A sheet of white posterboard, curving from the table top up to something behind it. It gives a clean, continuous background and eliminates the horizon line.
I use two lights, one on either side of the camera, and positioned fairly close to the subject of the photo so I get plenty of light on them.
So I just took this pic of my hauls and, I already know for a fact that I am not using enough light. Any suggestions for where I should have the lights/lamps positioned? I only had one lamp on the top. Oh and thanks to Bustajesse for starting this thread, it really helped me alot
fabric backdrops work well too. A black backdrop with a color spot light on it works awesomely for something extra. Not enough light? remember you can play around with your exposure settings to compensate. Also shooting in raw will help you when editing, it will save you an fstop forward and back.
I used cloth backdrops for a while, but if you do really close up shots you can start to see the threads. Not always a big deal, but I found it distracting. Another tip- use a custom white balance with your camera. Between that and shutter speed you can get things looking nice and bright.
The 500 watt lamp gets hot, but I don't really use it for Transformers. I use it more for sixth scale stuff and figures wih more detail. I suck at messing with htis digital camera. I do not know what messing with the exposure does. help?
The longer the exposure, the more light comes in. With a normal camera it means the shutter is open longer so more light hits the film. It also means movement shows up more so it's easier to have a blurry shot. If you lengthen the exposure it's best to use a tripod and self-timer.
