The Energon Pub

Most of what I'd once learned about excellent photo taking came from some of the tutorials on such at TFW2005. That said, all that knowledge is now being wasted on the fact that I stopped using an actual photo camera some time ago when it proved more costly in battery consumption than it was worth...

Battery consumption?

You guys have never heard of rechargeable batteries? A set of rechargeable AAs will cost about the price of one figure and last you the whole year. If you can't afford batteries, I'd suggest a cheaper hobby. If you can afford TFs, you can afford batteries.

Banjo-Tron wrote:I'm sure someone posted an article on taking photos before, it may have even been Ryan himself? Not that I can be bothered to look, so sorry. Anyhoo, I recommend a light tent, a light source other than an on-board flash and a steady hand. If you are serious, then a SLR with a macro lens.

Yeah....a SLR and a macro lens is what i'm leaning towards getting. I've just been taking photos with my phone all this time. It really is quite limited. Especially on white backgrounds. It turns bright white backgrounds brownish in tone and the quality just isn't there in the final image if you want to take a really clean shot that is high res.
On the subject of starting another thread for tips and tricks ,for lack of a better term, i don't see an issue with having that discussion here but in the case of a reference material type thread....it's a decent idea.

I think this is the perfect place to share photography tips and tricks! After all, the best way to SHARE your awesome poses is with good photographs of them. The equipment you use and the way you take the picture are just as important as the figure's pose in making a good photograph. If someone posts a great photo here, it would be nice to be able to ask how they took it without having to go to a separate thread to do so.

OK well here are a couple of pics of my small and medium light tents, both were very cheap on eBay. I don't use the little lights anymore, as they cast a dull yellow light on the figures, off-camera flash is the only way to go IMO. My setups were fine until Generations Metroplex came along, and was too big for any tent I had. Then I resorted to white fleece suspended over a clothes rail, held in place with clothes pegs. The key is to have a sloping backdrop which also serves as the floor, then you don't have any unsightly edges or nasty shadows.

GuyIncognito wrote:You guys have never heard of rechargeable batteries? A set of rechargeable AAs will cost about the price of one figure and last you the whole year. If you can't afford batteries, I'd suggest a cheaper hobby. If you can afford TFs, you can afford batteries.

I do more stop motion filming than I do with simple pics and even rechargeable batteries won't do for that

What the crap?! How did I get to be the thread starter? O.o;

Blame the Aussie, I guess. Regarding batteries, just buy pretty much any camera on the market today that costs more than about 60 dollars and you will have high capacity rechargeable battery packs. AA batteries do not cut it, particularly if you are using the onboard flash.

Banjo-Tron wrote:Blame the Aussie, I guess. Regarding batteries, just buy pretty much any camera on the market today that costs more than about 60 dollars and you will have high capacity rechargeable battery packs. AA batteries do not cut it, particularly if you are using the onboard flash.

This right here. I haven't charged my camera in 2 months.

Does anybody use the Cannon Rebel series cameras? Pretty inexpensive-ish.

Wow, that is very fancy setup Banjo-Tron. I've been trying to get something like that but my lack of space prevent me from getting one. As for MGrotusque comment, I got a Canon Rebel T3i, but my photos came out very suck especially if I shoot bare hand without the tripod! Even with the anti-shake on, it would sometime come out little blurry, not sharp. I don't know if it had to do with the fact that I accidentally knocked off my DSLR a couple time from the 12 inch tripod while photographing the toys. Yeah, I'm very eager in learning top photography trick if anyone has anything to share especially:
1. Interesting Background e.g. sometime I see guys shoot their subject on a very dark background as though the background is in space. It looks so cool with the high contrast.
2. My other biggest problem is when I shoot at a 3/4 view e.g. car, the front portion would be clear/focus but the part that is outside the focus point doesn't look so clear. How do you shoot it in a way so that every part is all focus and sharp?

you can solve your focus and blurriness issues with better, brighter lighting. I'm assuming you use your SLR on an automatic mode. You get blurred images because the lighting is low, the camera responds by lengthening the time the shutter is open, this maximises light but also means the camera needs o be absolutely still for he duration of the shot. and the small focal area is caused by the same problem. the aperture lets light in, just like our pupils work. the wider the aperture, the less depth of field. depth of field means how much of the picture can be in focus at any one time.

