One thing that I have noticed is that when most people want to show off their newly painted miniatures they ruin their paint job by taking a bad picture.

Even the best of painted miniatures can't be admired if the picture isn't good, so I have created this guide to help you take better miniature pictures.

1. Get in close and eliminate clutter

Here is an example of a bad picture:



Not only is the image too cluttered, but the miniature is too far away. Don't be afraid to fill the picture with the miniature, like this one:



While the second one still needs to eliminate some clutter, you can see how it is already better.

2. Use a solid background.

Another way to make the image even better is to use a solid background such as white or blue, such as this picture:



To achieve this all we did was put a piece of white paper behind the miniature, like this:



You can see how the picture is better already.

3. Get good lighting.

Nothing kills a picture more than poor lighting. In our studio we use a light box constructed from halogens, piping, and bed sheets to help create a great lighting environment.

Here is what it looks like:



With it, we took this picture:



4. Crop your picture using Photoshop of Microsoft Paint

Lastly, to make the picture "perfect" you should eliminate the empty spacing on either side.

You can use Microsoft Paint (which comes with any Windows-running computer) to do this quite easily and quickly.

Here is the final picture cropped:



To recap, to get a good picture you should:

-Get in close
-Eliminate clutter
-Use a solid background
-Use good lighting
-Crop the picture to eliminate white space

Advanced Stuff

This section is for those who understand camera terminology. Here are some extra tips that I can give you.

Advanced Tip #1 - Aperture

Unless you are going for a special effect you are going to want the entire miniature to be in focus. I do this by setting my aperture to f22 or higher (using a tripod of course).

Advanced Tip #2 - Exposure

Because of the high amount of bright background in your image your camera is going to try to darken the picture to compensate.

I generally set my exposure compensation to 1 or 2 stops above normal, depending on the model.

Advanced Tip #3 - ISO

Because I am using a tripod I do not have to worry about shutter speed, so I set my ISO to 100 to get the highest quality picture possible with the least amount of noise.

Advanced Tip #4 - Remote Shooting

Because the above settings will give you a long shutter speed you should either shoot using software to capture the image, or with a remote trigger.

If you have neither of these, instead set your 2-second timer on your camera so that by the time the picture starts the camera is no longer shaking from your hand pressing the shutter release.

Advanced Tip #5 - White Balance

In order to ensure the best colour quality you MUST use your custom white balance. Refer to your camera's manual on how to do this as every camera is different.

Make sure you set your custom white balance by taking a picture of the background of your shot (without the miniature) with all lighting exactly the way it will be.