This is by David Aungst.
Photographing Models
Since we are generally not seeing anyone's models in person, pictures become important to the hobby, like on this page. I have seen a few models that may be really good, but look bad due to poor pictures.
I have wanted to do this (take a picture of my model photography set-up) for a while, but I usually remember just after I have taken everything apart. Here is my model photography set up.
- Convert Paint Booth to Photo Studio
- Two Built-in "Daylight" Florescent Tubes on Booth Ceiling - These Provide "Fill Lighting"
- Add Construction Paper Background
After a lot of testing, I have found that the best all-round color for this is a medium blue (as seen here). - Two Flood Lights - "Daylight" Florescent Bulbs, 75 Watt Intensity - These Provide Direct Lighting
- A "Real Camera" (Canon SX60-IS), Not a Cell Phone
Cell phones can do this, but they have different set-up considerations, different lighting requirements, and generally create over-sharpened and/or grainy images as they use tiny lenses and wider-angle photography to get as good a picture as possible in a wide variety of situations. - Camera Set to the Largest Resolution to Capture the Most Picture Definition
- Tripod for the Camera
- Shoot Aperture Priority at Minimum Aperture
- Minimum Aperture Gives Maximum Depth of Field
- Long-ish Exposures (Can Be up to 2 Seconds)
- White Balance on Camera Set to "Florescent"
What is not seen in the picture, I post-process all the images through Corel Photo-Paint to crop and re-size them (Photo Shop is an Alternative for the "Apple Crowd"). This also gives me a chance to evaluate and adjust the contrast and picture quality for optimum results.
This is what works well for me. Others may have different results and different ways to take their pictures. There are many ways to get this to work, even with cell phones. It is worth the effort to find a way that works for you so you can better display your models on-line.
End result.. An awesome photo of you model
