How to Photograph Your Models at little cost to you.

[JohnReid]

This is something a little different ,a birds eye view of the same area that I dressed up a bit in photobucket.
The floor makes for an interesting background.I left it a little clean for a shop floor because I liked the pattern and ah what the hell they may have just changed it recently anyway(artistic license)You will notice with this composition that I have not lined up anything in rows or 90 deg to one another .This is a good general rule but in this case almost an necessity because of the uniform floor pattern.
The theme is common to any engine shop or genre of modeling and the era could be old or modern,unless you can read the newspapers on the floor !

[JohnReid]

Here is what I call a "Caught in the Headlights" kind of scene.Somebody wanted to take a pic at night and asked his bud to turn on his car lights.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

In this pic I used just the interior lighting of the doll house bulbs which were installed especially for my own picture taking purposes.This is a vignette taken from a much larger diorama while it was under construction.It is a good idea to arrange small vignettes like this while you still have easy access to the shot that you are after.
There is no doubt here what the main subject matter is,the airplane under construction.There is enough here to keep the viewer interested without using a strong storyline.I like my figures in relaxed poses where the viewer really doesn't expect a lot of movement.The only thing moving here would be their mouths in conversation about something which is left up to the viewers imagination.

The airplane is purposely off center and here again I have used the left wall and corner to help add a third dimension.The colors are selected for harmony red,green,gray and earth tones.I make it easy on myself and use tube colors rather than mixing my own like I did when painting birds.Various tones can be achieved later using pastels if you like.
It is not always necessary to complete everything for example I wanted the viewer to know what type of construction was used on the fuselage, so I showed only one plywood panel being installed on the far side and out of the way of the framing.
For those unfamiliar with old aircraft construction it was normal practice to put the open structure together for fitting and preliminary rigging purposes,disassemble it and then it would be reassembled after the fabric and plywood was installed on each mayor component.Finally it would be re-rigged and adjusted for flight.It is depicted here in flying position and the tail is resting on a stand.
The important thing here is not the subject matter but the composition.Anything that you could build in an old barn ship,car,stagecoach whatever could be the center of attention.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Just about all of my shots that create a lot of shadows and other dramatic effects were taken in a darkened room using this simple hand held light.I hold my camera in one hand and move this light around until I get the shot I am looking for.I experiment with different watts and types,soft cool etc....You could put it on a simple rheostat of course but I just change bulbs.Don't be afraid to break all the so-called rules of picture taking,there really are none just new ways waiting to be discovered .Point and shoot ,erase,point and shoot again the only cost to you is your time.
Because my dioramas are large and heavy natural lighting in most cases has not been possible for me so I have had to find a way around the problem and create my own style which is kind of an artificial stage type lighting.I experiment with everything and mix all types of lighting together and see what I can come up with.Try bouncing light off the ceiling or walls or use card.A simple Kleenex type paper( in various layers )over a flashlight can make a nice filter for pin point shots.Etc..etc
Try whatever comes to mind and you may surprise yourself with your own creativity.
I will post some shots and try to remember what I used to light them as I go along.Some shots are pure luck and even I couldn't duplicate them if I wanted to.Bottom line is to have fun and please yourself,it is your hobby and there are really no wrong ways of doing things anyway.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is a little vignette that I set up while the larger diorama was under construction.I wanted to capture the look of fear in the face of the figure yet at the same time project a kind of defiant pose of bravado against the unknown.
Overhead lighting can be used very effectively to your advantage.The face has been underpainted a flesh color only with no other detail painted on ,it is the lighting alone that is used to bring it to life.
I used one overhead doll house bulb to light the doorway and another inside the office.The pic was taken in a darkened room with the camera on auto.Except for the face I wanted the rest to be out of focus.The sign above the door has been cut off as I didn't want it to become a center of attention.An old classic car with its drivers side door left open was used in the foreground.The rest of the story is left up to the viewers imagination.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This is very unusual subject matter but interesting nonetheless.Even wreckage and junk can be interesting to look at.This pic was taken outdoors in natural light and converted to B&W.The title comes from an old pilots saying "any landing is a good landing as long as you can walk away from it".
I blurred the edges of the pic to concentrate the viewers attention on the cockpit area.It is an upshot of an upside down WW1 biplane fuselage with trees from my backyard in the background.The camera was hand held and set at auto with a little magnification.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The car in the weeds is a 1/16th scale plastic kit that I weathered and stuck in the corner of a building.An interesting feature here is the brush.It is something my Huskey dog chewed on years ago and was left outside in the mud.The bristles weathered as you see them here and look quite natural as old dead grass.Nothing has been airbrushed,it is flat acrylics and pastels only.Here again I used a corner to add depth to the piece.The siding is called board and batten and is painted like barn siding.

[JohnReid]