The Viereckstal Campaign: Eighth Interlude (Part 1)

 // Photographing miniature battles //

Thank you for the kind comments about the photos I have used to illustrate the units and battles of the campaign. While there is a lot of advice online about photographing individual models, I've not found much about larger scenes particularly if you are a mere mortal without an expensive camera and lighting equipment.

So I thought some folks might find it helpful if I just went through the process I've used in the last few weeks. I'll go through taking the photo, adjusting the photo and adding some artistic effects. This is all very, very subjective and I'm only describing what I do, not providing an instruction or judgement on anyone else's approach. This all refers to photos in JPEG format and using them for on-line purposes. Taking photos in RAW format for print publication is a whole other challenge. Photos are all taken with my iPhone 8, which is the most up to date as I have (our daughters get the new phones, we get the cast-offs; that's parenthood!)

// Taking the photo //

I don't get to play may games in a fancy studio, or even an indoor room I'm lucky to have a large enough garage and sufficiently tolerant wife to allow me to have a permanent 8x4' table among lots of storage, which I can expand (as here) to 8x6' with the help of some chipboard sheets that have bits of batten fixed underneath so they don't slide around too much. The garage has no windows. Light obviously comes in if the doors are open, but so does the wind. On a still day, the sunlight is often too bright and casts stark shadows, or even bounces of the car windscreen and produced unfortunate spotlighting. So, for the majority of the time the door is closed and I rely on artificial light.

After years of struggling with regular bulbs in the ceiling roses I found these accessories to give a bit more light. These use LEDs and versions exist for both bayonet- and screw-in light fittings. The "fans" can be angled but I honestly haven't found this to make very much difference. They do occasionally blow, so if you buy them I recommend getting some spares too so you aren't left in the dark for too long.

These do make a significant difference to the light reaching the table without the need to change light fittings.

Next, to provide some close-up illumination I use this small LED lamp (bought as part of a pair). I have found I usually only need to use one for battle scenes and use it hand-held rather than sitting on its little legs, so I can point the light where I want it while the photo is being taken. Typically I'll direct it at the point of focus, but it is easy to play around with it to see what effects you can get. The reason for limiting the amount of extra is illumination is to be sure that there are sufficient highlights, shadows and contrast fo facilitate digital adjustment of the photo at a later stage (which needs "edges"). 

Photos are best taken with a stable phone, so it is well worth getting a tripod. Exactly what type will depend on your needs. Mine is just a cheap, adjustable one from Amazon:

For close-up photos when the tripod won't reach I use this little gadget made from the head-piece of an old tripod that got broken, which has been glued to a spare MDF base. The ball-joint allows the phone angle to be adjusted fairly easily and this can get the lens really close to the "ground" if desired.

A backdrop is useful, unless you like photos of sheleves and boxes. At a basic level I have a blue bedsheet to cover up by troop storage. For a slightly more professional effect I do have a specific backboard that  made a few years ago (and now bears some scars). This is just two large pieces of white foamcore that I painted with household emulsion (blue and off-white in various mixes) and green spray paints. 

The foamcore is attached to a wooden frame that I knocked-up from offcuts.

This if 4' long and about the minimum I think you can get away with for photographing 28mm battle scenes. Then again, a longer one would be increasingly unwieldy and unfriendly to terrain not specifically set up to accomodate it. You can drape a painted cloth over some sort of apparatus like a clothes rail, but this only allows the backdrop to be 'behind' your table, which isn't always what you want unless your phone/camera has a really powerful zoom. The free-standing backboard can be moved around a bit more flexibly than that, so can be closer to the figures and lens when necessary.

It's not perfect, particularly the gap at the bottom where the backboard doesn't quite reach the 'ground'. I'm sure I'll make a better one next time!

Once you have assembled all of your paraphernalia it is time to consider the miniatures. Below are quick shots of a scene just so you can see the arrangements of the units and terrain. Once the "proper" shot is getting lined up the backboard can be moved across to be in the optimum position.

Now we are ready to start taking photos for real. I prefer the Camera+ app on the iPhone for this as it has a variety of useful settings for this kind of work.

For close-up work the Macro setting is (unsurprisingly) useful, but for battle scenes other options are more appropriate. The app does have a higher definition setting (48 MP) but this limits some of the other things you can vary and I don't really need that much detail. What I have been favouring recently is the "Slow Shutter" setting that permits exposures of between 2 and 6 seconds. This allows in enough light to get decent detail in the photos; but clearly needs the tripod/stability. I combine this setting with a 10 or 30 second delay timer between pressing the virtual shutter button and the image actually being taken. This also gives me time to play aroud with the hand-held light to get the best effect.

In general I've found it is better to take a slightly dark photo than one which is overlit or overexposed.

// Say Cheese! //

When photographing units "in action" I try to restrict overhead/high-level photos only when I specifically want to show dispositions across the battlefield. This can be essential when trying to give a narrative explanation for the course of the battle/game; but these really aren't the photos that will grab the eye or show off the miniatures at their best. For fairly close-in photos you can aim for figure eye-level and these photos will look quite "action packed", the more you raise the camera/phone, the more you will capture in the image but the less dramatic it will look, so play around. Remember that images can be cropped, so anything at the edges which you don't like isn't really a problem. 

