jeffb007 Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I do more or less the same as FoeRender, although I'm lazy and just use daylight, however as you are a midnight painter I can see where that might be a little difficult, perhaps you could move further north and be a seasonal painter instead? It's then down to the type of camera you are using. If you have one with adjustable aperture and shutter speed I personally find that f22 gives a good focus area for mini photography, and then raise and lower the shutter speed depending on the lighting. It's not perfect but gives generally good results. For portrait orientation I'll usually crop the image and reduce the width to 500px. Hope this helps at least a little, good luck with the move north if you decide to, and keep up the hilariously funny posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmp_mydog Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Sceond Best investment you can make is a pop up booth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dafruk Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I generally take 2 types of photos: 1. Shonky phone pics with my old Iphone camera, it's one of the older versions with the crap camera and no light. 2. Ultra pro uber photos of awee-shome. Ok maybe not quite but I've got a simple setup that seems to work pretty well. It does require a few somewhat complex items though, to wit: 1 camera - mine's about 5 yrs old and have a macro mode (sounds familiar), 1 desk lamp - anglepoise is good but not essential, 1 overhead lightbulb as it happens the room I usually paint in has 4 led spot lights which are pretty good because I could probably point them in the right direction if I could be bothered, 1 sheet of white paper - actually I prefer to have a couple as I buy the super cheap stuff that a single sheet is actually rather see through. and finally the most important thing, a box to stand my figure on so it's at the same height as my camera lense. Oh and a desk to lay all this stuff on. An artists impression of my setup. And basically that should give you enough light and as long as your camera is set to the right mode you can take decent pics with it (note that the lamp isn't in front of the camera, basically as close to the front of the model as possible but not appearing in your shot!). My other trick is to use the timer mode on the camera so I'm not actually touching it when I take the picture, that prevents me from shaking it all up for those lovely 'action' shots you'll often see. Here's an example (you'll notice that in my example I've already broken my own advice, my box is in fact a paint pot but it achieves the same thing). Pew pew, doesn't he look mean and moody (but in focus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted September 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 The best way too take a photo is to have light coming from all angles the sides and from the front . that's why people use light box's for the best results . ... hope this helps . I been taking these with a phone camera 5.0 mega pixal . And yes the macro setting on camera's is a very important part of the equation . Thanks! and good point. Here's a link to the link to my minis. Crappy old camera, pale grey background, garbage for lighting. Hey man this is great. I'm a big fan of seeing us regular joes get out there. Digging on your colors, I would love to play against any of these guys! ......except Perdita... the harlot.:afraid: ... further north and be a seasonal painter instead? It's then down to the type of camera you are using. ... Funfact: I actually tried to convince my wife to move to Alaska right after we go married. My am a big fan of my little camera. We got it right before our first kid as a "Oh snap! we need something cooler than our crappy camera phones. I'm a big fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted September 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Sceond Best investment you can make is a pop up booth. Funny you should mention that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorik36 Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Funny you should mention that....Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Plus it looks like we have the same camera, so when you figure out the best setup you can teach me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted September 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 (edited) Some really good suggestions while I was away. Thanks fellas! So my really cool magnifier could be stupendous, if I were at the stage in my painting where I had the energy to devote to amazingly precise details. What a rank amateur! There weren't any Cacodemons until the Refinery Map. And I cannot stress again how annoying that bendy tubesnake in the neck is. No matter where you put the lamp, it feels like the stem is always in the exact wrong spot. Like wrestling a wavy tubeman to get to my paint-pots. Maybe if I could clip it overhead, or break down and get a Jewelers Headset that would help a lot. Let's face it though, with the headlamp and a jeweler headset we are starting to get into an uncomfortable amount of headgear. Hey hon, just going to paint for a while...AND CAPTURE DRAXON DREAR!! So with all the Gumption of [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ4T9CQA0UM]"A Guy On A Buffalo"[/ame] I spurred my Buick into a cankerous gallop, (Buick's don't roll.. they gallop, falter, and sometimes, if you're a sexy lady, Sashay) and hitched it's vacillating mass squarely to the parking lot. What's with the horse analogies you say? