Good morning!

After seeing Kurt's diorama work through his camera lens, it struck me that there is something to be learned here beyond model building.

Most of the people here are also great photographers. They know how to present their work in images.

So I would like to ask for information about that and make a suggestion...

When you are photographing your diorama, would it be too much to ask what kind of camera and lens you are using, what your settings are and what kind of lighting do you use? Flourescent or photography lighting? Is it indoor or outdoor?

Kurt used a black towel to simulate a canyon side and it fooled me completely! What other tricks are up the sleeves of all our diorama creators?

Thanks in advance for indulging the photographer side of me. It is almost as important as model building in my life!

By the same token a white terry cloth towel can be used to create a quick photographic snow scene background.

Great idea!

The camera does not matter much. As long as it has a way to set appreture size, a hotshoe for external flash, support for RAW/digital negative format piotures and a means to fix it to a tripod it is "good enough". So one of the better compacts, a bridge or any of the "system" cameras (changeable lens systems like DSLR, DSLM, DSLT, microFourThird) will do. Same for resolution, anything with 8+ megapixel will do.

The system cameras benefit from some nice add ons like macro rings/screw on macro lenses (Achromats) or a full macro lens, the smaller systems have a better depth of field due to smaller sensors.



Light does not matter much as long as all light sources have the same color temperature (are of the same type) and none is an EFL (evil fluorescent light). Mixed color temperatures can drive a camera nuts in trying to find out "what is White" (White balance). And EFL add problems due to their 50/60 times per second on/off cycle that drives the exposure meter crazy (Some very modern/high end cameras have a EFL detection). For scale model fotography some office lamps with high quality energy saver lamps or classic bulbs should do, no need for real photo lamps (also they can be bought resonably cheap at 30-50€/unit if you do not plan outdoor use or permanent assembly/disassembly) with their size/space needs



Using flash can be an option but adds some complexity and cost. The build in flash is a "don't use" element since it is not strong enough to be the "only" light source and tends to flatten the picture. External flashes add cost, a decend third party "smart" flash starts at 60€ + 35€ for the radio controller, good ones at 100+controller or 130 with build in controller, units from the camera manufacturers add 100+€ to the base price. Add in some flash tripods and reflectors (40-70€ per flash) and some reflectors (anything from a styrodur isolation plate to a real photo reflector)

Using RAW mode (digital negative) or telling the camera to do both (SD cards are cheap) gives you more options for post processing. All cameras that support RAW have builder supplied software as part of the package that can work with the digital negative and even take clues from the settings of your camera.

RAW is an uncompressed format that allows you to easily change stuff like "White balance" making the basic look of the picture cooler/warmer without adding new JPEG artifacts, rescaling, sharpening etc. Only at the end do you step from RAW to JPEG.

And there are quite a few programs (including free stuff like GIMP) that can work with RAW data or the Adobe DNG format (RAW->DNG is easily done with free tools)


Outside of pictures for competitions "everything goes" in image manipulation/editing. Putting in backgrounds, fokus stacking (Taking and combining pictures to get a bigger depth), HighDynamicRange (Increasing the distance between the darkest and brightest element), removing elements like the stand/the wires holding a plane "in flight", changing the looks to "old style" (or adding classic film looks) and so on. And most of this is doable with free tools (GIMP, Nik-Collection) and/or low cost tooks (Photoshop Elements). Post processing is part of what makes the best pictures on the net look so realistic.

I use my Droid phone camera. It takes better photos than I was ever able to get with digital cameras.

It also lets me know when things are unfocused or otherwise out of whack.

I need to work on backgrounds--something neutral that zeros out plants, bookcases, etc.

Often I set up a big piece of posterboard or card board.

Tim W.

Phone cams with their micro sensors have a huge depth of field. That is their benefit. Modern digital cameras have decend to good life view that can pull the focus/out of focus trick as well.


As for background - the classic is a A3/A2 sized sheet of paper in a relatively neutral color. White, grey, some light blue tones are the most common. Not every color works for every model i.e a "winter/white wash" model is better taken in front of a grey or light blue background.

Also check how the camera meters exposure, big bright areas tend to tell the camera to underexpose the picture. Sometimes it is better to either use another metering mode (That concentrates on the area in focus) or set both appreture and exposure time manually.

Hi Patrick ,

well a normal digital camera can do the job you know. I took a black towel (but a black sheet of paper is even better )put it over a few plates and voila a photostudio is born. I chose manual mode and ISO 100 as setting ( Apparature and shutterspeed automatic.)and took the pictures . Give it a try !

Kurt

I find good results are possible with a modest camera if you have manual control over aperture and shutter speed. I use a Panasonic Lumix which is a pocket camera but it has these features.

You can increase depth of field by making the aperture as small as possible. This requires longer shutter times so a tripod is required.

All the photos on my website were taken using these basic principles.

Cheers,
Ivar
http://www.creativedioramas.com

I am actually pretty old school. I have a hand held exposure meter of the ancient type that still works very well!

And my digital can be set up to fully manual!

Thanks, Kurt! As you can see by the endless number of photos in my one diorama, I like to take photos. These have all been done with my iPhone. I just like the looks you achieved through the woods in your most recent work and thought maybe there is someone who could benefit from your (and our) experiences when it comes to getting that good visual story.

I always like to try to spark a little discussion wherever I am!

Great tips--when possible, I try to photograph outside in natural light and get the best results that way. The new LED bulbs are horrible and often screw up lighting thanks to their unpredictable light levels. I have real bulbs (incandescent) in my work lamp and will use that for additional lighting when necessary if shooting indoors.

