Your Miniature Photography SUCKS? Here's Help!
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
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Learn everything you need to know about Miniature Painting Photography. It's secretly easy (and cheap!). Walking you through Setup, Gear and the Basic Ideas. Also the things you DON'T need. Which camera do you use for mini-pics? OR are you using your phone?
0:00 Intro
1:52 Minimum Setup/Background
2:50 Lights
3:49 Light Temperature
4:33 Diffusion and Lightboxes
6:05 Camera Choices
9:45 The Picture Taking Process
10:22 Camera Settings
11:34 Using your Phone
12:27 Editing
All the Gear in the Video:
Lumix FZ82
UK: amzn.to/2P2Ofwr
US: amzn.to/3dvSBFR
Germany: amzn.to/3dvWpGO ( FZ83: amzn.to/3txPSBe )
Canon EOS 2000D
UK: amzn.to/3tAJyJ2
US: amzn.to/3v3akdz
Germany: amzn.to/3x7A9uP
Canon EOS M50
UK: amzn.to/3n3VNf0 ( Mark II: amzn.to/3eiJOWC )
US: amzn.to/2Qfjmp4 ( Mark II: amzn.to/3dymmG2 )
Germany: amzn.to/3dsiztD
Lumix GX80
UK: amzn.to/2P2Op71
US: amzn.to/2tTjtLr
Germany: amzn.to/388HQno
Lumix G7/G70
US: amzn.to/385E8dU
Germany: amzn.to/2NqezML
UK: amzn.to/3efquJZ
Daylight Bulbs
UK: amzn.to/3sAG87U
US: amzn.to/3tx9XY9
Germany: amzn.to/2Q8YG26
MAUL LED Light Arm
Germany: amzn.to/3n1pFsd
Basic Tripods
UK: amzn.to/3tyx7h5
US: amzn.to/3tz2aZV
Germany: amzn.to/32sgOq5 or with phone mount: amzn.to/2P7WOGk
Phone Tripod Mount
UK: amzn.to/3dvLQnp
US: amzn.to/32tW5SU
Germany: amzn.to/32sfJyx
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MY GEAR! (affiliate links that support me)
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My Wet Palette: www.redgrassgames.com/product...
The BRUSHES I use, Raphael 8404, Size 1
Jackson's Art UK - BEST PRICE: bit.ly/2YVt0iS
US: amzn.to/38bei8F
Germany: amzn.to/2TmfyS1
UK: amzn.to/36U5tj7
MASTER'S BRUSH CLEANER (keeps your brushes alive!)
US: amzn.to/36W1532
Germany: amzn.to/2NplfLo
UK: amzn.to/35RqV79
I got my Magnifying Glasses from a local electronics store (CONRAD) and they are as basic as it gets. There are some options on amazon:
US:
Closest to what I have: amzn.to/2OLrvxH
Headband Version: amzn.to/38iNROH
Visor Version: amzn.to/2UF9wwx
Version from the Future: amzn.to/31IlEhC
UK:
Closest to what I have: amzn.to/39iwQEq
With Headband: amzn.to/2UKECCS
Visor Version: amzn.to/2SCaWVL
Germany:
Exactly the ones I have: amzn.to/3bt3mp3
Similar ones: amzn.to/2SC0cqE
With Headband: amzn.to/39odZb0
The AIRBRUSH I use - H&S INFINITY
US: amzn.to/2uNjqRS
Germany: amzn.to/3a2rDSd
UK: amzn.to/372VAQt
OTHER AIRBRUSHES I can recommend
H&S EVOLUTION US: amzn.to/2NqhViR
H&S EVOLUTION Germany: amzn.to/36SVaMm
BADGER PATRIOT US: amzn.to/2Rdr93i
BADGER PATRIOT Germany: amzn.to/2FPTaso
AIRBRUSH COMPRESSOR (SPARMAX TC-610H):
UK: amzn.to/386jbQk
Germany: amzn.to/3a4ZU3j
US:
James Gurney - Color and Light (MAD inspiration for miniatures)
US: amzn.to/2QPZnuE
Germany: amzn.to/2Re2go4
UK: amzn.to/2RoiR9X
Jackson's Art (UK): bit.ly/2TSd1PC
James Gurney - Imaginative Realism (even MADDER inspiration)
US: amzn.to/2QToCvS
Germany: amzn.to/30ixfDu
#warhammer
#photography
#miniaturepainting
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This channel is about painting miniatures for your warhammer, infinity, warmachine & d&d games, as well as age of sigmar and warhammer 40k. space marines, space wolves, sisters of battle, stormcast eternals, beastclaw raiders, mawtribes, cities of sigmar, chaos space marines. Also painting different scale models and miniature busts! How to paint NMM. How to paint warhammer, how to paint D&D figures. - Jak na to + styl
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One of the things people think about the least, but probably need the most
Not only are you are phenomenal painter, you are also a great instructor. Thanks for sharing your talents to help us all become better painters!
