DennisTennant

Regardless of the do-dads we use to light our models, the one thing that ultimately makes the biggest difference is the QUALITY of the light hitting the model. Finding what works for you and your camera/flash equipment will take a little experimentation. When going around the display tables, I like to use an inflatable mini-lightbox held off-camera. In dark gyms, I'll even take along a mini tripod (5" high) to set on the table for added stability. Thankfully, experimenting doesn't cost anything with digital and mistakes are easy to delete.

So, the flash atop the camera isn't being used for your studio setup here, right? Kicking in a little daylight balanced flash onto tungsten lights would not be a good thing... Don'tcha just love shooting RAW format? I started doing that almost two years ago and will never look back. For those of you that can only dream of such a set up, you can still do great model photography relatively cheap. I'm glad Moose stepped up and started the ball rolling by showing his mini-studio. Feel free to ask questions....there's no such thing as a stupid question here.

Regardless of your skills, I hope this forum will serve as a source for good info on improving your model photography. Feel free to discuss anything related to producing quality close-ups of your latest project and sharing them on the Internet. I strongly encourage you to post examples of your work here to show what techniques worked (or not) for you.

I'll be adding two new forums to the model building section shortly. One will concern model photography and everything involved with photographing your work (Photoshop use, lighting, composition, technique, etc.) and the other will deal with the unique challenges of building dioramas. I'll be moderating the photography forum and Rusty White, the current moderator of the vendors forum, will be the new Diorama mod. Thanks to all the forum members who wrote with suggestions for new forum topics, I received many great ideas and these are two that were suggested most.

I'll be adding two new forums to the model building section shortly. One will concern model photography and everything involved with photographing your work (Photoshop use, lighting, composition, technique, etc.) and the other will deal with the unique challenges of building dioramas. I'll be moderating the photography forum and Rusty White, the current moderator of the vendors forum, will be the new Diorama mod. Thanks to all the forum members who wrote with suggestions for new forum topics, I received many great ideas and these are two that were suggested most.

Just a note to let you know that I've combined the IPMS websites and IPMS newsletter forum topics into one topic covering both newsletter and website issues. All posts were preserved during the merge.

Top-notch work, Greg!

Hehe, I tried to get over to that side of the field to shoot photos of them boarding the tank! That would've been interesting....still, they got to ride and I was only a spectator. Great show, two thumbs up, comrade.

All: A link will be forthcoming. Stay tuned.

Fellow IPMS-Tidewater member Joe Koenig and I made the trip to northern Virginia yesterday and here's a taste of some of the 800+ images I shot: A T-34 complete with tank riders: A T-55 driving through the muddy demo trail: A sweet Lee tank going through its paces: ENJOY!

Excellent, John! An even better source!

Thanks Gil, really nice source for cheap, metal gun barrel material! Shipping's a bit pricey, so I'll try to get several others to go in with me on an order....

I'd like to add one or two new forums to the model building section of the Discussion Forums. If you have a suggestion, please contact me. I was thinking that a painting and finishes topic might be popular but would also like your ideas about what you'd find useful. PM or send your suggestions to dennis.tennant@gmail.com Modeling-related topics, please.

Sounds like a great idea, John. Given Mark's build speed, I'd say it'll take a week or so, if he can get enough paint! :)

Welcome Jesse, enjoy the forums.

SWEET!

Welcome to the forums, Ryan! Thanks for posting some really nice work!

Welcome Daniel! Love the Panther!

That's my problem, they didn't say what kind of thinner! I don't want to experiment on the only set of tracks I have. Dragon doesn't sell the tracks separately...grr.

I read that tidbit in the instructions for my new Firefly kit. It says you can remove the seam lines on their DS track with a swipe of thinner across the tracks. Now, not wanting to ruin the only set of tracks I have for this 1/72 kit, has anyone here tried using thinner to remove the seam on anything made from Dragon's DS plastic? Did it really work?

A nice article, nonetheless. I enjoyed reading it. Well done Jack!

Yep, dpi and ppi are pretty much interchangeable terms. 600 ppi .tif files should do nicely! Extra points for not choosing the .jpg format! dt

Thanks for sharing, Tim! (and Greg too) Here's a tip you may not know: when scanning prints, be sure to set your scanner to scan at a high ppi (pixels per inch) resolution than the norm of 200ppi. With a higher ppi you'll be able to make large, high-quality prints, if ever the need arises. Of course, you can always downsize them to work on the internet too. I'd suggest scanning at 1200 or 1600 ppi resolution, if you have the hard drive space to store them ('cause they'll be very big files). The larger file size will provide you (or your ancestors) with more image data which will mean more flexibility when retouching, etc. -- not sure you knew this but thought I'd share... Nice scans! Dennis

I've added a new forum under the Other Topics section called "Survey says..." It will be the new location for polls and surveys. I'll try to post a new survey at least once a week. If you have an idea for a survey, feel free to send it my way. I've started the topic with two new polls. Members can vote only once. Enjoy and remember, no wagering!

We've made some changes in the information displayed at the left side of forum posts this weekend (9/5/09). Effective today: A member's name and IPMS # will now appear in the member profile area (at the left, beneath the avatar) along with the member's screen name. This will make it easier to see exactly who is making comments on the forum. With screen names that can be changed up to three times every 30 days, we felt that this solution would balance the needs of the membership to know exactly who is saying what with the needs of those members who like to change their screen names often. The member ranking system has also been abolished. Member rankings really serve no function other than to provide prolific posters with a bit of "flair" to dangle under their avatar image. Now there's no need to post hundreds of "throwaway" posts in the pursuit of that red xacto knife that came with being a "cutting edge" member. dt