Tim W.

As you can see, answers will vary largely based on everyone's personal standards. Do you have any other photo equipment apart from the phone camera you mentioned? This might lead to more targeted answers.

Personally, I went the Samsung Galaxy > Nikon point-and-shoot > Nikon DSLR route until I reached the photo quality I was happy with. At the same time it might be just me not being able to properly handle the equipment I have or simply expecting too much from myself. I'm not saying you HAVE to have high-end equipment.

My current setup includes a cheap, no-name "photo cube", two Ikea lamps with LED "bulbs" (gasp!) and several A0 sized cardboard backdrops in different colors for 0.79 Euro each. The camera is a Nikon D3100 with the kit 18-55/3.5-5.6 lens.

I have about the same setup. Nikon D3100, basic photo box, 3 lights at 5000K (very important they are all the same Kelvin).

I feel I get pretty good results. But then again, it's all about practicing with different camera settings.

There ya go! You get the diffuse light instead of harsh, direct light!. This is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to elicit so that others (including me) can get the best photos possible of all the great work here and on the bench!

Thanks for sharing!

I'm glad I was able to help!

My light setup:
===============

+ A cheap (30€) "studio lamp" with an integrated softbox and 135Watt-equivalent output. It is a 5500 Kelvin (daylight) lamp and the softbox works similar to Cristians light tent in diffusing it. This specific unit is a "buy if you use it indoors and do not plan to setup/breakdown daily/weekly" thing but "good enough for modelling shots". Using an E27 socket means I can get cheap replacement bulbs her in germany. This lamp gives basic illumination, allows for setup and use of the Autofocus.

+ Two Yongnuo ETTL-2 (Jup, red peril user here) flashes with two YN622C remote controls under the flashes and a TX622 on the camera. They are mounted on two Walimex flash tripods with reflex/throughlight umbrellas, Again the umbrellas soften/feather the light. This two provide background/fill lights. Rated at 5500Kelvin they are "close enough" to the fixed light. They can be color changed with "Lee filters" that I need for other occasions anyway say to give a reddish tint to the background. I use the flashed in "Strobist" setups in fotography anyway so I have them around and it beats buying another lamp as above

Camera/Equipment setup
======================

+ A cheap "picknick table" as a stand for the model. If I need more height I add a "folding storage box". Combined with A2 sized cardboard bent in a rounded L-shape for a background (typically white, Armorama yellow did NOT work well)

+ Sturdy all-metall Manfrotto Tripod with a ball head (Kugelkopf). Again overkill for modell fotography but "barely adequat" for some of the other stuff I do.

+ A cheap "macro sled" for focus stacking. Since I don't do macro fotography otherwise I have no need for a costly (and highly precise) unit so a 40€ unit and an hour with the "Proxon" to smooth the rough edges was "good enough". Mounted on the tripod with a PL200 quick change plate (People claim I collect those plates - heck I only own four...)

+ Some "Styrodur isolation tiles" (120x80cm) as reflectors if needed. Cheap and resonably sturdy

+ Some black cardboard and flexible foamboard as Gobos to block light etc.


+ Camera is an Canon EOS 80D (upgraded from a 60D when canon made me "an offer I could not refuse during a promotion event) and either a Sigma 18-35 or more likely a Tamron 24-70. Both camera and lenses are total overkill for this but I do a lot "available light" stuff in addition to strobist and the "APS-C Standard zoom" never worked for me/I do not own one anymore.



Workflow
========

I generally set up the model with (semi)overhead light from the lamp and take a test shot. Then I position flash(es) and/or reflector(s) to fill in the shadows or add to the main light.

Camera is in "M"anual mode, ISO 100 (or 200 if I use "enhanced tonal setting" of the Canon) and time is set to 1/160s (1/250s is the shortest flash sync time of a Canon and I like to add some "safety margin" for the radio trigger) for starters.

Appreture is set to f/8-f/11 for a start and will be increased up to f/16 on the Sigma (max appreture) or f/22 on the Tamron. I PREFER not to do that since APS-C sensors loose sharpness post f/11 and that gets visible post f/16. Due to the way the Canon flash system works the flashes will fill in the necessary light (In M mode the flashes become the "main light source" unlike Appreture/Time priority AV/TV where it is a fill light).

Shooting is RAW since I need to use post-processing anyway (Cameras can not compensate for third party lenses and my "lone Canon" is NOT a good "model shooting lense(1)) and post-correction is done in Lightroom 6 (up from 5 since Adobe does not support the 80D in LR5)

I make use of the "remote control" feature and LiveView a lot since the switch to the 80D (Hey, if you have THE LiveView Sensor in the DSLx market - use it ) and control the camera from my Windows tablet. Before that it was "ape on the grindstone" and I was bend over to the optical viewfinder of the 60D (that had a lousy live view(2) ). Was even considering a "Winkelsucher" (angled viewfinder? )


On a few occasions a "JPEG only/no post processing" request for pictures had me use the "Monochrome" function of the camera and even Cokin P-series clones colored filters to get an "aged" look (I have a cheap Cokin-P clone for the 5 pictures/year I need ND/ND grad filters and it came with some colored filters). Generally I use the NikCollection for adding "aged" effects to a picture.

(1) The "Yoghurt-Becher" (yoghurt cup) EF 50/f1.8 STM...
(2) Claims are that it is so slow if you take a picture a Golgotha today you will see the romans crucifying Jesus...

Some valuable feedback here, thanks for posing the question Patrick!

Dave