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| You are probably very tired of showing off some custom figure or rare find and having to use the phrase, "This looks a lot better in 'real life.' " | I'm sure you'd much rather turn out a great picture that's sharp and clear and even gives the illusion that the figure is bigger than it really is [go ahead, click on the above photo]. |
| The biggest mistake most people make is eagerness. They want to take a picture of the figure and they want it now! They want to hold the figure in their hand or set it in front of their computer. That just doesn't do at all. You need a clear, well-lit background, and you don't need a fancy studio to do so. Start with a good camera. Anything by Sony will do. When taking the picture, up the exposure to +1.0, and see if it has a setting for taking pictures of up close objects. DON'T put the camera right up in the face of the figure. All you have to do is get a respectable distance from the figure and use the digital zoom. | |
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To the left you see the studio I used to take the Good picture. No fancy 300 watt bulbs, no expensive scenery, just three pieces of white foam board. The camera doesn't get distracted by the background and focuses on what you want to show off, the figures themselves.
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In the next picture is the technique I use when I'm on the road. The bathroom is usually a nice, well-lit room. It has to be if you want to groom yourself so you don't go out into the world looking like a goofball. A strip of packing tape and a white pillowcase later and you have your studio. |
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Finally, some courtesy would help. Extraneous space slows downloads and wastes time accessing the picture. Your graphics program will usually have some sort of crop feature. If the figure only takes up an inch of the graphic, then only show the figure. Check the settings for your picture size too. Taking a 1600 pixel wide picture is just frivolous and unnecessary. Use the smallest setting of 600 pixels wide and work with your digital zoom. |
| That, my friends, is about it. I do some minor lightening and leveling in Photoshop 7, but that is 90% of what I do to create Twisted Kaiju Theater and Ultimate Hero-Lix. This does NOT involve a ton of work. If you want to show off your custom HeroClix, reveal your latest Bionicle MOC, or put your Godzilla figures in a compromising position, this is all you have to do to look like a pro. | |