It’s been a long, terrible, and murky road, but I think I might finally have my lighting dialed in for miniature photography. Here are my Tengu from Bushido, finally looking like I have always wanted them to look in a photo:
Compare the shot above to this glam shot of the same figs from a few months back:
The second photo looks pretty okay, but the warmth of the colors isn’t there, and you can’t see how cool the feathers on old Papa Owl look. It’s a pretty staggering difference when you’re trying to show off your chops as a painter.
I have tried so many damned set-ups for photographing minis. Everything from light booths to a trash-can with a light shining through it. Nothing was giving me what I wanted.
Then, I decided to print off a washed out grey background, which I taped to a stand that had a back panel on it. I taped the background on with a slope at the back, so that the minis could be photographed without a crease in the background.
It takes two studio lights held about 8 inches above the stand to light everything up, and it makes a world of difference in the quality of the photos!
Now, I have to fight off the temptation to go back and take new photos of all of my minis! It’s a pretty tough urge to fight!
Now, I just have to ride out the pandemic until Shiv Games opens back up. Most of us have been working on Bushido bands over the last few months, and I know we’re all itching to check out the game!
Grimmleigh's Lab 