📷
Great video! Thank you for breaking it down into small chunks like this, too.
Thank you for this video, and making good photography feel achievable with basic equipment. I'm an average painter, however I realise my terrible pictures are doing my moderate skills a disservice.
Great video! I like the way you explained this both using simple concepts but with specific details. Thanks Trovarion.
Thank you! One of the most useful videos :) always had problems to shoot a decent photo.
Amazing Video, thanks.
I've seen many of the popular youtuber videos about Mini photography, but yours is still providing some great new tricks. I Never thought about the timer on the smart phone and thus more than 30 % of the pics were shaken. And the smartphone tripod adapter is a great idea!
Great video. I've always been sort of put off from having a proper set up because I'm terrible at taking photos but it actually looks pretty easy! Thank you
Awesome video dude! Excellent advice on photography and great video to watch.
Thanks for another great video!
This was a lot of help, thanks very much!👍😎
Also adjusting color temperature and tint when editing photos. Some lights even if its stated as daylight can be too cold and also the tint of the light can be too magenta or green. Will effect the colors on the paint job. I usually use one speed light with soft box for my minis (probably getting another set).
Just what I needed:)
Thanks.
Awesome! No more info are needed! Well done! 😁
Great video 👌
Thanks man 👍
Thanks for this, very nicely explained
An under appreciated part of the hobby and also a great way to stand back from your work and see how it looks from a more objective perspective. I've found snaps from my phone really show up areas thst are under painted in a mini compared to those areas I've put in lots of effort. However I have a dslr, point and click and a full frame bridge and I never considered taking proper high quality pics. Looking forward to trying it this weekend.
One of the best easy to understand, how to videos I have seen! As a new photographer this video was very helpful. Concise and to the point! Well done! Liked and subbed!
Great video. Thanks a lot!
I'm not super into photography. Sort of just want to get good enough at it to share pics of my minis on insta. You've explained this all in a way that even I can understand and find accessible. Definitely subscribing.
thank you! finally settings that work
Very helpful, thanks!
Great tips thank you 👍
Thank you, as another hobby I like, photography is also important to show the efforts you put into painting. Your videos are always good and instructive!
Plus cats... what's not to like?
Hab mir aufgrund deines Videos meine erste Kamera gekauft und grad die ersten bilder gemacht :) vielen dank für deine Videos :)
Trov thank you so much 110% where i struggle the most.
Really useful video. The point about a light box was good to hear as I have just started trying to use one. So may go back to not using it and practicing without one
Same here! I have not yet acquired 2 lamps, though, so that's going to have to be next on the list.
Wonderful!
Think I will go for the 4000k bulbs when setting up my new workspace, I also find the 6000K plus bulbs a bit unpleasant on the eyes but I always felt I had to go for those. Thanks for the tips.
Great video well done!
This was a great breakdown
I'm someone who primarily paints miniatures for dioramas, and one thing I personally find important is the flexibility of your light source. I use a simple desk lamp like the pair you do, but I use a Philipps HUE bulb - which allows me to alter the colour, temperature, and brightness as I wish.
In combination, this allows me to set the light to be the right colour, intensity, and come from the right direction, as a setting sun for example - or a pale moon directly overhead, or maybe the cold blue glow of plasma reactor coils just off the edge of the diorama base. In reality none of these is best for displaying the paintjob on the models, but it does absolute wonders for setting the scene of the diorama.
So if you've got the money, I'd definitely recommend this sort of set-up. End of the day you can always take photos for both paint-job and setting!
I think I will try out 5000-5500K bulbs (seems to be neutral light online). I've used a 32W 6500K bulb and it does strain my eyes, which is why i covered it with 2 layers of baking paper which also diffuses it a bit and makes it less harsh/reflective on the mini and has been working great (from my experience, though with your info on the photography with diffusing did confuse me)
good vid lad i like it g
Beautiful video
Thanks for this.
I love my lightbox, the minis looks amazing when I takes pictures in it.
Micro 4/3 is a great sensor size for photographing minis (panasonics mirrorless uses this) , since it'll get more in focus and less bokeh (due to the smaller sensor size). Same goes for phone cameras. If you need more blurry background, just increase the distance between the mini and the background.
