How to Take Awesome Photos of Miniatures!

[@tomb-rider]

Excellent video & advice! If you are wondering about where to start with your settings. ISO 100, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/125 & adjust from there. Avoid ISO 800 or higher, Avoid Shutter slower than 1/60 unless you have a tripod. Most lenses look best at F4~F16

[@tp6498]

If only utilizing these techniques to take quality photos of my miniatures actually improved the quality of the paint job on my miniatures :D Thanks for the instruction. Keep up the great job your doing here on your channel.

[@maizetoken377]

Love the blending on the pants folds of the two guys on the left @4:16.

[@GoobertownHobbies]

This photo setup is incredible. You had me at spring clamps :-)

[@Critical677]

What I really love about your videos is your passion and your willingnes to go the extra mile and paint above standard and trying out new things! Also you are very creative in the tools you are using. Love that as well. An other thing I would love, is for you to show us how to do power weapons. Maybe like on the box art of the new adeptus custodes? But for me personally the best tip from you was to stop repainting older models and instead painting new models. This meant that i ended up not only painting more minis but getting better at it as well. So thank you for that! :)

[@SeanSidious]

Sorastro and Miniac upload 3 videos combined in 2 days, this is good stuff!

[@TheClassicWorld]

So good. So good.

[@ronraducanu9633]

Awesome vid!! And...Best. T-Shirt. Ever.

[@SalithTaydan]

Anybody know where I can get the figurine shown at 2:32? The cyberpunk woman with the katana?

[@mikeljokinecheveste1287]

Great tips Scott, yours are the best miniatures photography tutorials on KZbin(at least of the ones I could find). Keep on doing such a great job. :)

[@samdenrobinson-lama6931]

best one you could find BEST ONE YOU COULD FIND?! THERE IS NO BETTER HOW DARE YOU?!

[@TheMiniJunkie]

This is fantastic.

[@lesROKnoobz]

Didn't realize there's so much that goes into this kind of thing. You're a pro

[@TheMiniJunkie]

Scott for your close up painting video do you use a ring light on the camera?

[@Miniac]

No, just my hobby light

[@TheMiniJunkie]

Miniac cool, thanks for fast reply!

[@drawxer1]

ohhh I did not know how to get a pure black background! and using the gels look awesome! thanks scott for the videorino! XD

[@adamkrzyzanowski8998]

What is that figure from 2:32?

[@Sanch0JR]

Hearing “hi I’m Scott the miniature maniac” just makes my day every time

[@dars861]

Sanchopanzer Jr what up mini family

[@socalastarte6727]

Damn Miniac you are a friggin' wizard in all things modeling! Great video, I'm nowhere near as handy as you but, I certainly will be trying some of your photography tips. I find it wonderfully ironic that one as talented as you, is "very unfamiliar with and terrified" with applying decals, a process I find fairly simple. It's kinda like driving by a dude broken down on the side of the road in his Porsche when I roll by in my 2003 Toyota. That's how I feel right now, bite-sized little victory. Thanks Miniac, you rock.

[@Scherdnr]

Are those CFL Alzo bulbs still the way to go or have any LEDs become more reasonable price wise to do the same job?

[@Miniac]

LED have made massive strides in the film making community so I got to imagine the same could be said for consumer fixtures. I just don't know of any at the moment.

[@joegekko]

What are the cat's in-game stats?

[@Miscast]

I really liked your build montage, but I felt it was lacking spanish hip-hop stock music and a gentle Australian voice, but hey, Moose picked up your slack. Rating 5 stars

[@Miniac]

Well maybe if I had an Australian man to respond to my every beck and call...

[@Miscast]

I'll see what I can do, I know one with fabulous chest hair

[@reinheart14121412]

Omg thank you for this amazing guide! Ive manage to take some decent photos thanks to you! ^_^ my insta looks bit nicer now haha

[@GreenskinHolland]

Awesome shirt !

[@dougsundseth6904]

Solid suggestions. Some other things I've used in product/miniatures photography: Gels- Theatrical gels aren't usually that hard to get, but if you're having trouble, office supply stores typically carry colored sheet protectors. A variety pack will have around 5 different colors that work quite well for lighting. Colored backgrounds: Craft foam is also available in variety packs, and as long as you don't need too large a backdrop, you can get a wide variety of colors pretty reasonably. Black background: If you have a darkish room and space, you can move your lights in close to the mini and the photo setup far away from your background. Here the inverse square law is your friend. If the lights are (say) 6" from your subject and the background is 6' back, you'll get about a 7-stop reduction in light from mini to background. Move the lights closer to the mini and with the same exposure, you can get even further falloff without using flags. White background. For this I really like to use a light behind a diffuser for the background. Since I'm normally using flash, I can dial it up until it blows out really easily and without wrangling diffusers and flags or affecting my subject exposure. Shorter version: use the softbox as the background. Background material: I fairly strongly prefer paper to card for backdrops, because it bends smoothly without creasing. In studio, I mostly use Savage papers from B&H, but that's probably not all that reasonable if you don't do photography professionally. Like craft foam, though, craft paper is cheap and easy to find. More background interest: The Hangar 18 backdrops (caveat, the owners are friends of mine) are quite nice once you're confident in getting a decent exposure value and white balance. You can also put something between your background light and the background (a "Gobo") to give you interesting shadows on the backdrop. If you're using two background light colors and using the gobo only on one, the shadows can be in interesting colors as well.

[@Miniac]

Doug, thank you for all the great feedback, but, how did you get a link to this video? It's unlisted and not published anywhere, you wizard!

[@dougsundseth6904]

It's in the playlist of photo videos, which is linked from your previous photo videos.

[@Miniac]

Doug Sundseth ahh, thank you. Learning lessons on my end. Well, early video for you!

