Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Iron Man Themed Tau: Stealth Teams and Thoughts on a New Camera


Alright, I am back with more Iron Man Themed Tau ... And I am in the market for an actual camera. Any way, here are the remaining stealth suits I made for the commission and I have to say that despite looking like ass in these pics, they are the best models I have painted yet for this project.



Now on the topic of cameras ... I am a mobile guy and I am always traveling. I paint, play and take photos in any clime and place I can take my gear. That being said, I don't really want to build a studio, so I am looking for a camera geek to set me straight on a camera that can deal with crappy locations through a rather smart P mode or one that can handle lower light without some kind of horrid flash. That being said, I do have a Canon 5D that I work with, but I would rather not lose it. I can say that I will be taking photos with it this weekend though, so we will see what the difference is.


That is all for the evening though. Tomorrow I leave for the GT and some serious last minute hobby cramming. I will likely share some fine cast shenanigans and maybe more Typhus with you tomorrow. 



6 comments:

  1. Yeah a better camera will help, but macro photography is like a whole other bee-atch and can be frustrating for making your great paint job look not so great. That being said it can also help you up your game and see things you wouldn't normally. I have a Digital SLR but if you don't want to drop that kind of coin and want something portable that takes good Macro pics but can double as your all around cam too I suggest this line of cameras:

    http://www.henrys.com/76850-OLYMPUS-TG-830IHS-BLACK-16MP-5X-3-CMOS.aspx

    Professional journalists all over the world use it to great effect when they just can't bring all their kit with them and need top quality photos. My dad has one and I've taken it out for a few family vacations. It's tough and versatile. My brother in law's wife is an army reserve medic and she has one too - she always jokes "This is my camera, there are many like it but this one is mine..."

    Better yet ask some of the bloggers whose photos you like what they use or browse the C'MON forums and you'll get a crap load of suggestions.

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  2. Thank you! I'll take a look at the Olympus. Funny enough my job involved photojournalism for years and in all that time I never had to shoot anything Macro, so it is an area I have always struggled with. I will definitely check the C'MON forums too.

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  3. Hey TJ, I have a couple of comments on the photography concern. You may not need a new camera, just slightly adjust how you’re taking pictures with your current one.

    1) I know that for me, camera stability is a huge issue. Small movements from just holding the camera can translate into much blurriness on our small scale. I use a mono or tripod when I can, but I find myself just putting the camera on a chair back or stack of books to get the stability.
    2) Bring the camera back away from the minis 8-12 inches. In your second pic, the depth of field is really shallow. You’re only getting 1 mini in good focus, while the rest have a bit of fuzz. If you back up a bit, create a thicker border around your shooting subject, the field will be deeper and you’re going to get more minis in. After, crop the image. You’ll get the same original shooting area, but you’ll also get everything in focus. I know it’s a bit counter intuitive to back up a bit when you’re shooting minis, but give it a shot. Plus, most modern cameras have enough megapixels, that significant cropping shouldn’t matter much.
    I have a couple of examples: Here, I took my time and backed off the mini. I’m shooting it from 3 feet away, then later cropping the image. http://www.coolminiornot.com/290767 The model is about as deep as your Stealth squad, but no blurr.
    If you’ve lined up the minis, then you can get close because you don’t need a deep field. Here’s some quick shots I took of a line of minis. http://synaps3.blogspot.com/2013/03/fantasy-gt-this-weekend.html#more For these quick shots, you can be less stringent with yourself if you just line them up in certain ways.

    Anyway, hope that helps.

    -Crispy

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    Replies
    1. Damn, thanks Crispy. I read the Chapel everytime you post and will have to look closer at the photography. I laughingly have to admit that I am rocking an iPhone for photos.

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  4. Loving the Tau paint scheme, especially on the Stealthsuits.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks man, here's to the off chance I get to paint one of those new Gundam Suits!

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