How to Photograph Your Models at little cost to you.

[jacon12]

Understood.   You do beautiful work!

Jarrell

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is one for the ship modeler guys ! I have included it here for two reasons.One to show what can be done with an ordinary flash light and two making a poster of your work.
This model is in 1/72 scale and it was my first storyboard diorama.It didn't start out that way but the idea developed over time and I had lots of it as this piece took twenty years to build,on and off between woodcarving teaching sessions.
The light is placed low because it is supposed to be sunrise,in harbor and under bare poles.
I won't bore you guys with the storyline ,it is available on the web for those interested.The point here is the lighting.There was absolutely no set up ,the pic was taken with my hand held camera through a plexiglass case in my own darkened living room.
There is a slight tilt to the pic as I wanted the ship to be in a gentle roll.I used the figurehead to put one side of the ship in shadow.The lighted rigging helps to keep things interesting.
The poster was created in photobucket and is very easy to do,just follow the instructions.Believe me if I can do it you can too.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

 

Waitin'For The Five-fifteen.
Meet Harley the stationmasters(RR,Airport,Marine ?)faithful buddy as he patiently awaits for some action.
This shot was taken while the office module was under construction.It is a simple shot with the corner of the room used to add a little depth to the scene.Natural light is shining through the windows making some interesting shadows.The ceiling and desk lights are dollhouse fixtures which although they are the wrong scale really doesn't matter a lot because these fixtures come in all sizes in real life.Keep this in mind when mixing scales and you will be surprised how much is available to the diorama maker in any scale.
A good storyboard diorama or vignette does not really require a title,in  fact it is always best to let the views imagination fill in the rest.You can hint at an historical era with a few accessories like the clipboards ,door hardware or the old oil lamp sitting on the table.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is a very simple composition that anyone could do,you don't even have to be a good face painter.A title,for the average viewer is in this case is not even required.I added it for the very young viewer who might be confused as to what he is looking at.He has enough to take in with  the present to give much time to thinking about the future.
Most of this is made with coffee stiks and ordinary cardboard from the back of writing pads.The cans are the metal part of old pencil erasers.The spark plug sign gives us a rough idea of the era involved.The human's thinking is ageless.The disappearing horizon is the key to this storyboard vignette.
Even if your model looks like a model as in this case it is not important as the story itself and the emotion of the viewer is what we are after here .Anyone who walks into a movie house or live theater expects to suspend their disbelief for awhile,same thing for scale models.Just think story first !

[rogertra]

JohnReid

Actually, the words to the chorus are: -

Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
we always are ready; Steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I enjoy taking shots from outside a room which leads to another room.It is an easy way to engage your viewers imagination in what may be just beyond the door.Framing your shot using a window or doorway is a nice Sergio technique that I picked up from watching his movies.
In this scene there are no figures and none are really required,in fact figures would actually spoil it.Here again let your viewer fill in the blanks for him or herself.If you were standing at this doorway what would come to mind ? It makes me think that someone has just stepped out of the shop for a minute and you can expect his return at any time.You are almost tempted to say "hey Slim ! where are you ?" The shop is warm and inviting but outside it is dark and slightly mysterious.This stark contrast is what I am looking for here to emotionally connect the viewer with the piece.
Being slightly out of focus gives the piece added atmosphere of dust ,haze or smoke in the air.I have used the corner of the room to give depth to the piece.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This is something a little different ,a birds eye view of the same area that I dressed up a bit in photobucket.
The floor makes for an interesting background.I left it a little clean for a shop floor because I liked the pattern and ah what the hell they may have just changed it recently anyway(artistic license)You will notice with this composition that I have not lined up anything in rows or 90 deg to one another .This is a good general rule but in this case almost an necessity because of the uniform floor pattern.
The theme is common to any engine shop or genre of modeling and the era could be old or modern,unless you can read the newspapers on the floor !

[yankee flyer]

Hi  J. R.

I love your work, just amazing. I have to wonder where do you find all the little pieces, tools, engine etc?
A true artist.

Regards

Lee

 

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

In this pic I used just the interior lighting of the doll house bulbs which were installed especially for my own picture taking purposes.This is a vignette taken from a much larger diorama while it was under construction.It is a good idea to arrange small vignettes like this while you still have easy access to the shot that you are after.
There is no doubt here what the main subject matter is,the airplane under construction.There is enough here to keep the viewer interested without using a strong storyline.I like my figures in relaxed poses where the viewer really doesn't expect a lot of movement.The only thing moving here would be their mouths in conversation about something which is left up to the viewers imagination.