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3J8]infallible logic[/ame] So armed with the American equivalent of Bison dollars I went back into the store determined to claim my Lampy Bride. Not sure where I was going with that... What I left with was at one point a ten dollar lamp.. to which I acquired it for 5. Yes, less than the cost of a Jackalope. I got the lamp home and put it up, and I have to say... I'm not hating this one bit. (Excuse the mess, I'm in the middle of a move.) It's okay to admit that you're getting jealous of the Santa Mug. But talk is cheap! What about the science? Hey Sweet thang, how about I buy you a fish sandwich! So the moral of the story is some times the thing you buy for 5 bucks is a way better tool for the job than the expensive specialty piece. Oh! Before i forget. Just a quick note on the varieties of lightbulbs that will invariably be inches from your forehead. So I have to say the 23watt CFL bulb is looking pretty nice, but the lighting is still pretty heavy and it's harshing my zenithal mellow for the Sodapop Dwarf swimsuit calendar I had planned on shooting here. I did a little digging online, and I found a dead cheap method that I think actually makes some really nice results for diffuse lighting. The answer? MILKJUGS. Yeah, bear with me. Start with your clear plastic carton of milk, and cut that business into a little mini igloo. Then just set your light source over the top of your tiny ghetto porn studio you just made, and you suddenly have a sexy diffuse lightbox. Ikea Furniture Designers Take note. But what do you end up with? Now THIS I can live with. The next step is I think I need to put some wax/parchment paper on the top to get rid of some more of the "heat" coming from the top. This setup is just with one bulb, if you "hypothetically" had 4 100 watt lamps and a TrueLight, all creating an Archimedes Death Ray aimed at your face, the "Ghetto Jug™" will still work for diffusing the light and softening some of those shadows to show off your paint more. It will also unfortunately show off every mistake and blemish on your models... Joy. This is a lot like looking at yourself naked in a flourescent light and magnified 4x.... Spot the Resurrectionist Player. So now I have a cleaned out tacklebox, and a lamp I can work with! Let's get to some painting! Oh..... this bit..... Stay Tuned! I'm moving the family over the next couple days so it will be bit before the next post. Cheers Edited October 3, 2011 by Breadcrab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoeRender Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 That is a great cheap light diffuser , you just made this midnight painter giggle in awesomeness . For single minis that is awesome . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmiles Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Hey man this is great. I'm a big fan of seeing us regular joes get out there. Digging on your colors, I would love to play against any of these guys! ......except Perdita... the harlot.:afraid:Thanks! (Though I really don't think they're all that spectacular, but I'm improving, and that's the important part.) You should see the ones I painted 24 years ago! They look like I sucked paint up in my nose and sneezed on them. Like this. Only with paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCarl Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Hilarious thread is hilarious. A+! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Alleycat Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 I am loving this thread. You are a inspiration to keep plugging away at it. Also..as a fellow mediocre painter that managed to get almost to halfway decent,I recommend asking people lots of questions about how they paint things and it will help. I recommend Dgraz he is an amazing painter and a great mentor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Genius and well presented as always Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherSpencer Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Thanks for that light diffuser info. I'm gonna try that out today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted October 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) GREETINGS PROGRAMS! Well the family has landed, and sometime this week I will bust out the "craft working paraphernalia" for some high quality "sprue removal" and "green stuffing" from the depths of my new workshop. Firstly, a Correction: I may have commented on a dwarf swimsuit calendar a while back... I have been corrected as to the destination of the provided URL and you can find the proper destination here............... Onwards to the comments! That is a great cheap light diffuser , you just made this midnight painter giggle in awesomeness . For single minis that is awesome . I am in the process of making a larger scale diffuser.. I don't want to blow your mind, but I may use in excess of THREE milkjugs... Eat faster ye thankless cur! We have craftworking to be done! No not like the robot song! Thanks for that light diffuser info. I'm