( 
)
Camera
The first and most important matter is the camera you use. While Nikon and Canon DSLR's are nice, you don't need a thousand dollar camera to get good pictures of your models. Here's a list of features a camera should have for successful model photography:
3 Megapixel or higher sensor resolution. Anything much smaller won't give you an image large or clear enough to see the details.
Close-up or macro mode. All but the cheapest point and shoots cameras have a closeup mode (some have a "flower" preset, which will usually work well for model photography)
The ability to disable the flash. Flash is designed for use at a minimum focal distance of around 5 feet, so you must not use flash when photographing your models - it will only wash out the foreground and leave the background too dark.
Manual control over ISO (light sensitivity), aperture, and shutter speed are VERY useful - if your current camera has no manual controls, I'd suggest a new one that does, if you can afford it. I use a Kodak EasyShare Z760, which isn't made anymore, but I've found that most of the EasyShare line works well for this purpose. I've also used some Sony and Canon cameras, which also work well. Canon's cameras are especially nice. You'd do well to use a camera from one of those manufacturers, but I'm sure there are others that would work just as well. Cameras without manual controls can be used as well, but you can't utilize some more advanced photography techniques, like time exposure, with no manual controls.
The first three things are essential, and manual controls are very helpful but not absolutely essential. You should check your camera's user manual, or run a few experiments, to see what the minimum focus distance is in closeup or macro mode, with no zoom. If it's under 12 inches, you should be good to go - and if you can go under 6", you're in really good shape.
That's about all I have to say about cameras - so on to our next topic.
Your Photography Area
I know, most photographers would put "Lighting" next. However, getting a proper setup to use for taking your pictures is very important in ultra-close, fine detail photography. Here are some of my recommendations:- A suitable area to set up your photo stuff. This does not mean your couch or the top of your dryer. When people try to take pictures of their models just wherever, it shows. Find a desk or table where you can set up proper lighting and backgrounds.
- Use a good background. People don't want to see your dryer, dirty clothes, or any of your other stuff in the background of your photos. You need a neutral, non-distracting background, preferably not cloth because wrinkles are distracting. I've found that using rolls of colored background paper, like what pro photographers use, gives the best results. You'll want to use a color that compliments your model, and you probably don't want to use white, since it can meter as all sorts of grays and yellows depending on the lighting. I keep rolls of sky blue, black, and beige on hand, and I've found that one of those three colors usually will work with any model. You'll want to pick one that compliments your model's main colors, but isn't distracting. You will also want to obtain rolls at least three times the width of your model, so you have the freedom to take shots from different angles without shooting off the background. I use 26" wide paper, which works well for 1/35 scale armor models and 1/48 aircraft. You can find many colors of background paper on eBay, and elsewhere on the internet. I use Savage paper, and have found it to be the best quality of all the types I've tried.
- How to set up the paper? Like this:
I think I've covered backgrounds enough, so let's move on.
Lighting
This is the holy grail of model photography (and all photography, for that matter). If your light isn't right, your pictures won't be either. There are two main ways to light your pictures: direct lighting, and time exposure. I actually prefer time exposure, but it's harder to do right, so we'll start with direct lighting.This is as simple as it sounds, right? You have 2 lights set up, facing your model, and that's it. Sorry. No such luck. You'll need two adjustable work lights, or household gooseneck lamps, with at least 100 watt bulbs. You can also use a 150 and a 75 if you want one light to be the main and another the fill. You'll need to set them up at 10 and 2 o'clock positions over your model, at least 16 inches away (that's so you don't melt any plastic. Seriously. I've done it.)
Once again, I think a picture will describe this best:
You need you use lights with reflectors (they don't have to be silver on the inside), to direct the light in a single direction, so just any old lamp won't do. If you want to soften the shadows, you can get a set of professional lights with diffusers, or just tape tissue over the opening (that's what I do...yeah, I'm cheap) If you do use the tissue and tape method, use only paper tapes - other types have a tendency to melt.
The other method is time exposure. It works like this: you take your photos in natural light, with a longer shutter speed (usually 2-10 seconds depending on the depth of field), which, since there are not direct lights involved, produces much, much softer shadows and captures detail better. This works best in a larger room, directly under a light fixture. You should have a distance of at least five feet between the model and the light, and it shouldn't be too bright.
The downside of this method is that if you don't have manual controls on your camera, this won't work for you. You also have to be careful of where your shadow and the the shadow of your camera and tripod are.
If you do have manual settings and want to try time exposure, you'll want a high aperture or F-stop, so more depth of your image will be in focus (between F 5.6 and F10, most point-and-shoot cameras only go to F8) The higher your F-stop, the longer your shutter speed will need to be. At F 8.0, with a medium-sized subject, your shutter speed should be somewhere between 5 and 10 seconds, depending on the intensity of your light. You MUST have a tripod when taking time exposure pictures, unless you want all of your photos to be at ground angle, taken resting on the same surface as the model. I don't know about you, but I can't hold my hands perfectly still for 10 seconds ;-)
A final word of advice would be to consider purchasing a full-size tripod. You'll find it very useful no matter which method you use to photograph your models.
I hope you'll find these suggestions helpful, and have fun taking pictures!
Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our 
