[Tyler109]

I was just curious since we have quite a few skilled photographers what do you reccomend to do as far as backgrounds for taking pictures of your diecast? I'm just wanting a plain background I really don't care to make it look like it's sitting outside plus I'd probably find a way to mess that up

[mhackl]

If you can justify the cost, a light box is the best. I, however do it the low-rent way. I use a white cardboard square from a Franklin Mint Ju-52 box and two sheets of plain copy paper as reflectors.

[aeroeng]

I've had pretty good luck going outside with a white sheet draped over a chair. It pretty much looks like a picture of the aircraft (or car) with a completely white background. I've found the outdoor sunlight provides the best true color to come out in the photos. If the weather is bad or I want something different, I set the planes in the middle of a stained wood table and zoom in from an upper angle to make sure none of the edges show up (similar to The Flying Mule but with no coffee cup).

[1250ships]

Dark room, pair of work lights from Wal-Mart with GE Reveal light bulbs, tripod mounted camera using a high f-stop and slow shutter speed. Result is a well lit model with a dark background. Colors adjusted as needed in Photoshop and sharpening applied after the image has been reduced in size for the web.



If you don't want to go to all that trouble non-direct sunlight can be excellent lighting. If you have a point and shoot use your camera's macro function to get the best focus. You will probably find part of the model out of focus due to shallow depth of field. Your background should be out of focus. Try to avoid anything too cluttered. As suggested earlier a sheet can be useful.

With digital your best bet is to experiment a bit. Cost of film is minimal. When you find something that works well write down the camera setting for future use.

[hawkonevoodoo]

Originally Posted by 1250ships

Dark room, pair of work lights from Wal-Mart with GE Reveal light bulbs, tripod mounted camera using a high f-stop and slow shutter speed. Result is a well lit model with a dark background. Colors adjusted as needed in Photoshop and sharpening applied after the image has been reduced in size for the web.



If you don't want to go to all that trouble non-direct sunlight can be excellent lighting. If you have a point and shoot use your camera's macro function to get the best focus. You will probably find part of the model out of focus due to shallow depth of field. Your background should be out of focus. Try to avoid anything too cluttered. As suggested earlier a sheet can be useful.

With digital your best bet is to experiment a bit. Cost of film is minimal. When you find something that works well write down the camera setting for future use.

What wattage bulbs are these GE Reveals? Nice picture, different method, most people tell me to go with a light box with lots of light. I must give this a shot, thanks for the input.
Where do you place your lights in reference to the model? High - low, front - rear, direct or diffused or reflected off something?
Thanks in advance.

[admin]

Originally Posted by hawkonevoodoo

Where do you place your lights in reference to the model? High - low, front - rear, direct or diffused or reflected off something?
Thanks in advance.

This is something I've always wondered. How do you keep your lighting from illuminating the background?

[STARMAN 352ND]

I have a studio for my photo shots i'm just to laid up at the moment to use it.
For the backgound i have a black sheet about 6-8 ft away from the item i'm taking a photo of.
I'll use it next time so you can see...
Thats how i get the background to look dark and photoshop too.
JP

[1250ships]

Originally Posted by hawkonevoodoo

What wattage bulbs are these GE Reveals? Nice picture, different method, most people tell me to go with a light box with lots of light. I must give this a shot, thanks for the input.
Where do you place your lights in reference to the model? High - low, front - rear, direct or diffused or reflected off something?
Thanks in advance.

They are 100 watt bulbs. I'm getting around the lack of light by running a longer exposure. I believe that photo was 1/10th of a second exposure. Pretty much an eternity for shutter speeds but perfectly acceptable if your subject isn't moving and the camera is tripod mounted. I've got about 10 feet from the model to the back wall so it is easy to avoid shinning the lights on the back wall. I do have to make sure I don't have anything reflective back there or you'll get a bright spot. There is light on the back wall but the camera lacks the range to expose the plane correctly and also show the back wall.

The lights are both in front and to the sides of the model pointing at it. I find the results are best if they are not pointed directly at the model but rather are slightly off it. I usually put one on the model and one more off it to give it some character.

Height varies depending on what you want to illuminate. I am not using any reflectors or diffusers and as a result you see I have shadows underneath the wings. With a lightbox you can avoid that completely but I was too cheap. If I wanted I could put one light lower to light up the under parts. And you can always add more lights if you want a different effect. My entire setup cost about $20.

I still think for most folks if you want shoot in natural light with an appropriate background you can get great results. My yard isn't good for that and I like the ability to shoot anytime- in fact it is essential for me for my business- so over time I came up with the method above.

I should add that I do have to do some adjustments in Photoshop. If I would do a custom white balance I'd probably be able to avoid doing any color correction and limit my Photoshopping to cropping, resizing, and sharpening.

[HotTrap429]

Way too technical for me! if you don't mind, I'll just sit back and enjoy the exquisite fruits of all your hard labor Mr. Ships.

Great pictures are like fine art - created by gifted people to be enjoyed by all. Me, I'll just stick to my quick shots with my trusty, old $129.00 digital camera.

[hawkonevoodoo]

Originally Posted by 1250ships

They are 100 watt bulbs. I'm getting around the lack of light by running a longer exposure. I believe that photo was 1/10th of a second exposure. Pretty much an eternity for shutter speeds but perfectly acceptable if your subject isn't moving and the camera is tripod mounted. I've got about 10 feet from the model to the back wall so it is easy to avoid shinning the lights on the back wall. I do have to make sure I don't have anything reflective back there or you'll get a bright spot. There is light on the back wall but the camera lacks the range to expose the plane correctly and also show the back wall.

The lights are both in front and to the sides of the model pointing at it. I find the results are best if they are not pointed directly at the model but rather are slightly off it. I usually put one on the model and one more off it to give it some character.

Height varies depending on what you want to illuminate. I am not using any reflectors or diffusers and as a result you see I have shadows underneath the wings. With a lightbox you can avoid that completely but I was too cheap. If I wanted I could put one light lower to light up the under parts. And you can always add more lights if you want a different effect. My entire setup cost about $20.

I still think for most folks if you want shoot in natural light with an appropriate background you can get great results. My yard isn't good for that and I like the ability to shoot anytime- in fact it is essential for me for my business- so over time I came up with the method above.

I should add that I do have to do some adjustments in Photoshop. If I would do a custom white balance I'd probably be able to avoid doing any color correction and limit my Photoshopping to cropping, resizing, and sharpening.

Thanks, it is always nice to get different approaches on how to take pictures.
On the old forum Tircatus had posted his technique and is worth taking a look at but all the posts were lost when the old forum was abruptly terminated.
Thank again.