GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY: LIGHTING

Thanks for the information, illustration, and links, londonroadhog.

londonroadhog wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Thank you for the additional tips.

I should have also mentioned that I specifically want/need lights that are cordless and battery powered, which is why I was looking at the ones I listed. I don't think I have an easily accessible plug or power source n the area that I will be using for photoshoots.

Every one of those lights I mentioned all have rechargeable batteries in them. I wouldn't want a light cable to be trailing around a diorama.... Although the cable in the Photo Studio is fake, just to be clear.

But they can all work with cables as well. The Stage has them with the cables attached, just because I want them to be fully charged for a concert. No other reasoning.

Thanks, good to know. Though I wasn't meaning to single out your advice, just wanted to mention the cordless thing in general.

I recently bought the Ulanzi VL49 RGB Mini Led Video Light and made some quick and superficial experiments with light intensity and color. I used it for the Three Gals thread, but there I was just going for more or less normal daylight. I also used it for the following, inspired by my tea mug:



PS Apparently associating colors with emotions is a mess, so, yes, there are variant interpretations...

Haha great, now you can place it on some mugs and order them for your kitchen (Remember to put them on seamless mugs)   

(I think the SAFE Stormtrooper is looking to blueish when in front of a white backdrop) But otherwise a really nice idea and execution!

skywalkersaga wrote:...and/or should I do something like these small wand lights?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09JC474Y7/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=A13GL03B8OB62&psc=1

Suggestions welcome. : )

I got one of those, as well as the longer version by the same company in case I want even lighting for the entire height of a figure.

But I love the little one, because it fits in my pocket, which has been so convenient many times. I've used it instead of a torch.
It is also magnetic, and I'm surprised how many ways I've used this by now.

They both
- offer any color (360°)
- allow me to choose the brightness (very often the full brightness is too much, especially when up close)
- fit most standard (low budget) stands I already have enough of (the longer version comes with its own little stand!)

Thank you for the mini-review, Diana! Very helpful!

Valiarde wrote:Haha great, now you can place it on some mugs and order them for your kitchen (Remember to put them on seamless mugs)   

(I think the SAFE Stormtrooper is looking to blueish when in front of a white backdrop) But otherwise a really nice idea and execution!

I'm glad you liked it. Considering it was a quick and goofy experiment, I think it worked out ok. The white and black ones were a bit off -- I think I used the same light actually (there is no such thing as real black light), but had to play with the color on the white background, resulting in greater contrast, and the white stormtrooper armor coming across as grayish/bluish. The camera's advertising materials come with some settings showing you what value for RGB (for example) gives you what light, but I didn't have the time to do proper in-depth research. On the actual mug the emotions (or expressions, as they call them) have the same stormtrooper head (in normal white light) in front of the different-colored plain backgrounds, but I wanted to play with the RGB camera settings. Of course the mug should be seamless! Who needs a leaky mug?

I think everyone needs to find their own upproach what works for him/her. I saw Londonroadhog is advertising LumeCubes which is probably a very good and much used light for toy photographers...but I'm selling both of mine because I couldn't warm up to them. 
I don't like the color temperature (I have the magnet gels but they aren't as comfortable to use as just putting in your Kelvin number on a LED light) or that they are often empty when I wanted to use them and the overall handling is just not for me. Even with the smartphone app for remote control.
But like I said, that doesn't make them bad lights at all, just a personal experience. I probably just expected more for the price and think other stuff is easier for me.

Randam Hajile wrote:My workflow still feels completely random, and I end up placing lamps all over my living room to accomplish the desired illumination of the figure.

After years of playing with toys and cameras, it still feels that way for me.


I used everything on the table to achieve the following "simple" shot:


These pics are from 2007. My tools and techniques are still pretty much the same as they were fifteen years ago.

Here's are a couple of lighting set-ups from my first "major" photo-story attempt, also in 2007 - an outdoor shoot at night, which resulted in extension cords, desk lamps, and flashlights being scattered all over the yard:

With these kinds of lights and shooting in a dark room or outside at night, I suppose it is only natural you'll need so much equipment. But the results are very cool.