[@nadukkerensky392]

thanks for yet another awesome video scott please teach me more things :D

[@chezamau]

I tried doing the gel backgrounds but for some reason my camera keeps blowing the colors out so they're barely visible (a deep red looks yellow in camera)... maybe it's cause I'm just using my camera phone?

[@yorikasudon]

I swear you read my mind. I was just thinking about how to go about making a photo stand to take better pictures and than BOOM you post this

[@pudelinocacalat2951]

Snap liked and subscribed for the ending alone :D

[@danielgrimes1097]

This is an extremely helpful video thank you

[@SmallBEANville]

Can the hand wave counter be a permanent thing now? Haha! Great vid, man. Keep the content coming!

[@Miniac]

I realized I do wave my hand farrrr too much.

[@IDFArmor]

Is that the warcrft 3 collectors edition t shirt?!

[@ottonichols3433]

No reason to fear decals :) microsol and microset do wonders.

[@19Log19]

what about camera settings? which ISO, and F you use?

[@Miniac]

Discussed in the advanced photography video.

[@khanghuy1203]

Great work like always ! Btw cute cat lol

[@dl-q3387]

Nice video bro

[@artsmodelstation9396]

The inverse square law. The bigger the light source and closer the softer your shadows will be. I use 55inch soft box.

[@Mdk7]

Hey Scott, congrats for the videos! A question from an Italian fan: I bought the Alzo lightbulbs and the IKEA lamps, but I am not sure I am using the same as you. What is the IKEA model you are using? Because I bought two Tertial, but the max W they support is 13 (and the lightbulbs are 45). Thanks!

[@inakue]

Hi Marco, what did you do finally?

[@Tigerfibel]

nice one for this video mate, any info on camera for recording to youtube? i use my phone but its focus is awful, or could it just be a lighting issue? cheers pal

[@Miniac]

I use all Panasonic cameras, so the GH4 GH5, and GX85. I started KZbin with a Canon t2i

[@ralex3697]

Mega talented

[@r4tt583]

Could you make a vid on tyranids?

[@RedGrobo]

Well timed wc3 shirt considering the remaster!

[@Silverbullet58640]

RedGrobo whaaaaat. How did I not know about this?

[@royceburger7929]

Can i use 2 ring light?

[@Silverbullet58640]

Were you a part of the modding community back in the day (wc3campaigns etc)?

[@Miniac]

Nah, I just played the game and was terrible at it.

[@r4tt583]

👍🤘 cool vid keep it up! I was wondering if you could make a vid on magnitising as that is not a topic that many people touch on but can be vary helpfull for both gameplay and transportation (as well as painting)

[@oktavianosss]

Nice one. Whats the name of the track on the outro?

[@br_a1n161]

I was also wondering about this?

[@Miniac]

It's in the description you nerds

[@oktavianosss]

Miniac hmmm. Who does read them anyways :3

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Thanks, Scott, what a great tutorial for us photography noobs! That black kitty is the best damn thing since sliced bread. It needs to be featured in every single video. Does it have a name and an Instagram account? If not, you better make one!

[@Miniac]

TheCimbrianBull his name is Moose!

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Wow! That's heavy metal, Scott! :-)

[@carlmayne3519]

Awesome Vid! ... Question: whenever I take pictures (in a lightbox) the end result (The photo) always looks crappy and balls compared to the real thing - for example, I've blended colours to what i think is an awesome standard, I take a picture and it looks like crap ... lol .. Any reasons for this and how the hell do you fix it .. :D

[@Miniac]

Sounds like you're taking photos in a low contrast mode (this is effected by the picture profile you're using). Bumping up the contrast in an editor can help, but tbh, there are a few reasons why this may occur.

[@PilgrimofMatter]

I was just randomly thinking about those old model decals the other day and then you briefly mentioned decals in a setting where decals are superfluous. This is a mildly disturbing synchronicity.

[@Thaxsar]

I knew this was gonna be good once I saw the hand wave counter.

[@izrador2264]

damn Scott, thats money!

[@666milek666]

Why u close left eye while speaking, and right is open?

[@Cord_78]

Sdub... you need a hug and a happy meal. Wife is not feeding you enough.

[@nahsti8043]

Scott... Mate... Listen.. That shirt.... I can haz?

[@seraphina6424]

Nahsti Nu!Only I can haz!

[@nahsti8043]

NO I CALLED IT!

[@Miniac]

You're going to have to rip it off my cold, dead body.

[@seraphina6424]

+Miniac +Nahsti You will not deny a Chaos God!

[@nahsti8043]

I got this though imgur.com/a/EWZIR hahaha :P

[@evonpersonal6388]

MORE CONTENT! NOW!

[@SpinoFries12]

DO AN eavy metal ABOUT A GREY HUNTER (Space Wolves Chapter)

[@MarneusAndMilkyBlood]

Great video, you did talk a lot about setup, but not much about cameras, any tips on that? Or how to make do with a smartphone camera ? Just a heads up, the singing introducing your miniperson model segment is obnoxious and I skip it every time.

[@Miniac]

I talk about that in the other photography videos I mention at 5:20

[@yukonica4560]

You get a 'like' based simply on the wave count... content was good too.

[@MrConna6]

haha he said butt

[@hodldawg]

Ironic that the photo for the miniperson's model was awful.

[@credoimperialis]

THIS VIDEO IS THE SHIT!!! ImI__ImI

[@MrGlennz0r]

PAINT MORE MINIS WHAT IS THIS

[@spencermilkert1184]

hey

[@spencermilkert1184]

buddy

[@l337Bolshevik]

Which mini is in the thumbnail?

[@Miniac]

Benjamin Coleiro Ora from Black Sun