Taking pictures on a phone, with basic lighting does mean that you really aren't going to be able to play with depth of field, so parts of the picture will be out of focus unless you crop things very significantly. It is important to choose a point of fucs that will create interest. Of course with digital photography you can take the "same" photo as many times as you like and adjust the focus each time. There's no pressure to get every photo right first time - and remember this is meant to be a hobby and maybe even enjoyable. It isn't that serious and there is no exam at the end. I discard a lot of pictures, some of what I end up with looks quite lice and maybe 1 in 10 I feel look really nice; but even with quite a lot of practice there's a chunk of luck to go with the judgement. 

Anyway, here is a screenshot of the phone ready to take a photo on a 10 second delay and a 2 second exposure. Most other settings are on the "auto" options and you just tap on the screen for a point of focus (which might need several attempts to get the best outcome):

In Camera+ the images are stored in the app's "lightbox", here you can see 5 different photos I took of the scene with different positions of the hand-held light and different levels of digital magnification on top of the "2x" physical lens chosen. I'm sure most people are familiar of the limitations of digital zoom and the loss in quality that it generates - so it can't be pushed too far.

Below is the image I have chosen to take to the next stage. It is possible to adjust image attributes in the Camera+ lightbox, but these days I prefer to export to the iPhotos app and use the tools there. There's not really much difference between the two apps, it really is personal preference, and a nagging but unproven feeling that image quality is preserved a bit better if adjusting in the native app on the phone.

Remember this is a picture of a real game in progress, not a staged diorama. Terrain will be bumpy and you might get gaps around backdrops, etc. Any picture could look better, but good enough is good enough depending on the context. I think, for a blog or social media this is fine. If I was photographing for a more professional presentation then I'd really not be taking pictures of a real game; I'd be setting up scenes specifically to be photographed, with gaps obscured by terrain ,lichen, trees, etc. That can all be done, but it just isn't always appropriate or needed. 

// Adjusting the Photo //

This next part really is subjective and no amount of digital adjustment is quite the same as a photo taken by an experienced photographer using all of the appropriate equipment. However it can make up for quite a lot of sins and I'd rather spend my money on more figures and terrain that on a photography set up. My hobby is wargaming, photography is just a means to an end.

So, having exported our image from Camera+ into Photos we can start making adjustments. This would include cropping the image if desired, but in this case I'm happy with what I have. A reminder of our starting point:

First I lift the brightness of the shadows. This is usually the largest adjustment I make:

Then I reduce the contrast. This will make the image seem "flatter" so be careful about how far you take this:

With the image now looking brighter but a bit washed-out and lifeless, I dial-up the colour saturation:

...and then I sometimes nudge up the vibrancy just a little (I let saturation do the heavy lifting)

Next there might be a need to tweak the warmth and tint settings. Usually I take the image to a stage or so cooler but bring it back with a nudge of red tint; but this really depends on the lighting of the original image. Sometimes it is fine without adjusting these at all:

Finally I'll add a bit of extra digital detail (helped if you didn't have too many light sources), but only a little bit or it can look very stark:

So here is the "before and after". The differences aren't huge. It is still clearly the same scene, just "lifted" a bit.

// Unleash your Jackson Pollocks //

For most purposes a nicely taken and appropriately enhanced photo is fine. I do like to drop in the occasionally artistically adjusted image, just one or two per blog post or to be eye catching on Facebook. For this I use the Prisma app, only using the basic filters without paying for the full version.

Import your image and start playing around! Select a filter/effect from the thumbnails at the bottom of the screen. This will apply the filter at 100% effect. To tone this down choose the leftmost 'brush' icon of the five above the thumbnails and adjust the subsequet slider. Images you like can be saved (back to Photos in an iPhone) and these can then be imported and a second filter applied to get further effects. As before, all very subjective and one person's masterpiece as another fellows ugly daubings.

Here are a few examples using the photo we have been perfecting/mucking about:

Hunter filter, 100%

Aqua filter 100%:

Aqua filter 50%:

Hunter filter 100% followed by Aqua filter 50%

Hunter filter 100%, then Hunter filter again at 50%

Lastly, once I have saved a version I like, this gets imported back into the Camera+ lightbox which has a good selection of frames. I like the "grit" ones, white grit if displayed on a white background and dark grit if displayed on a dark background. Here is the final picture from those above, with a dark grit frame:

...and that is it. Some simple use of free or low-cost apps, moving images between them as necessary to take advantage of a range of functions and features. 

Every image is individual, so will need different levels of each adjustment and enhancement. I do also recommend taking lots of digital photos, with variation in lighting, angle, zoom, etc then pick the ones you like best and deleting the ones nt up to scratch. I'll often discard 75% at the first stage of editing. As with most things, it feels easier with practice.

I hope that has been of some help to somebody and having more confidence to photograph your battles enhances your hobby.