I now use one with 6 mm long static grass, and it looks silly.

http://runequestfun.blogspot.com/2010/10/miniature-photo-booth.html

[Maenoferren]

flippin heck that was close... 20 minutes to the deadline, due to battery failure this morning I never got the chance to look at the photos, came in from feeding the horses tonight and suddenly realised I had an hour to get the things uploaded, so not the best pics, but up and in...phew