Many of you have been asking for a Behind the Scenes blog post and the details of how I create my scenes and photos. So here goes! My photos are not perfect by any means and every single day I learn new angles, tactics and skills to improve my photos. So I put the date in my blog title, so we can all look back on this and see where I have come! And please feel free to ask any questions in the comments or message me via IG or my FB page.
I use a Canon EOS Rebel T7, with a 18-55mm zoom lense, which I set to 35mm for most of my photos. This camera has several image settings as well - I use the “Food” setting typically for my studio shots in my light box. I like to use the “Flower” setting when I am shooting Micro and Stablemate Scale horses. I use the “M” (manual) setting if I am looking for a dark sunset or dusk photo, where I can then manually adjust the lighting via a scrolling button on the camera. I use “Portrait” mode often when I am outdoors shooting Traditional Scale (larger scale) models. Experiment with all of them - it is amazing how they can change the lighting, clarity and feel of your photo! I do not use a flash and disable it, no matter what setting I am shooting in. I have learned a flash almost always glares off the model and gives a very unrealistic look to the photo. It almost scales it making it look “unreal”. And the point in showing and photography is to look as real as possible.
In the above photos, I chose to use the outdoor sunlight with just one assisted studio light, verses indoors with solely studio lighting. In Pennsylvania, evening summer sunshine is just perfect and I love the look and feel of it! So here I set up my scene on a basic square card table I purchased off Amazon. I have two stand up studio lights. I purchased these also off Amazon. They are SoftBox LED Lighting Kit 50x50cm Studio Lighting. It was around $50 (American currency) for two studio lights. I have found two to be just right.
There photos I shot completely indoors with only studio lighting. I used the “M” (manual) mode on my camera so I could adjust the lighting through the camera lense and create the look of sunset/dusk in my photos. I used the same Studio Lights as mentioned in the above post. This time, the lights were facing towards my subject at an angle as to not create a harsh glare off the backdrop. For the backdrop I simply printed a real photo onto a matte canvas. Perfect for diorama photography because the matte keep glare from happening and canvas is so easy to work with and pretty hardy!
Here is another example of indoor photography, using only Studio Lighting. This time I angled the studio lights to shine down, creating the indoor area look of ceiling lights. (Ignore my unfinished basement - now studio - walls!)
Next is the actual Light Booth. (All my photos and scene are shot in one of three settings - outdoors with natural lighting and backdrops, indoors with solely Studio Lighting, or in an enclosed Studio Light Box.) This Light Booth I purchased, also, off Amazon (what did we do before Amazon!). It is the ZKEEZM Light Box 24x24 with 240LED Lighting Foldable Photo Booth. It is priced just over $100 (American currency). And let me tell you, worth every penny. It comes with 6 coloring (but plastic) backdrops. I did not care for any of them due to the bright colors and also the plastic material proved to give me a real glare when photographing. So I purchased cloth backdrops (you guessed it, Amazon) and simply cut them to fit inside the Light Box. The light box comes with a remote with two major settings - one setting is for the brightness of the LED lights and the second setting is for the warmth of the LED lights. I almost always have my LED lights turned to the brightest setting and about 75% to the warmer setting. (I adjust the warmth often based on the color of my horses and the backdrop I am using). I do A LOT of photography right inside my Light Booth. I do plain studio backdrops and glamour shots, as we call them! But I also set up scene and dioramas right inside the booth as well. The sides of the booth are reflective material and just give the perfect lighting!
On another note, Replica Surfaces is an AMAZING company. They make top quality backdrops and flooring that fit RIGHT inside the above mentioned Light Booth. I cannot recommend them enough! I have several and they are worth every dollar. The photos below are with Replica Surface backgrounds and footing, right in my Light Box.
That is the main rundown of what I use and how I create my photos! Backgrounds, footing, props, blending, and angling the horses I will cover in a later post! But feel free to ask any questions and I hope this helps! It is a fun hobby and don’t ever get discouraged or give up. Even some of my photo shoots turn out as complete fails! It happens! Keep trying and keep creating! - Danielle xoxo
Replica Surfaces: https://www.replicasurfaces.com
Canon Camera: https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/eos-rebel-t7-ef-s-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6-is-ii?gclsrc=aw.ds
All photography and rights to such are owned by me and are not to be saved, shared or replicated without permission of Oak Tree Farms Model Horses.
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