I do mine sort of ghetto-style. I should make a tent already. I like darker, grittier picks with a range of shadow across the figure, so less and more imbalanced light source works for me but leaves the pics less sharp looking. This is a good thread, nice to see different peoples' set ups from basic to pro-style.
Are you kidding? Hell, I'LL take all the help I can (and I didn't even start the thread), and everything I can steal from this thread, and use it for my own evil gain, Mr. wheeljaxx, sir By the way, where can I find this photo background paper? Have fun!!!
photo BG paper is just a roll of paper, used by photograpers. it's meant to shot people or large objects on seemless BG, liek the toy pics we all see here. it's $78 or so a roll, but is not recomended you buy a roll. it's mainly for studios since the roll is 14 feet wide and 80 feet long if fully un rolled. LOL when a roll comes to the end, where no one can stand on it, or whats left does not reach the floor, i cut the roll in half and use it piece by piece for toy or small oblect shots. waste mot want not. for home use, i just recomed large sheets of bristol board or something similar, curved so there is no seem in teh BG. a hint for you all. it is NOT nessesary to put your subject mid work area. i keep mine as close to teh edge as possible, as far from the curve as possible. this just gives you a better Depth of filed control so the BG is not as sharp and takes away from the subject if you use a BG with a texture to it at all. this method also cuts back on shadows behind your subject on the BG. you want to keep shadows to teh floor or base wher eyour subject is
If you have photoshop you might want to run the >adjust>levels on the photos. The monitor I use at work is a little dark and this subject in the photo looks blownout. Your darks seem fine but your mid-level range is too hot. You have little to no shadow on the figure to show off the details in the mold. I haven't attempted to take photos of my collection for some time. I just find I never have the time anymore or the lighting for it.
notably with the photoshop tips, we should all be identifying whether we're using editing software or if the pics are un-edited.
If you don't want to spend money on a light tent you could always MacGyver one up. I found this link a couple of days ago, tells you how to mkae a "cheap" light tent MacGyver style. http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent/ I plan on trying this out when I can get a bit more room.
Sweet, thanks for this link Spaceman, I'll have to give it a try when I have enough free time from school (PhD, no I'm not 11 years old)
Yeah, my light tent is a bit of a MacGyver job itself. Its a thin sheet of clear acrylic bent into an airplane hangar shape and draped with a finely woven white fabric from Walmart and "carpeted" with a sheet of white posterboard. To that, I added four $6 lamps, two of which have 25W fluorescent bulbs and two of which have 100W Reveal bulbs. I saw plans somewhere for a tent that uses a cut out cardboard box for the frame. Plus, some of the cube-shaped tents I've seen marketed as light tents appear to be nothing more than those collapsible laundry hampers, though, I wasn't able to find one anywhere (my sister got one for her kid a couple years ago).
