[WIP] My First 'Nids

[Hunter Killer]

So, I'm in the process of painting up my 'Nids and the thought occurred to me... Why not post a few shots here and get some advice? To that end, I grabbed my camera, threw up a light, plunked down the models, and snapped a few shots. To my surprise, all but three are crap. I don't know if it's the light (standard half-cowled but bright desk lamp) or the camera (seven years old), but the fact is that the vast majority of the pics I took aren't fit for viewing.

Alas, that means all you get this post is a total of three shots. Thank God they're all of one model! My beloved Hive Tyrant. The pics are different angles, with a close-up of his wings at the end. Sorry about the quality... The paint really isn't that chaulky, and the brown has a ton of flesh highlight that got muted.

[azironlegion]

Looks really nice so far. I love the wings, where did they come from?

Tip for better pictures: does your camera have a macro setting on it? it usualy is represented by a little flower.

Id love to see more, i just got into nids myself! Check em out at the link in my sig.

[Hunter Killer]

The wings are Zombie Dragon wings from the Games Workshop site. I chopped the arms on them off, and then I took some Sything Talons from the Monsterous Creature Sprue and began cutting them up. Basically just sliced until all that remained was the arm and caraprace. To finish, I mad scientisted them together with some super glue and grean stuff.

They're very Niddy, but not too fluffy. Eight limbs instead of six... Or maybe not. Isn't it a scientific fact that an insect's wings don't affect the number of limbs it has? I mean, a butterfly still has six arms even though he's got two wings. Same thing with Grasshoppers, flies, and a bunch of other little citters. I could make the case that he's still fluff (Two words: Catachan Devil).

Anyway... Yes, my camera does have that little flower. What exactly does that have to do with the pictures I'm taking? If changing something means I can get better shots then, by all means, tell me how to do it. I'd love nothing more than to show you the other stuff (and maybe some better shots of my HT).

Thanks for the post and compliment, dude.

[cheese58]

Originally Posted by Hunter Killer

Anyway... Yes, my camera does have that little flower. What exactly does that have to do with the pictures I'm taking? If changing something means I can get better shots then, by all means, tell me how to do it. I'd love nothing more than to show you the other stuff (and maybe some better shots of my HT).

Thanks for the post and compliment, dude.

Just press the button with the flower on it to put the camera into a mode suitable for model photography called macro mode.

[azironlegion]

Thats a great idea for the wings. I think if I do get another tyrant im going to give him wings.
In regards to the macro setting it will allow you to get closer more focused shots with your camera. You will need to play around with it in different light settings. I new to taking mini pics as well but when a buddy of mine told me about that feature my pics started coming out alot better. With this pic i had the camera zoomed out and was holding it around 6 inches away.

I hope that helps a little. I really look forward to seeing some other stuff. The scheme has a real earthy tone to it.

[Aahz]

Some tips on taking pictures: First off - this should be obvious- use the highest resolution possible. More pixels allows for my second suggestion: You don't have to fill the picture with the miniature. Most people seem to put the camera as close as possible to capture the mini from edge to edge of the picture... this usually leads to out of focus pictures. I've found that the best pictures I've taken were from at least 12-18 inches away. Now, the miniatures might seem small in the picture, but my camera can take 2560 by 1920 pictures... So once you crop the picture down to just the mini, you still have a huge 600 x 400 area of crisp, focused mini goodness.

As far as the painting goes, it's a damn good job. I don't care for the peach color, but the paint job is pretty awesome.... very clean and deliberate.

[The Paint Monkey]

It's really annoying when all your cool painting just doesn't photograph well, isn't it? The figure looks good but more practice with photography will get you a more rewarding picture. Here's some advice that I've found useful-

Don't use the Macro (little flower) option. It really doesn't help.

Place the camera as far as possible from the mini and then use the optical zoom to zoom back in.

The advice about not needing to fill the picture is kinda true, but it means you'll have to do a bit of trimming in photoshop.

Use photoshop, it's great. Most cameras are programmed to produce good pictures of the 'normal' photo- 2 or more people in front of a scenic view- not a tiny bit of intricately painted metal. Photoshop helps adjust the picture back to what it should really look like if the camera hadn't been trying to 'help'.


Try and use two lamps- one above the mini and slightly in front of it, the other from just above the camera. Don't use the flash.

Try and photograph against a plain background.

Take lots of photos. It's digital, just dump the ones that don't work add have a bit of a think about what you did differently on the ones that did work.

I use a mini tripod or pile of books to reduce hand shake. I also use the automatic timer so that I don't need to be holding the camera when it takes the photo.

Hope this helps a bit! Remember- photography is as much an art as figure painting and learning a few basics and a bit of practice goes a long way. Have a poke around the gallery (it's back up and running now, happily) and check who's got good photos and maybe pm them.

I look forward to more!

[Leech]

I think that your Hive tyrant is cool. I can't see it perfectly but I can see that the carapace could do with more shading. Try using some watered down black in the cracks to give it a little more depth. You could also give it a little more highlighting along the edges. I think that would really bring it out.

[Hunter Killer]

I've done some more shots, and your advice helped. Got the tripod, placed her back a foot or so, and rocked a few off. The light (or lack thereof) still seems to be a problem, so I'll see if I can't grab one of the high-powereds out of the shop. More light will bring out my highlighting, I think. My models really do have more layers than my shots show. Ah, whatever... I'll get it eventually. Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

So, without further rambling, I'll give up the goods. Meet Fexi... He enjoys long walks in the park, moonlit romance, and the occassional meal of Space Marines:




Nothing special, save the Reinforced Chitin that I did with some bits and GS. Other than that, he's a very basic Gunfex. My next Gunfex is probably going to be something along the lines of the Bombardfex in the gallery (My God, that's an awesome 'Fex. PoptartsNinja is a genius. You do kick ass work, dude!).

Thoughts?