Every painter should learn about photography. It’s a must.
A very informative video, thank you.
I tried doing photos of my minis with a Coolpix compact camera (Nikon Coolpix P300), which is a fine model. It's possible to do full manual photos with it (setting iso, aperture, shutter speed, manual white balance). However I've found, that instead of tinkering with this stuff, I can just light the mini properly, pull out my smartphone and make pictures of the same quality, or even better in much less time.
yes, 100% - smartphone combined with tripod is probably the best (and cheapest) sollution for 99% of painters.
thanks for the tips. also kitties
Tha is for another great video!
Great video on how covering just enough basics of photography to get great photos. Quick question, do you have any recommendations on where to get PVC backdrops, either custom printed or even just solid colors?
I think having two lights might be better than one since you can put them to different directions and get different lighting that way.
One trick I ran into is using computer display as background - by putting picture there you can get quite interesting background for the figure, but getting the lighting right with this setup is quite difficult.
Brilliant video thank you. Can I ask where you got your PVC backdrop.
Hqbackdrops
Q: Are you overthink...
A: YES
I like too shake the camera slightly ,a wee tremor,to help the blend look much better lol , thanks for the tips.
I wish I'd seen your video before I just dropped 45 dollarydoos on a new led desklamp for painting 🤣 This was awesome- I feel a lot better about my lighting set up and thank you for dispelling the myth of lightboxes being essential for miniature photos!
I was just talking to the guys last night how my potato phone cam doesn't show minis well. Can't wait to try messing with settings
the phone tripod mount I got came with a remote so I don't have to fiddle with the timer to take a picture. very useful.
👍 i don't know anything about photography and the pictures i take of my miniatures sucks in general ( i need 4 or 5 shots to obtain something not bad)
Many thanks for this video i learned so much i may be able to make a good picture 👏
that quick frame 2:39 minutes scared me :D
Nice video, btw
subliminal messaging
Good tips for people who don´t know much about photography. I can say that taking photos of small things is very difficult (Macro Photography) because everithing gets harder to have under control, and the smaller the object, the more difficult the tecnhique to take pictures become. It´s beause of fisics of the light. I would reccomend also a macro lens to magnifice he object if it´s neccesary to get better results and to maximize the potential of the camera sensor (to maximize the information the camera catches). A good tip to emphasize the objetc is to think this: If you want to get a better and more eye-catching color in the object (better color reflection), then you have to set the light source in front of the object as much as you can. If you watn to enphasize the texture of the miniature (not false texture made with paint...) you have to set the light source laterally. You cannot have boht, you have to choose or find a balance. I want to share this tip as a photographer because you teach me a lot in youur channel and I want to give back a little. Thank you. (#jose_maria_campos_photography) ;-)
Awesome video as always. Really appreciate the work you put into these vids. I am wondering where did you get these backdrops in the video from? Cheers
Hqbackdrops
@@trovarion Was also looking for this, cheers!
Photographer here. Some great tips!
One thing i found i personally like the look of is to put the camera on the tripod with maybe a 4 second shutter and use a small handheld LED and wave it around and different angles to paint the figure with light. you can keep it on one side longer to simulate that side being the strong light source, then move it to the other to give a lesser fill so the shadows are not too dark. Once you play with it, you can see what works for you. You just need to make sure all other room lights are off.
You can also move the light a little bit to the back of the mini to create a rim/edge light. It's a great way to get a bit of punch and a way to get better separation from the background especially if you use a dark background.
The other thing you can do is to move the light closer if you want the light to be softer and further away if you want the shadows to be more harsh. Just remember to adjust the power of the light.
Also be careful about the Canon M system. They are great, but i think they will be discontinued, so getting lenses in the future might not be as easy.
Thanks trovarion
Great😍
All good advice - except - shooting with a very small aperture (above F16 or so) can often reduce the sharpness in the image due to diffraction - so you have to balance that downside with getting the depth of field you want. Focal length of lens and distance from the subject also can help with DOF.
Thanks you and vince are the reason my models look even halfway decent lol
I really like your videos. I saw you figure in real and are amazing, too. cheers
Hey Rusto, Thanks a lot! How are you? It's good to see you here :)
@@trovarion :) I have a little channel here, I can't play a lot, because of time, but I really enjoy CZcams. anyway, see you as soon as possible
Super 👍👏😊
Some great tips - thanks I learnt a lot.
Brother. Seeing your cats made me so happy. Slip them into all your videos.