gonna try that out today! Aaaaaaaaaaand? Don't leave a cracker hanging man! Thanks! ... You should see the ones I painted 24 years ago! They look like I sucked paint up in my nose and sneezed on them. I dunno, i think you could make that work. You think Pollock would've been a Tyrannid guy, but nope... straight up Salamander Drops..go fig. Stern, CrazyCarl, Dark Alleycat? Onwards! So This weekend I moved the family to more stable digs, seeing as our starter home fell upon some unfortunate circumstances beyond our control. Moving is always a bit of a rough deal, especially with kids, but you get the chance to learn a lot about yourself, like peeling an onionskin timeline until you get to the warm nougaty infant core. Oh man... My Funkadelic Barbarian phase... *sniffle* Good times. Very quickly you tire of meticulously going through each wonderous nugget of your past, and things quickly devolve into wild shoveling and sleep deprived tape plastering. At this point all you really want is just to have everything in boxes and be ready to deal with 'the truck.' Try all you want... he's not going in that box without a fight. I took the latter part of the week off to pack things up. Thursday, just packing, and Friday, sloughing my things off at the new place, much like Hannibal crossing the Alps. "He told me I had a willpower duel when I activated, or I would be slow and take 4 wounds... I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." So really instead of elephants, it was a "Grand Caravan" and instead of the Alps, it was I-696 north of Detroit, but still a light Herculean effort on my part to get in two full loads. "During rush hour? Yeah.. No thanks man, I'll just give this Lion the Stamos Snuggler." This was about the point I remembered I had a bachelor party to go to..the night before a big move. My wife joked with me that I would have one beer and pass out, I joked that I would be trying to rim the grub in the bottom of the Mezcal bottle, and still be aching. What really happened was pretty much a sausage fest house party with a bunch of swarthy Euro-dudes. Not pictured: A bachelor party... :twitch: So....skipping to the next day, I roll full of cheer and menthol fumes into the U-Haulery, which for you non-American's, it is a sizable rental truck to haul our oversized american things..including, but not limited too my fat American In your face Language filter. These things are expensive, rickety, and no matter how much pruning you've done of your personal effects, they are exactly like rope. "You always have 6 inches too little, or 6 feet too much." So of course I underbooked, and now I am on a timeline when this thing has to be back, while trying to optimize the packing arrangement inside the truck. A normal person might have a problem with this..... I however have spent decades training... EVERYONE STAND THE F--- BACK! I GOT THIS! Or, if you'd rather yes this was the most ridiculous dub of this scene i could find. So some back pain, a couple near death experiences and a family sized case of Sam Addams later, we have landed, safe and sound. Now we just have to unpack... "Hey honey? I can't get this one open!" NEXT TIME! Actual Malifaux stuff! I know, I'm shocked too. Edited January 11, 2012 by Breadcrab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 ...oh my goodness...this is hilarious...thank you my friend, you made my night. And I love the scratch built light box, I'll be stealing that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangustheix Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 You are seriously funny. I am having a hard time not bursting out laughing in front of my employees. I am loving everything so far, and you managed 40 replies without showing any new malifaux minis, that must be a record! If you do get screwed in the future with lighting then drop me a pm, I can guide you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin1981 Posted October 19, 2011 Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 Finally got to see this Ben. This post is wonderfully funny. And don't ever worry about being "mediocre" cause if I ever got the stones to post (not too mention the knowledge on how to post pics onto a comp) my "painting level" would be pretty close to right next door to terrible mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghiest1 Posted October 19, 2011 Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 I never really feel bad about my first few years of painting, many moons ago, the miniatures were still full of lead goodness and you could accidently rub a nose off a ogre with a swipe of your thumb due to the softness of the pewter. My wife having seen a few of my Ral Partha pieces of goodness will still comment on how horrible the paintjob was. I just tell her, "hey, I had not learned that licking your brush was not the best way to get a point on it, especially with testors enamels". Of course she does not find that funny, but you might. So as one of the other midnight painters out there I salute you! I am also impressed that in Detroit you were able to get the U-Haul through the construction unscathed. Regards, Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_was_like_you Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thank you for the awesome milkjug ghetto porn studio™ lighting idea. I'd just emptied a jug of