The airplane is purposely off center and here again I have used the left wall and corner to help add a third dimension.The colors are selected for harmony red,green,gray and earth tones.I make it easy on myself and use tube colors rather than mixing my own like I did when painting birds.Various tones can be achieved later using pastels if you like.
It is not always necessary to complete everything for example I wanted the viewer to know what type of construction was used on the fuselage, so I showed only one plywood panel being installed on the far side and out of the way of the framing.
For those unfamiliar with old aircraft construction it was normal practice to put the open structure together for fitting and preliminary rigging purposes,disassemble it and then it would be reassembled after the fabric and plywood was installed on each mayor component.Finally it would be re-rigged and adjusted for flight.It is depicted here in flying position and the tail is resting on a stand.
The important thing here is not the subject matter but the composition.Anything that you could build in an old barn ship,car,stagecoach whatever could be the center of attention.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

 

Just about all of my shots that create a lot of shadows and other dramatic effects were taken in a darkened room using this simple hand held light.I hold my camera in one hand and move this light around until I get the shot I am looking for.I experiment with different watts and types,soft cool etc....You could put it on a simple rheostat of course but I just change bulbs.Don't be afraid to break all the so-called rules of picture taking,there really are none just new ways waiting to be discovered .Point and shoot ,erase,point and shoot again the only cost to you is your time.
Because my dioramas are large and heavy natural lighting in most cases has not been possible for me so I have had to find a way around the problem and create my own style which is kind of an artificial stage type lighting.I experiment with everything and mix all types of lighting together and see what I can come up with.Try bouncing light off the ceiling or walls or use card.A simple Kleenex type paper( in various layers )over a flashlight can make a nice filter for pin point shots.Etc..etc
Try whatever comes to mind and you may surprise yourself with your own creativity.
I will post some shots and try to remember what I used to light them as I go along.Some shots are pure luck and even I couldn't duplicate them if I wanted to.Bottom line is to have fun and please yourself,it is your hobby and there are really no wrong ways of doing things anyway.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is a little vignette that I set up while the larger diorama was under construction.I wanted to capture the look of fear in the face of the figure yet at the same time project a kind of defiant pose of bravado against the unknown.
Overhead lighting can be used very effectively to your advantage.The face has been underpainted a flesh color only with no other detail painted on ,it is  the lighting alone that is used to bring it to life.
I used one overhead doll house bulb to light the doorway and another inside the office.The pic was taken in a darkened room with the camera on auto.Except for the face I wanted the rest to be out of focus.The sign above the door has been cut off as I didn't want it to become a center of attention.An old classic car with its drivers side door left open was used in the foreground.The rest of the story is left up to the viewers imagination.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This is very unusual subject matter but interesting nonetheless.Even wreckage and junk can be interesting to look at.This pic was taken outdoors in natural light and converted to B&W.The title comes from an old pilots saying "any landing is a good landing as long as you can walk away from it".
I blurred the edges of the pic to concentrate the viewers attention on the cockpit area.It is an upshot of an upside down WW1 biplane fuselage with trees from my backyard in the background.The camera was hand held and set at auto with a little magnification.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

 

The car in the weeds is a 1/16th scale plastic kit that I weathered and stuck in the corner of a building.An interesting feature here is the brush.It is something my Huskey dog chewed on years ago and was left outside in the mud.The bristles weathered as you see them here and look quite natural as old dead grass.Nothing has been airbrushed,it is flat acrylics and pastels only.Here again I used a corner to add depth to the piece.The siding is called board and batten and is painted like barn siding.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is a fun shot through one of the windows.The lighting is dollhouse from fixtures in the rafters above.Unfortunately these shots will never be available again and were taken during construction of the larger diorama.The interior lighting will be impossible to maintain in a museum setting which is too bad but at least I have the pics.
This downshot uses the flooring to advantage for a 3D effect.There are a lot of square shapes in this piece so I took the pic at an angle to make it more interesting.I got lucky with the depth of field as my camera set this up automatically.Each pane of glass has its own reflective surface and is quite clear considering the problems usually involved when shooting through glass.It is high quality plexiglass with little or no distortion.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Smoky and dusty with filtered light,your typical 1920's workshop.The pin up girl is Mary Pickford,a Canadian girl that went on to fame and fortune in Hollywood.Under the other light is Harley the company mascot sitting in the cockpit of a Jenny Canuck biplane.The darkened area beyond could lead to another room or to an outside porch.
If I knew how to do it I would tone down the shiny hinge on the door as it attracts too much attention for my liking.This is another shot that I took when the diorama was under construction,there is an exterior wall where the camera is now positioned.I have again used the rooms corner and the open door and slanted window for increased depth.The lighting is again dollhouse with real bulbs screwed into in a modified Christmas bell type fixture.In this case out of focus is a good thing.The open window  set at an angle adds a little interest and suggests maybe a hot and humid summer evening..

[JohnReid]