Diy Photography Lightbox for Shooting From Top of Lightbox
Want amend photos of your miniatures? Get a photo light box! You don't need a fancy camera. Your smart telephone will probably do a nifty task. All you demand is "good light". A calorie-free box or photograph booth are an important tool if yous're looking for professional person quality images of your miniatures.
In this article, I highlight some key data that will amend your photography of gaming models. I also review 5 of the best photo light boxes for photographing miniatures.
If you're painting the 28-35mm Warhammer 40k scale miniatures, or the larger models, e.g., vehicles or 75mm scale busts, a lite box will help give your photos the professional look.
It's all about light! A photograph booth helps you control light.
In a Hurry? Hither's Our Top Pick! 🏆
"Portable, versatile, and feature-rich" The Travor low-cal box has everything you need to become started to have professional quality photographs of your tabletop miniatures. Information technology comes with a diffuser box, bright LED lights, and a smartphone tripod.
This photo booth kit is great for hobbyists and production photographers looking to sell their wares on eBay or other online marketplaces. Check out the full review beneath!
How to Have Ameliorate Photos of Miniatures?
Scale modelers and miniature hobbyists put a lot of work into their projects. You've invested hours and hours of labor. Why not share your last production? Sharing is function of the fun, too!
Social media is all virtually visual presence.
It's the photographic media in today'due south world. A corking photograph grabs your audience's' attending. A nicely shot photo of your painted miniature may too country you a commission projection, if that is your goal. Or, you're just simply looking to go a improve creative person and photography is part of the hobby.
At that place are 3 main things yous need for a cracking photograph:
- Context
- Light
- Limerick
1. Context
Where is your miniature or model located? What is the atmosphere? This doesn't mean you need to have a fancy backdrop or background of an exotic mural. Context means showing where your model may be.
For the miniature artist, this could merely exist an open up space where your viewer's imagination fills in the blank. Nigh product photography is shot without a existent background. Instead, a blank color properties is used as the context for the subject.
For my piece of work, I've settled in with the black backdrop. Actually, in my opinion, the best colour backdrop for photographing gaming miniatures is either all white or black.
White or black backdrops are the best colors if you're looking to focus your viewer'due south attention on your model. These backdrops aren't distracting, brand information technology easy to correct for color casts (source), and are simple to employ.
Black backgrounds are versatile. The color evokes the concepts of "danger", "mystery", and "fantasy", co-ordinate to sales marketers. Use these ideas to your advantage.
White backgrounds on the other hand is more strongly associated with "purity", "professional", and "clean". Most product photography on websites selling jewelry or other luxury goods utilise pure white backdrops.
Slope or textured backdrops are also pop, but it is a lot harder to photo miniatures with a background that changes tone or value. Keeping your photography organization unproblematic goes a long way to improving your workflow.
ii. Light
Everything in photography is near calorie-free. The discussion "photography" means "drawing with lite" in ancient Greek (source). When you lot're photographing miniatures, information technology is important that the light hitting the model is bright and diffuse.
Diffuse low-cal is light that is evenly cast beyond the subject. Of the two ways to light a model, getting bright enough calorie-free is easier than diffusing the light.
The simply way to lengthened and evenly light a model is lighting the model directly in the direction the camera lens is pointing. In fact, this is what most photographers naturally try and do.
Only, this also ways that y'all might shine too much light (such as with a flash). This creates ugly shadows backside the model and backdrop, or washes out the details on sure model features, e.one thousand., the brighter skin tones.
The easiest way to diffuse calorie-free is to 1) bounce the light off another surface or 2) allow it to travel through a translucent material.
For the near part, in a DIY photographic setup, bouncing your lite source is like shooting fish in a barrel. All you lot accept to do is setup your light facing away from your model, and put a semi-reflective surface to permit that light to come back toward the model. For more than information almost diffusers and using a low-cal tent, check this site out.
3. Limerick
I wrote an article on the importance of composition in photographing miniatures (Related: how to better your miniature photos using composition).
In 1797, John Thomas Smith, the famous British painter, wrote downward the compositional guidelines for "the dominion-of-thirds" (likewise see this modern guide). The basic idea of the dominion-of-thirds is to go along the image dynamic; that is, requite the viewer empty space to wait around. Let the eyes wander.
A subject field needs to jiff. The image needs to feel similar the model can motion around in the infinite within the frame. This kind of compositional setup can vastly amend the involvement and artful of your miniature.
The natural inclination for many new photographers is to center the subject. This is likely considering almost cameras (or smartphones) take an autofocus setup for the middle parts of the frame.