I'm terrible at taking mini photo's I've tried every thing to improve them but I think you have to have an eye for it my son is brilliant at it with a phone or Camera he's very very skilled as an artist so not surprising.
Is it worth trying different programs if I'm shooting with a mobile phone or will there be no difference in quality? (more realistic colours, larger focus area)
Brilliant video as always! Assuming it's the Ikea tertial you're using, I got a couple yesterday and have some daylight bulbs coming today - do you think adding some diffusive material over the lamp's shade is overkill?
you can do it, but it's not needed.
I would try without them, and if the shadows are disturbing, you can add a thin, white paper (I used white packing paper) on the lamp.
@@bicskeiz agreed!
I added some trasparent paper, mainly for not not blinding myself on accident, when looking direktly into the lamp.
I have a Canon SX50 HS
I bought it ages ago... is that any good?
Hello,
Would you do a video for filming ?
I use a Canon Mark ii, maybe not the best for filming miniatures, painting and stuff,
because I always have issues with blurriness, out of focus,
and even some noise, grain and sizzling...
I really envy these super clean painting videos I see on CZcams, like yours !
Cheers
not planning to as that video would not get a lot of views, sorry.
@@trovarion No worries ! Keep up the amazing content !
Could you post the pictures taken w smartphone and real camera somewhere so we can compare?
I have a question regarding glossiness ... if some parts of the mini are very glossy (intendly glossy), how to take good pictures of them? I think in this case a dimmer light is a must to reduce the reflections but I have no clue about photography so I'd like to know what do you think! Perhaps a lightbox could help for these minis?
Dat fukin helped alot! thx mate
dude, use photoshop mainly to remove cat hairs from my pictures even though i swear to god they aren't there when i am shooting lol
I’m filming miniature painting with a canon 750d and it keeps going out of focus, is there a way to keep it in constant focus or do I have to manually focus the camera every time it goes out of focus ?
GREAT info, but I've been wondering: Would you recommend shooting a 50mm lens and filling the frame or go for a 100mm macro so it can focus on the sharp details and reduce the warping typically seen in wide angle lenses?
sounds like making it too complicated.
With budget DSLR you can also go PENTAX + old manual lenses :)
Have you ever considered a ring light for miniature photography? Would be very interested in how it looks
It wont do more than 2 light bulbs would do. If you have one, sure, but it's not a necessity by all means.
I have one (ring diameter 14 cm). Its good for painting but the light is still too directional for photography. I want to get a second light.
I will be rewatching this video multiple times. I found a good deal on a Nikon d3500 a couple months ago in a store going out of business but I have not been getting great results on minis. The pictures of the family are great but I will dive into each setting this weekend on a tripod and see if I can work it out.
I edit on my phone for contrast. Is that a bad thing?
As long as your phone has a decently calibrated screen then no. iPhones for example or the new higher end Samsung devices all have relatively good color representation. Also make sure that you don't have any color changing settings turned on and your screen brightness is at it's max.
@@TheMiniatureStudio Samsung note 9 good for that?
@@ILikeYous Absolutely
@@TheMiniatureStudio thanks for the info :)
Amazing! What's the bust at 9:53?
www.trovarion.com/product-page/the-rogue-robot
I been painting for over a year, but have yet to really post anything I painted.
I can't seem to change my aperture setting on my phone, it doesn't seem possible? I really want to have photos where my mini is in focus but the background is fully blurred but I can't seem to do it with my camera phone. I'm using a Moto G8 Plus.
I don't know each phone, sorry. If it's android it should have a "pro" mode you will have to chose.
Do you have any photography backdrops you recommend?????
I have mine from hqbackdrops
what would you suggest to buy when starting up with miniature painting? like tools and base colors?
depends on your goal. do you just want to try it and see if it is for you? get some minis that appeal to you and figure out beforehand what scheme you want to paint them in and only get the colors you will need for that. get some half decent kolinski sable brushes and just try it out. get brushsoap and clean the brushes after each session.
if you like it slowly expand your paints with what you are missing for new projects and so on.
for assembly you can use a hobby knife and superglue. most people will have that at home.
@@trovarion what type/brand of colors would you recommend? i only have tamiya acryllic stuff for airbrushing gundam kits. grüsse aus deutschland 😁
@@Aiviymatoc vallejo, Games workshop, any of the major brands is fine (Except army paitner)
I would argue that cinematic style key and fill lighting would give a better result.
2:39 that's some subliminal shit right there
Hello Chris! :D
whadduuuuup?
Just wrote a small blogpost about miniature photography last week 😀.
