As an addition to the earlier series on miniature photography, here’s a quick look at the current ‘stage’ setup I use when photographing miniatures:

As you can see from this photo, I use a sheet of white paper as the ‘stage’ itself. The paper is propped up against a suitable object (in my case, the water jars) so that it curves smoothly, with about 1/3rd of the paper horizontal (flat on the desk) and the other two thirds vertical.

Lighting is provided by two lamps — the standing one almost directly above the miniature is fitted with a daylight bulb and provides the main illumination, while the smaller clip on fluorescent lamp provides some filler light to help even out the highlights on the figure. This lighting setup works for me in so far as that I rarely have to correct the photo in an editing program anymore. I’m still thinking of building a light tent though.

Finally, the camera itself (not visible in this shot because it was taking the shot. Ahem) rests on the small blocks of wood in front of the miniature to take the shot. It usually ends up with the front of the lens 3 to 4 cms away from the miniature, resulting in a frame filling shot of the figure.

All articles in the miniature photography series:

• Part 1 - Lighting
• Part 2 - Camera settings
• Part 3 - Post processing
• Part 4 - Stage setup - You are here

Technorati tags: miniatures, photography