Enter keywords or a search phrase below:
There were some questions recently on my backdrop setup. Here is a shot I made during today's shooting. I was shooting the recently completed Revell Stearman (posting those shots in the Aircraft forum). Of course, when actually shooting the model, the camera now in my hand would be mounted to the tripod. I tried to take this shot with my media player but the camera wouldn't work today.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
Beautifully simple and effective, Don.
Great looking model too!
Thank you for showing the set up. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Nice, and I guess the background image provides some back lighting that'll cut down on the shadows a bit.
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
G. Beaird,
Cool setup Don. Is the background one pic or multiple pics put together. If it is one piece, where did you have it printed?
Eagle90
Agreed outdoor light is the best for realism. A slight cloud cover or blocking direct sun sometimes helps.
Another consideration is the positioning of the camera. A 'eye view' would be scale 5 feet from the 'ground' in regards to the model, dramatic view is below looking up like on a large subject.
Good thread Don, also great article in the July issue!
Eagle90 Cool setup Don. Is the background one pic or multiple pics put together. If it is one piece, where did you have it printed? Eagle90
It is two pieces, made from the one original photograph of the airport. For the backdrop I cropped the picture at the start of the ramp pavement. Then, I copied the ramp area and pasted as a new image.
Because of the perspective, it was, of course a very thin rectangle (wide, but little vertical height). I then used my photo editor to resize the image, and greatly increased the size in the vertical direction but not the horizontal. Many photo editors allow you to do this, which of course drastically changes the aspect ratio. I saved this new image, then sent both images to the poster printing site that had the good sale.
My other backdrops I printed myself with a large format printer (an 11 x 14). I print all my own backdrops on matt paper, regular paper. The poster place only offered glossy prints so I sprayed that set with dullcoat.
Awesome Don! I have been trying to get good backgrounds for finishes on GB's but they always turn out cheesy. Yours are spectacular!
Thanks so much for posting this, Don! I printed out a nice background yesterday and took some pics this morning using your technique and I'm quite impressed with the results. The hardest part was finding a suitable background.
I used to take them at an airport years ago. This way is much easier! I now have backdrops for race cars, classic cars, and one for WW1 and earlier airplanes too.
And, I took some water backgrounds for ships, too. Since I build whole-hull models, however, I have to do a composite in photo editor. I take ship picture, paste as new layer over backdrop, and "erase" hull below waterline, and all background.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.