Gunpla & Photography by Side Cutter and the Plastic Fantastic
Given my background as a visual artist and graphic designer, photography and travel are interests that come naturally. And ever since I was introduced to photography in secondary school, it has been an enduring passion ever since. And the logical progression now that I am into Gunpla and scale modelling is to take whatever I have learned in doing different kinds of photography and apply them to scale models and toys. Although what would be more applicable to scale models and toys would be the knowledge I’ve acquired doing product photography.
The top photo is my set up when photographing my Gundams. I use an 80 cm x 80 cm x 80 cm light tent, three off-camera flashes in slave mode , one on-camera flash mounted on my DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera equipped with a prime lens (typically I use a 50mm f/1.8 lens). This is the same setup I use when photographing products. I won’t go into the details since this is more of a scale modelling blog than a photography blog. Just to briefly explain the use of the light tent, it basically “diffuses” whatever light source you’re using, in my case, the three off-camera flashes. Without it, you would get really harsh shadows, creating a hard contrast between light and dark areas. Even with just the light tent, lots of sunlight, and even just a regular camera, you could set it up in your backyard or balcony or any place in your home and you would be able to achieve pretty much the same effect. I usually shoot using a very small aperture setting to bring out maximum details. Since you’re photographing miniatures, using larger aperture settings would result in selective focus. Anything in front or behind the area that you chose to focus on would be blurred.
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