I think Your light setup works, because Your miniatures are on a stand, so the shadows are not disturbing. If they would stand on the ground, maybe a more dissolved light source were better.
And varible color temperature led lamps are pretty cheap nowdays, I use one for painting and photography, was about 25€.
Professional commercial photographers use lightboxes to photograph all kinds of small, detailed products all the time. You can use them to photograph minis with great results.
Photographing miniatures is not product photography and most miniature painters are not commercial photographers. But yes of course you can, but they are not mandatory for the random minipainter and more than not are making their pictures worse.
Hello Master:
Please help and give me some advice,
The camera I am currently using is Canon EOS R10,
The kit lens used with it is (RF-S18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM)
My main subject matter is toy photography.
The secondary shooting content is street photography or portrait photos.
Now I want to buy new lenses, after watching your video,
Want to compare between Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM and RF85mm F2 Macro IS STM
After making a choice, I would like to ask you to give me some advice on which lens is more suitable for me? Thank you.
Either of what you mentioned is fine dor miniature photography. I just don't know what toys you photograph and how big they are, but my guess is you'll be fine too with all the others. The ones that have a fixed focal lenght you have to move the actual camera though, be aware. I have zero knowledge about portrait photography though, so I can't recommend anything, because I simply don't know.
@@trovarion
thanks for your reply🙏🙏🙏
OK, what if you have even less space than that? I'm talking like, if I add a "light box" I may as well set up a folding table and some folding lights I can shove in a closet after
I don't understand your question. I am saying you dont need a light box just a table to put a background and two lamps. All of which you can store away after.
Didn't know Ethan Hawk painted minatures.
Haha I just want those cats on my screen
I use 2 x 800 lumen light bulbs. My ISO can go down to 100 and has 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3600 and higher settings.
Anything below 1600 the image is black and I am still having trouble getting faces to show even on 75mm miniatures using 3600 iso settings.
What am I doing wrong?
My camera is a Nikon D3500.
Are you adjusting your apperture and exposure time the right way?
@@trovarion i have tried using the different Aperture setting notches on the lense, 35 is right in the middle and then i move out from there also fine tuning the focus.
Am I missing a setting in the camera menus for the Aperture?
@@ILikeYous are you sure that's not focal lenght of the lense? Watch my video again where i adjust apperture and exposure time. If it doesnt help please look up how to set these in your camera manual.
@@trovarion thanks for your replies, I will watch again. Just getting used to camera terms is a bit of a challenge.
@@trovarion it worked, thanks. I have to still tweak aperature back and forth a bit but it gets clearer with each pics.
Thanks a bunch. Sadly my camera doesn't have a white balance mode that is easy. To set it, it asks to take a picture of a grey object and I have tried concrete, cinder block, airbrushed grey plastic and but it fails to set the manual white balance. I am set up similar to yours but with cloth background hanging from 2 brass hooks in pvc.
Again thanks, I am on the road to showing people more accurately how mediocre my blends are :p
I really like your video cutting and narrative! Keep it up, maybe try working on your pronunciation of the O.
Otherwise it's really hard to guess that you are Austrian :P
what's wrong with my O?
@@trovarion nothing in particular, just how you stretch the o in 'proooject' same with the i in viideo.
Don't stress it, at this point it's part of your awesome narrative 😎
@@trovarion Ummm... actually nothing???
Nice video, which camera do you use for your cat pictures? :D
I was excited for this vid...but I have to admit I was nowhere near as excited as those kitties were...
I don't understand how people get a completely black background
Hallo Herr Prof. 2A grüßt Sie:-)
Tidy video! Worth noting that you should check your camera settings for quality and set it to as high as possible - RAW is the best quality and most DSLR's and some phones will shoot RAW and JPGs at the same time. Some phones and cameras default to a lower megapixel than possible for some reason.
Shooting RAW allows you to do some serious photo editing in Photoshop/bridge which may not be required by all but it will also guarantee you have the best quality possible and options to do some postprocessing later on if interested.
yeah, but let's face it, 99.99% of people will never need to shoot in RAW. I know that it gives the best results/editing possibilities, but it makes no sense for most people that take pics of their minis. and certainly not for a video like this.
@@trovarion Very true, but perhaps something that someone looking to get into photography as a hobby would do well to know. As you said in your video, a DSLR isn't necessary but if you were going to pick one up and make the most of it, switching to RAW early is a favour one's future self would be greatful for perhaps. Keep up the great work Chris!
What?! It's the setup? But then how do I justify wishing for that juicy bokeh 1:0,95 Voigtländer?