In that location are other rules of limerick, such as how much you should make full your frame with your subject. The golden "angle" for how to place your model, etc. Games Workshop has a great tutorial page on this besides.
In general, for improving composition, effort and place your model in a location within the paradigm frame that gives it dynamism or a tension. For more most how composition and using an eye for "structure" can improve your photograph, see my article on the discipline of photographic structure.
Equally with any fine art, photography requires patience, practice, and experimentation. Simply, with fourth dimension, information technology's a skill that you tin apply to many aspects of the miniature and modeling hobby.
What Kind of Camera Practice I Need for Photographing Miniatures?
Any modernistic digital camera can take great photos of miniatures. For most, a smart phone would suffice. If you're looking to up your photographic game, however, a defended photographic camera will give you a lot more control over your images.
RELATED: SMARTPHONE VS CAMERA MINIATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: WHAT IS BETTER?
For ane matter, a defended camera will have a larger sensor (or light sensitive surface). This ensures that you're able to get together a lot of that calorie-free information coming off your miniature. Great photography is about cracking calorie-free.
The all-time cameras for photographing annihilation are those cameras that can collect and capture that slap-up light. If you lot're the marketplace for a camera specifically for photographing miniatures, I would strongly recommend a mirrorless camera, like a Sony or Fuji organization.
These cameras are a major step upwardly from the "point and shoots", and certainly provide photos that all-time or rival whatever smartphone photographic camera technology.
Ultimately, the best photographic camera you use for photographing miniatures is the one y'all have with yous. In other words, just use what y'all accept already and make lots of images.
Exercise Yous Need a Photograph Light Box?
No. But, information technology helps! A lot!
Photo light boxes merely help you control how the calorie-free hits your model. The advantage of a photo light box is the power to simply become to work. You can try the exercise-it-yourself (DIY) route like I did when I first started. Just remember that you'll take to make the light not merely bright plenty, but lengthened enough to light up your model properly.
I learned that for a little bit of money (a lot less than I spend on the other parts of the miniature hobby), I have the convenience of a photograph studio arrangement that just works well.
The best part is that if y'all cull the right calorie-free box or calorie-free tent, it doesn't take up a lot of space. In fact, the ones I recommend hither are all portable!
What is the Best Photograph Lite Box?
The questions you should enquire in shopping for photo lite box are:
- Is there a sturdy frame to firm the backdrop and diffusers?
- Does the lightbox accept an included low-cal source?
- Does the product accept a tripod for holding my camera even so?
- Volition my models and miniatures fit inside the photo booth?
- How much footprint infinite does the light box have upwards?
You lot'll find that all the lite boxes I recommend below take features that allow y'all to go started right away.
The light box I use for all of my work is the LimoStudio Tabular array Top Photograph Photography Studio.
Yous'll see why I chose this light box beneath. Only, you'll likewise find out that if I had done it all over once again, I might take chosen a different photo booth.
Recommended five Best Photograph Light Boxes for Miniatures and Models
i. Emart Photography Table Meridian Lite Box
The Emart Photography Table Top Light Box is the cheapest of the light boxes on this list. But, it has all the features of the other light booths.
It comes with a small tabletop tripod that volition hold any model smartphone. This is great for those of yous who program to photograph models or even turntable video with your phones.
The Emart Photography Table Superlative Light Box also comes with LED lights that shine fairly bright at ten watts with a neutral daylight color temperature (5500k) (check here for more info most hobby desk lights).
LED lights are swell for photography because they naturally give off more diffuse illumination.
A potential disadvantage of this light box is that information technology has a relatively small sized internal infinite (14″x16″). This will fit most models. Nevertheless, it might be also small for larger vehicles or multiple troop units.
This, of course, is outweighed by the portable characteristic of this system. The entire photo booth folds down into a lightweight, suitcase sized organization. This makes this the best light box for you lot if yous're looking for the nigh portable system.
ii. Travor Photo Light Box Portable
The Travor Photo Light Box Portable is probably the all-time overall light box. If I had to choose my light box purchase all over again, it would be the Travor calorie-free box.
This photo lite box provides admission to the flexibility to photograph larger models.
Although it is a little more money, it is still very affordable.
The iv tabletop LEDS are much more than powerful and versatile than the Emart photo booth. The color temperature of the lights are also perfect for miniature photography: neutral.
Side note: the LEDs have filter attachments to accommodate the color bandage of the calorie-free, which is a neat feature. I wouldn't demand information technology for photographing my minis, but possibly if you're creative, they could come in handy.
It is much hard to properly calorie-free upwardly a larger model. This photograph booth gives you the tools and space (24″x 24″) to photograph some of the larger models (e.g., 40k Imperial Knights) with ease.