Anyway i recommend that you experiment ity manual settings. I use f8 for the aperture and 100 for the shutter. Then I adjust the lighting to suit the settings, not the other way around. Anyway, lighting is key for sure.

Banjo-Tron wrote: Anyway, lighting is key for sure.

Again, this right here. From my days doing reviews and painted shoots of my gaming model kits, the thing I remember everyone recommending to me is that the key to good shots isn't the camera quality, it's the light. You can get really good, well done(even professional looking) shots with par or sub-par cameras as long as you can figure out how to light.

Light booths are the best option, even home made ones. You can find a huge variety of how-tos to make one if you don't have the room or money, even really cheap methods for smaller figures using cut up milk jugs.

Either way, you won't go wrong with having some lighting options on hand for even quick shots, such as a couple lamps. When I don't have time to set up a light box, I sometimes cheat with a couple side table lamps(sometimes with shade, sometimes not, depending how I want to diffuse the light) and/or one of those desk lamps with positional arms(most times with white paper or white cloth taped to it, again depending on how I want to diffuse).

MGrotusque wrote:Does anybody use the Cannon Rebel series cameras? Pretty inexpensive-ish.

I do.


Orion by ME_Counterpunch, on Flickr


For those looking to shoot in a light box, the first and most important tip is:

Set your ISO to 100 and adjust from there.

You are essentially playing a near zero-sum game with ISO, f-Stop, and exposure time.

Exposure time is self explanatory. It is how long the lens stays open. ISO is your light sensitivity. f-Stop is your focal length (which is probably the hardest thing to learn how to manage).

Instead of trying to teach or re-state what is out all over the internet, I think people should post pics and let others try and help them with how to make the pic better.

That's a great idea but a standard would need to be established as some use phones and others DSLR cameras . The playing field would have to be standardized in regards to the equipment used for a meaningful exchange of constructive criticisms......i would think.

Or if you do use a DSLR camera you could state as much right off the hop and wait for any input from other members. If in fact that is what you would want to do.

Counterpunch wrote:
For those looking to shoot in a light box, the first and most important tip is:

Set your ISO to 100 and adjust from there.

You are essentially playing a near zero-sum game with ISO, f-Stop, and exposure time.

Exposure time is self explanatory. It is how long the lens stays open. ISO is your light sensitivity. f-Stop is your focal length (which is probably the hardest thing to learn how to manage).

F-Stop is your aperture setting, how wide your lens is open for the amount of light you let in. The lower your F-Stop the more amount of light you let in. Aperture also controls Depth of Field. The wider the lens is opened, the less DOF there is in the image.

MGrotusque wrote:That's a great idea but a standard would need to be established as some use phones and others DSLR cameras . The playing field would have to be standardized in regards to the equipment used for a meaningful exchange of constructive criticisms......i would think.

Or if you do use a DSLR camera you could state as much right off the hop and wait for any input from other members. If in fact that is what you would want to do.

All cameras whether they are phones, compacts or SLRs use the same principles of ISO settings, plus aperture and shutter, you just may not be able to adjust them yourself. Lighting is still the most important thing because the more light, the better equipped the camera will be to create a focused, non-blurry image. You can stop spots of light and harsh shadows by diffusing or reflecting the light source.

Banjo-Tron wrote:

MGrotusque wrote:That's a great idea but a standard would need to be established as some use phones and others DSLR cameras . The playing field would have to be standardized in regards to the equipment used for a meaningful exchange of constructive criticisms......i would think.

Or if you do use a DSLR camera you could state as much right off the hop and wait for any input from other members. If in fact that is what you would want to do.

All cameras whether they are phones, compacts or SLRs use the same principles of ISO settings, plus aperture and shutter, you just may not be able to adjust them yourself. Lighting is still the most important thing because the more light, the better equipped the camera will be to create a focused, non-blurry image. You can stop spots of light and harsh shadows by diffusing or reflecting the light source.

Yeah...i inderstand that. Phones are only adjustable by tapping lighter or darker spots on the screen but your still left at the mercy of the phones programming and not the fine tuning abilities of a camera.
With my phone i can sometimes find the sweet spot where the balance of light is just right but more often than not my phone overcompensates in really bright situations and gives a Sepia type tone to an all white background in bright conditions.
I should look more into light diffusing techniques. I've tried some things like a homemade light box but with not much success. More trial and error will be necessary it seems.