Bandai Star Wars Beauty Shots (Falcons and Walkers and X-Wings oh My!)

[JNordgren42]

I pulled out my DSLR and lights and made a quick jury rigged backdrop and grabbed some good shots of my growing model collection. I really love how the 1/72 X-Wing shots came out. I'll probably move them into Photoshop at some point to add some effects.

1/72 X-Wing. I managed to almost completely eliminate the backdrop and stand on this one.

The business end:

A nice jaunty angle:

Baby got back:

I can't remove the stand without taking this one into Photoshop, but I like the angle.

1/144 and 1/72 together, I think they pair up really well.

1/144 Falcon:

You're all clear kid!

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.

1/144 Falcon and X-Wing. What a pair!

1/144 X-Wing.

1/144 Blue Squadron T-70. This is part of the clear TLJ box set that brought me back into modeling. Brush painted with acrylics.

Poe's hot-rodded Black One.

1/350 Falcon. Also brush painted with acrylics. The grey is much to cool and dark, but it's not bad for the first model I built in at least 10 years.

And to round them out, the AT-M6 that was the final model in the clear box set.

 

[starks]

Fantastic! Im going to have to buy a dslr now haha.
Love how the 2 X-wings just look like they're farther apart.... not different scales.
Cheers,
Josh

 

[Restart934]

Great work!

 

[Chrisisall]

Great work!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[StevenBills]

Kindred spirit here! I love taking photos of my Bandai models. I actually do cut them out in PS and add backgrounds, laser effects, etc... You can check them out on my IG if you want: @Star_Wars_Battlegrounds
/hijack over.

SB

 

[Analyzer]

I love this kind of stuff, plus the models look excellent. Out of curiosity, what settings were you using for the camera and setup?

 

[starks]

Kindred spirit here! I love taking photos of my Bandai models. I actually do cut them out in PS and add backgrounds, laser effects, etc... You can check them out on my IG if you want: @Star_Wars_Battlegrounds
/hijack over.

SB

Not to thread hijack but amazing work! Followed.
You go through some serious layers to create those images.
Cheers,
Josh

 

[JNordgren42]

Fantastic! Im going to have to buy a dslr now haha.
Love how the 2 X-wings just look like they're farther apart.... not different scales.
Cheers,
Josh

Thanks! Perspective is an interesting phenomenon, the 1/144 is actually closer to the camera.

Great work!

Thanks!

Great work!! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Kindred spirit here! I love taking photos of my Bandai models. I actually do cut them out in PS and add backgrounds, laser effects, etc... You can check them out on my IG if you want: @Star_Wars_Battlegrounds
/hijack over.

SB

Wow! Your effects and compositing are amazing!

I love this kind of stuff, plus the models look excellent. Out of curiosity, what settings were you using for the camera and setup?

Nikon D300 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D on a heavy aluminum Bogen tripod. ISO 200, 1/8s @ f/11. Natural sunlight from a window on the left and fill from a 3000w LED shop light to above right and slightly behind the camera. The backdrop is just a dark blue window curtain draped over my monitor. I took the blacks down a ton in Lightroom and made other adjustments in post. I'm thinking about getting some Black 3.0 paint for a backdrop and seeing how that works. Or just getting some green screen material...

 

[Analyzer]

Nikon D300 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D on a heavy aluminum Bogen tripod. ISO 200, 1/8s @ f/11. Natural sunlight from a window on the left and fill from a 3000w LED shop light to above right and slightly behind the camera. The backdrop is just a dark blue window curtain draped over my monitor. I took the blacks down a ton in Lightroom and made other adjustments in post. I'm thinking about getting some Black 3.0 paint for a backdrop and seeing how that works. Or just getting some green screen material...

Thanks for the detailed info! I had been trying to gather techniques and info for what others were doing

Advice/Tips for getting better photos against a black background?

I want to improve my photo skills. I have a Canon EOS Rebel XSI. I have been toying around more with trying out the manual settings instead of auto but still have lots to learn. This is what I have tried so far... For a period I had been trying to digitally replace the backgrounds in photos...

www.therpf.com

 

[JNordgren42]

Thanks for the detailed info! I had been trying to gather techniques and info for what others were doing

Advice/Tips for getting better photos against a black background?

I want to improve my photo skills. I have a Canon EOS Rebel XSI. I have been toying around more with trying out the manual settings instead of auto but still have lots to learn. This is what I have tried so far... For a period I had been trying to digitally replace the backgrounds in photos...

www.therpf.com

No problem! I forgot to mention I use a remote release to eliminate any camera shake from pressing the shutter button. Also, I should have set manual white balance, but I forgot this time. So the color does wander a little, even though the scene and lighting are the same, there are enough differences in the compositions to play games with the camera's processor.

 

[Analyzer]

No problem! I forgot to mention I use a remote release to eliminate any camera shake from pressing the shutter button. Also, I should have set manual white balance, but I forgot this time. So the color does wander a little, even though the scene and lighting are the same, there are enough differences in the compositions to play games with the camera's processor.

Ah yes, I use a timer on my camera, although a remote release would be nicer

I do prefer getting as much of the shot in camera as possible since I don't readily have access to Photoshop

I also have to try using a white balance card to assist when adjusting balance later

 

[JNordgren42]

Ah yes, I use a timer on my camera, although a remote release would be nicer

I do prefer getting as much of the shot in camera as possible since I don't readily have access to Photoshop

I also have to try using a white balance card to assist when adjusting balance later

A white balance card is a definite must. I need to order a new one, I lost mine on a trip to Oregon last summer.

There are some good open source alternatives to PS, The GIMP is supposedly very excellent. I just go with the genuine article for this though, the Adobe Photography Plan is one of their most reasonably priced offerings. It's $9.99/month for both Photoshop and Lightroom and since I'm pretty heavy into photography, it's a no brainer for me. It gets ridiculously expensive to start adding any of their other apps though. I love Illustrator, but I use Inkscape instead because the expense isn't worth it to me for that particular aspect.