Some of my best photos have been achieved with exceptionally low budget means!

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

For these shots of an arcane shield being cast I used circles cut out of clear plastic from packaging, with random runes and lines scraped on with a needle and coloured with sharpies. I made a wee hole in the centre of each and used the clear plastic tube from the inside of an old pen to hold them all together. It looks a bit naff in daylight, but in darkness with only a couple of sources of light it looks really convincing!

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

The lighting itself consisted of a cheap LED spotlight, a head torch with the LEDs tinted red (I didn't have any coloured lights at this point so this had to do) and most importantly, a set of cheap christmas lights. I get all mine from the £1 shop around christmas as there's always a good selection to choose from and at only a quid you can't really go wrong.

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

I took the photos on a long exposure and then shook and wiggled the lights close to the figure to get a sense of movement, like sparks. This technique can also be used to great effect for magical orbs and flames, though it's tricky to do well, and I'm still working on it myself.

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Breanna - magic casting by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Hetche Nambarrae by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Hetche Nambarrae by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

'Warm' or yellow cast Christmas lights are great for emulating the warmth of a fire too - I just bundled them up and stuck them in a metal sweetcorn tin here.

The Drifter and the 'Droid by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

These shots were deceptively simple too...

Skara's Prison Break by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Skara's Prison Break by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Skara's Prison Break by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

Just a single light source - one of those novelty book lights shaped like a table lamp, propped up inside an equally cheap solar powered garden lantern - I didn't even use it as a light source, just for the cage-like structure to create the shadows and give the impression of a prison cell.

Behind the scenes! by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

So yeah, sometimes you really don't need much to create striking images - I will say I do recommend getting an LED ring light - they're sold pretty cheaply as 'selfie lights' but they're really handy and I've been using one a lot recently to light my dioramas more evenly. I got one from Home Bargains for £8 - it's a USB one, so I just have it plugged into my laptop next to me while I'm shooting, and it has a few different colour casts and intensities as well which is handy.

Lynkhart wrote:Some of my best photos have been achieved with exceptionally low budget means!

Niiiice! Some impressive effects there, with lower than low budget methods! I love it... and now I'm looking forward to trying some of those tricks!

Christine, I know I've seen some of these before, but some are new to me, and all are beautiful, even magical. Thanks for sharing.

Great techniques and great pics Lynkhart! Thanks for sharing!

Very interesting topic! (@lynkhart I always enjoy seeing your photostories, so atmospheric!!!)
I had started quite a similar thread a while ago, if it can be of any help

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1273-light-equipment-and-settings-for-toy-photography

blackpool wrote:Very interesting topic! (@lynkhart I always enjoy seeing your photostories, so atmospheric!!!)
I had started quite a similar thread a while ago, if it can be of any help

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1273-light-equipment-and-settings-for-toy-photography

I saw this thread yesterday by chance    (I'm not so often in this subarea of the forum) You alredy covered much!


@lynkhart: Your pics are very pretty and awesome. I also did the lonbg exposure effect once with my wizard, but yours is even better especially the once where you included the dim lit backdrop diorama and not just black. Definately inspiring to try again,

@Lynkhart
Great pics. Thanks for sharing with us how you accomplished these effects.

I frequently get compliments on my lighting often accompanied by a few questions how I achieved the effect. In this case, I wanted a magenta sky. I don't have a magenta backdrop, but I do have a Thunder Grey one, an so the magenta effect achieved by putting a magenta photographic gel in front of the small Chimera softbox. The other light is unfiltered but has a honeycomb gel in front of the flash head, limiting the spread of light to the general area around the figure, making certain none will spill on the backdrop.

The lights in this case are Dynalite flash heads, powered by a 1000 Watt-second power pack, on the floor, out of camera view. I am one of a dying breed of photographers who prefers pack and head systems...at least really good ones like the Dynalite system over monolights for a variety of reasons, not least of which are the versatility and in the case of the Dynalite, compactness and weight.