milk and rushed right to cleaning it out and converting it over. Between that and the macro advice, even with just my phone's camera, my pictures turned out so much better. And thank you to your plogging buddy over at Twilight Emporium who had mentioned your plog during his Malifaux city building endeavor. Oh, and P.s. I'd struggled over my lighting choices as well. My $5 desk lamp with a soothing bulb wasn't quite enough, so I'd upgraded to a combination of your magnifier with the swing armature of your second light. I find I rarely use the magnifying lens, just using its circular fluorescent soothing bulb instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guild Monkee Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Ha ha, this made me laugh so much. Especially loving the pole dancing ice gamin, wish I'd thought of that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daemonkin Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Great blog. Just thought I better comment on it at some point. Funny guy! D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted November 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2011 Tremble mortals and despair... for I am the... dude with the thing... good heavens that sounded better in my head. MOVING ON! Some of you may be wondering where the deuce I've been, or more perhaps even what the deuce I've been up to, or terrifyingly enough, there is probably a one person in the world who just want's to know more about my deuces. Tell me everything... starting with crystals. Yes... Superman Returns. I just went there. Anyways, there is no fast answer except to return to the preface of this whole experiment. I am someones dad, a bunch of someones dads as a matter of fact, and that eats up a tremendous amount of time and energy! Sometimes you can't even take a damn shower without hearing the blood curdling scream of the marauding infant hordes... their teeth that gnash, their claws that catch.. Sometimes one man has to stride out of the shower and regulate Warren G style! Okay this looks worse than it was. But I got a sweet statue out of the deal. [Peering around looking for the media and or a rabble with pitchforks] Are they gone? Thank god... sorry about that. Seriously, I was unpacking, "Again, anytime you can remember where you put the diapers..." then I made some halloween costumes for my kids, who I adore, please no comments about the statue, please no comments about the statue, No joke here, These really are my kids Halloween Costumes. then I remembered that I own Saints Row and well... just watch... It's the trailer for the new one, you can thank me later. I'm more excited than a sissy in a wiener factory. So all in all, no, I don't really have a good excuse at all. ON TO THE REPLIES! ...oh my goodness...this is hilarious...thank you my friend, you made my night. And I love the scratch built light box, I'll be stealing that... Awesome! Thanks for the ups playa! Also, to everybody, I keep hearing "I am totally stealing that idea." I am dying to see some GhettoJugs™! ... ... let's just move on. Mangustheix, Ghiest1, Guild Monkee, Daemonkin, Odin ? Thanks guys. Seriously! I siphon motivation from compliments like a salt vampire from a yeoman. Thank you for the awesome milkjug ghetto porn studio™ lighting idea. I'd just emptied a jug of milk and rushed right to cleaning it out and converting it over. Between that and the macro advice, even with just my phone's camera, my pictures turned out so much better. You probably have no idea how much this comment means to me. The whole purpose of this experiment was to try to help someone/anyone have an easier time with the hobby side of things. So this is just flat out awesome. One last bit of book keeping before getting to business here. Thanks to all the positive feedback I've gotten from my nonsense here, I've actually started a blog to detail more of my hairbrained schemes and family schenanigans. Spoiler.. It's almost identical to what you see here. Alright, So let me get some coffee in my system and we can talk SCIENCE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmiles Posted November 9, 2011 Report Share Posted November 9, 2011 Oooooh...a blog! Wait... ... ... ...people still do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_was_like_you Posted November 9, 2011 Report Share Posted November 9, 2011 You probably have no idea how much this comment means to me. The whole purpose of this experiment was to try to help someone/anyone have an easier time with the hobby side of things. So this is just flat out awesome. Thanks and welcome. Here's a before and after comparison of what the GhettoJug™ has done for my photos: Without a GhettoJug™ With a GhettoJug™ And here's a pic of the GhettoJug™ Looks like I need a larger GhettoJug™ to take a picture of this GhettoJug™ properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breadcrab Posted November 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2011 Oooooh...a blog! ...people still do that? Well I was going to make a tumblr, but I don't fit into my skinny jeans anymore and I'd have to trim my nerdbeard down to an ironic moustache. I run a Dreamer list because they are so underground. Dad jokes folks.. they don't get any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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