Grenadier Guards Officer, Crimea 1854. Stormtroopers V12 (1/12 scale)

[Eludia]

Hey again folks,

I called this one done last night and, after a night in the hot box, he was ready for photos this morning. He is, of course, one of Stu's excellent V12 busts which I picked up at Sword & Lance last month for the bargain price of a tenner.

He is painted using the same limited palette I used for the Gordon Highlander I recently finished with the addition of Alizarin Crimson which I used for his sash (the crimsons I was getting by mixing just didn't look quite right). The metals are Vallejo Model Air, which go on fine over water mixable oils.

The support is made from a 2.4mm brass tube covered with some antique brass spacer beads which I found on a craft website and which had, conveniently, a 2.5mm inner diameter so they fitted over the brass tube perfectly. The base is from Andrea Miniatures.

Comments and critique are most welcome as always, on both the painting and the photography as I'd love to improve both.

[giemme]

This looks real! Excellent painting, I really like it!

And pictures are great too. The only missing thing to elevate them to boxart photos is a light source underneath the bust projecting light to the bottom part of the background, making that sort of "dawn" effect you see on boxarts.

Ciao

[Eludia]

Thanks Giemme

I know the effect you mean, although I think its beyond my current skill to recreate it without flooding the whole scene with light. Some research is required methinks

I took these photos in a light tent next to a window with no additional lighting, just the natural light coming through the glass. I've found that artificial light tends to wash out all that contrast that I spent hours trying to create with paint, this is really evident in the photos of the Gordon Highlander which look quite flat in comparison to what it looks like in the flesh. I am much happier with these photos but I'd still love to improve so many thanks for your feedback.

[rmcclure]

There's no way I can comment on the modelling skill - tremendous! Beautiful model. I would echo what Giemme has said about the additional light source though. It doesn't have to be anything extreme - even using a sheet of white A4 to reflect a little more sunlight to the required area might help without giving you the washed out look you're worried about. Or a torch with a sheet of single ply tissue over the lens to diffuse the light? A light coloured background might also make you details "pop" a little as the dark coat and dark headdress might be blending in a little with the black felt you're using.

If you want to get really niggly then a smaller aperture might bring the base into better focus and I would also rotate the image a few degrees as the bottom of your base is definitely a little bit off the horizontal.

However, having said all that, your main subject is in sharp focus and is well lit. I so wish all RFI shots were this clear!

Cheers,

Roger

[Billydick]

Excellence indeed Eludia !!!!

BillyD

[Mitch K]

That is exquisite. Thanks for showing us this.

[Eludia]

Thanks for the kind words guys

Roger, thanks for the pointers. I've only had my DSLR since Christmas and I'm still getting used to the different functions and what all the numbers mean. Its all still a bit foreign to me at the minute but I've migrated from Auto mode at least. In this case I shot from a tripod in Aperture priority mode - I set the aperture at f8 (but it will go a lot smaller), and this is what is confusing me as I'm using the basic lens that came with the camera which only has a range of f3.5-5.6 supposedly (am I missing something here?)

I get what you mean by the model not being level. I'll double check that the camera's level the next time I take some pics and/or straighten up with software.

Many thanks

[rmcclure]

Thanks for the kind words guys

Roger, thanks for the pointers. I've only had my DSLR since Christmas and I'm still getting used to the different functions and what all the numbers mean. Its all still a bit foreign to me at the minute but I've migrated from Auto mode at least. In this case I shot from a tripod in Aperture priority mode - I set the aperture at f8 (but it will go a lot smaller), and this is what is confusing me as I'm using the basic lens that came with the camera which only has a range of f3.5-5.6 supposedly (am I missing something here?)

I get what you mean by the model not being level. I'll double check that the camera's level the next time I take some pics and/or straighten up with software.

Many thanks

f3.5 - 5.6 are actually the largest aperture sizes that you lens can go to. The numbers are different as you clearly have a zoom lens and max aperture will differ according to the focal length in use. Have a go with f16 and see what the difference is. Best not to go to the very extremes at either end as performance, especially with kit lenses, will drop off.

At f16, using light from the window, I imagine you will need quite a slow shutter speed - 1/30 or less? Especially as you want to keep your ISO setting as low is it will go on your camera - probably 100. Dial up all of your file size settings so that you maximise image quality and leave the camera on aperture priority auto (AV) so that you control the aperture and the camera sorts out the speed. When using a tripod you don't want to transmit vibrations through the camera from your trigger finger so use the self timer to fire the shutter.

Youtube is a goldmine for photography tutorials so take a look - it will be time very well spent. Look for things like "using a tripod," "depth of field" or "photographing scale models."

What post processing software do you have? Adobe Photoshop Elements, of some version or other, usually comes free on most laptops so spend a little time playing with that.

From what you've posted you've clearly already got the basics. More than just the basics as I think that's a good collections of shots. Digital images cost nothing so snap away like mad, experiment and get to grips with post processing. 10 minutes in Photoshop will turn an average shot into something really worth looking at. I've spent over 30 years playing with photography so I'm having to rein myself in here and there's a ton of stuff I haven't mentioned!

Cheers,

Roger

[Knikki]

Lovely paint and finish on that bust Eludia

As for the camera lens,

You have a kit zoom lens by the sounds of it the numbers f3.5~f4.5 refer to how big an aperture you will have at either the 35mm or the 80mm end (assuming you have the 35~80mm lens), this basically means howe big the hole is in the lens to allow light in.

The lens itself will go all the way to (maybe) f22, this is fairly common on all lens. So this will be the aperture 'closed down' so allowing less light in and correspondinley longer exposure time.

The advantage of having a smaller aperture, like f8 ~ f11 means you will get more in focus or your "depth of field" will be greater.

For example,

Take the bust above, focus the lens on say the tip of the nose (for example) and if your lens is at 80mm end and set at f4.5 then you may find that you exposure time will be quick say 1/500th of a second you may find that only the nose and eyes are in focus the rest of his hat and chest would seem soft or out of focus.

Now keep everything the same and change the lens aperture to f11 (for example) your shutter speed will be slower like 1/30 of a second but when you look at the image you will find that all of the figure will now be infocus as you have greater depth of field.

Not sure if that helps and most of the above is examples.

looks like Roger is quicker on the keyboard than me

Edited May 5, 2015 by Knikki

[Eludia]

I'm loving this, its like a free photography course. Cheers guys

I think I get what the f3.5-5.6 means now (i.e. not the range of the aperture, but the max opening at each extreme of the zoom) and I think I'm getting the basics e.g. I use a tripod and wireless remote and set ISO to 100 so for now I'll concentrate on getting the depth of field right...oh, and not taking wonky pictures.

Roger, I'm using Photoshop Elements 13 but in the loosest sense of the word "using" i.e. I crop, "Magic fix" (sometimes works, most of the time makes things look worse) then export the files ready for posting online and thats really about it. I promise I'll try harder