This being said, everything in this photo can be achieved with hot lights, a diffuser, a grid and a tripod and shutter release. No need to spend thousands of $$$$ on pro lighting systems..

If you have any questions about how to get this look yourselves with whatever gear you have, just ask me. Real photographers keep no secrets.

Thanks for the enlightening (all puns intended) information, Gary. Your intended effect looks flawless.

thanks everyone for their input here. I greatly appreciate it!

Thanks for all of the good ideas and information in this thread.  Some great results with relatively easy lighting set ups.

I did this:


Using this:


Inexpensive "Core 100" camping "tent light" from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/CORE-Lumen-Lantern-Batteries-Camping/dp/B06XC9XZ4F/

Inexpensive battery-operated "cage lights" fairy lights or string lights or party lights:
https://www.amazon.com/Geometric-Lampshade-Battery-Operated-Chirstmas/dp/B07BJLDHBK/

The setting is made from packing box styrofoam (polystyrene foam) inserts and spray paint. The "electronic devices" are parts out of an old microwave oven I disassembled.

Contrast and saturation were adjusted using simple slider controls in the "Photos" app on an iMac.

I would love to have a more "sophisticated" mini panel light, like a Lume Cube maybe, but the camping light was cheap (I got it used at a yard sale), it does the job, and I haven't had to change the three AAA batteries in over two years of photo use.

Really like those lantern fairy lights! Turned out cool!

davidd wrote:I did this:

Using this:

Inexpensive "Core 100" camping "tent light" from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/CORE-Lumen-Lantern-Batteries-Camping/dp/B06XC9XZ4F/

Inexpensive battery-operated "cage lights" fairy lights or string lights or party lights:
https://www.amazon.com/Geometric-Lampshade-Battery-Operated-Chirstmas/dp/B07BJLDHBK/

The setting is made from packing box styrofoam (polystyrene foam) inserts and spray paint. The "electronic devices" are parts out of an old microwave oven I disassembled.

Contrast and saturation were adjusted using simple slider controls in the "Photos" app on an iMac.

I would love to have a more "sophisticated" mini panel light, like a Lume Cube maybe, but the camping light was cheap (I got it used at a yard sale), it does the job, and I haven't had to change the three AAA batteries in over two years of photo use.

Good job Dave. The lighting really sets the mood.

I bought 3 of the Ulanzi VL120 RGB lights as recommended by Valiarde. They're pretty cool. I took these without the silicone diffusors on just to see how bright they'd be (I kind of wish the lights didn't have to be so close to really light a figure up (I had them at the highest setting 9000KV). The first image is with just two lights (a side light and a lower upward facing light. The second image is with all three lights -- one overhead/front. The third shows the light positions.

You make me wish I had bought more than just one Ulanzi.

I have finally bought some of those Ulanzi lights myself and looking forward to trying them out. I just hope I can actually acheive the effects I want to acheive with them....we'll see.

The thing I'm still missing though is a ring light. I'm unsure which to buy because there are so many sizes and variations. What I would like is a ring light that has a tripod or stand with it but which can also be used as a 'handle' (I may want to use it for video purposes). All the ones I look at online seem to end up having negative reviews saying 'poor quality'. Anyone have some insight on what size or type to get for action figure photography and/or videos?

Very cool setup, Dave. I wish Amazon would carry these little caged lights here in Germany. They are really perfect for a bunker/basement diorama like yours...

Randam Hajile wrote:Very cool setup, Dave. I wish Amazon would carry these little caged lights here in Germany. They are really perfect for a bunker/basement diorama like yours...

You can still find them here
https://www.amazon.de/Lampenschirm-Lichterketten-KINGCOO-Batteriebetriebene-Hochzeit/dp/B079J9BZWV?th=1



@Sky: I can't help you here since I don't own a ring light. I only use a big LED panel as a main light from the top sometimes.