The included multi-colored backdrops gives you some options for changing the background.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Travor light box also comes with a tabletop tripod that tin hold a smartphone or a camera. Although, depending on where you set this up, y'all may want to use a more than stable tripod. Near tabletop tripods are sensitive to small movement.
Finally, the Travor photo light box can collapse into a portable packet. It'due south non quite minor, but the light box is lightweight and you behave information technology wherever you demand to go without much problem.
If I had to cull my calorie-free box purchase all over again, it would be the Travor light box.
The larger size is really helpful for photographing multiple or larger models.
3. LimoStudio Tabular array Top Photo Photography Studio
The LimoStudio Tabular array Top Photo Photography Studio is the tabletop photography studio that I have used for years.
As you lot can meet in the flick this photo low-cal booth has everything you need to get started photographing your miniatures.
The light box interior space is xvi″x16″, which is large plenty to photograph 40k Imperial Knights and Land raider models.
It comes with powerful white balanced daylight LED lights (600 lumens at 5500K). It has a small tabletop tripod for holding your smartphone. Though, you'll need to become a dedicated tripod for a regular camera.
The low-cal booth likewise comes with 4 colored backdrops. I have mainly used the black and white colored backgrounds, which accept lasted several years (i.east., easy to keep make clean).
Well-nigh of the studio photographs of miniatures on this website are created with this light box.
The light box besides folds downwards into a meaty "suitcase" and has pockets to comport the accessories, due east.thousand., lights, tabletop tripod. This calorie-free box is the best remainder betwixt portability and size.
Finally, if you're looking to stick to a budget and generally photographing light vehicles or smaller models, this lite box is the best value.
4. Neewer LED Shooting Tent
The Neewer LED Shooting Tent is similar in size to the LimoStudio (#three above).
Only, it has several advantages, which y'all may want to consider. Outset, it comes with a more than power LED lighting organization that is embedded within the light box itself.
The LEDs are also dimmable, so you lot can adjust how much lite you want on your model. This can be helpful if y'all're looking to reduce reflections on specific surfaces. Or, if you're looking to epitome other things like dioramas or toys.
I tin can see eBay sellers using this to photo products.
The other feature that is worth noting is the power to shoot photos from dissimilar angles. You can take photos from a bird's eye view, or the standard straight-on perspective. I could definitely come across this every bit handy.
Check out the other features here.
The Neewer light box also comes with several colored backdrops, including black, white, and an emerging favorite, neutral gray.
The photo box folds into itself equally a storage bag where you tin store the power adapter and other accessories. None of the light boxes here crave tools to setup or disassemble.
5. Samtian Photograph Box
The Samtian Photo Box is the largest lite box I'd recommend for photographing miniatures. If you're photographing anything that requires a larger calorie-free box, then I'd argue you're not photographing "miniatures".
With an interior shooting infinite of 24″ 10 24″ x 24″ (sixty x lx x 60cm), you tin hands photo some of the 40k Titans from Forgeworld. For example, a Warlord Titan stands about 22″ (56cm) tall and will fit inside this low-cal booth.
As with the other light boxes, the Samtian photo box comes with super powerful LEDs (embedded inside the booth; 126 LEDs at 4200 lumens). If these are too bright, the arrangement as well has a dimmer so you can arrange brightness. Awesome.
The lighting is neutral colored which is dandy for creating images with authentic color representation.
Like the Neewer lite box, this light booth also allows yous to photograph your miniatures or other subjects at dissimilar angles.
Instead of having to prop your vehicles in the vertical direction to get a top-view photo, you tin can just take your camera and photo from the roof of the photo calorie-free box.
The Samtian lite box besides comes with multiple colored backdrops that fit perfectly in the space inside the booth. Although I've mentioned blackness and white as the most versatile colors, I'd advise experimenting to see what you adopt.
Overall, this is the all-time light box for those of you looking for something larger to photograph the bigger "miniatures" and models. Y'all may even discover this useful and fun for photographing other things effectually your home.
What More Photo Backdrops?
Here is a place for getting additional backdrops. Yous can check out reviews for the Tablewar backdrops hither.
If you're looking to impress-out your own backdrops, grab my costless download & print photo backdrops in the shop.
Summary
Check out my gallery or Flickr page where you'll come across miniatures I photographed using my photo lite box. I have near of my photographs with a light box, because everything is already setup. All I need to do is identify the model, suit the photographic camera, and shoot. Because it'south already a controlled environment, I don't have to waste time figuring out the logistics.
For photography, remember: context, composition, and light.
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