How to photograph your WW1 models at little cost to you.

Photography on the cheap.

Lights,Camera,Action !
All of the pics that I have taken over the last five years or so and published in my photobucket ,were taken for the cost of the camera alone and that I got on sale ! The rest is just stuff that I had laying around the house.No expensive tripods,special lighting or other equipment is required.The modern day camera does it all for you,the only thing that you have to do is a simple setup.Put it on "Auto" and off you go ! You can experiment to your hearts content (no more film cost to worry about) If only one pic in fifty turns out so what ! Have fun.

First the camera. I will take a pic of it in the mirror for your info.Point and shot,how simple can it be.Prior to the digital era I knew nothing about cameras and it is still that way today.
All the technical stuff leaves me cold and I haven't even read the manual for the digital I am using now ! (some would say it shows LOL) If I can take reasonable pics anyone can do it.
The only real secret to good pic taking is using your creativity to set the scene up, in other words, arranging the stuff in a nice way (composition).This will come with experience.Just start shooting ! Here's how I do it....

My style of photography depends on 3 things
Hand held mobile lighting
Hand held camera with a stabilizer
creative thinking, and breaking the rules

Here is the camera that I use for all my shots,very simple but it must have lens stabilizer as I move it a lot seeking different shooting angles.I use my still camera like a movie or stage director would if he were taking a one frame movie.My first digital camera didn't have this function so a lot of my early shots were more traditional.The lens stabilizer is really the basis for my style(if you can call it that)
The camera body should be black so it doesn't get reflected by glass or other shiny surfaces.
And that is about it camera wise !

Lighting. I use a hand held clip on with easily changeable ordinary household bulbs and experiment with different types, wattages and color.The key here is to try everything.
I also use my white ceiling and one of those cheap car maintenance lights from the garage for bouncing light off the ceiling.On occasion when I want a nice moonlight scene I will use just an overhead florescent light.I have even used candles.Experiment and have fun !

And finally use your creativity there are really no wrong ways of doing things just new ways waiting to be discovered.

most modern digital cameras will allow you to set 'white balance' - use a sheet of clean white paper in the lighting conditions you intend on shooting under - I generally use a couple of daylight balanced bulbs with a piece of white fabric in front of the closed leak proof shade to soften the light and shadows that get cast.

sounds great to me !

Here is a pic I took and then fancied it up using photobucket.
It is a pic of a 1/16th scale engine shop from the 1920's.It could be RR ,marine,auto or whatever.Everything here is scratchbuilt except the engine which was from a highly modified kit.Most of this is built with coffee stir stiks,tongue depressors,plywood or card.The lighting is from a dollhouse and the shades are modified brass Christmas bells.The clear glass is plexiglass savaged from an old parts container.
This is a low angle shot as if your were backing up a truck to pick up a load,probably what you might see in a rear view mirror late on a summers evening.The lights reflected in the window glass adds depth to the scene.The doors act as a frame for the scene and also help to add depth as well.
I took this pic with my old digital camera that didn't have a stabilizer,so all the lighting here is internal not hand held.

This shot was taken using my hand held light and hand held camera technique.
I simply used my clip on light and shone it through the window to see what I could come up with.I am looking to set a mood with a little drama built in.Technically there are probably a thousand things wrong with the pic but I like it and I don't try to please anyone else.
I am a great admirer of Sergio Leone the Italian movie director,who is my self appointed creative mentor and this is the way he operated too.
In this pic I have used the open door at the rear and the shadows across the floor to create a more 3D effect.
The foreground is out of focus for a reason, as it tends to put the figures in the limelight.The bar through the middle guys face was a compromise between his face (which was really not all that well painted) and the meds box over his shoulder.The box in my mind represents the great cost in injury and lives in the early days of aviation and I wanted it in.Sometimes with my hand held camera I am very restricted in movement when I am actually reaching into the diorama itself.
What does this scene tell us ? We are inside an old building made of wood,the clothing styles are from early in the last century,the flag indicates it is air force military.The airplane is a biplane although it would work just a well with a car ,truck,boat whatever.It is probably early morning with the sun low on the horizon and the environment is a little dusty with even some smoke in the air.

Here is the same group of figures under different lighting.The sun is bright and almost overhead maybe shining down through some windows high on the hangar doors.I used the same hand help camera and lights.The biplanes wings and struts help to frame the pic.By using the shadows on the floor it helps to enhance the 3D effect.
The old sheet in the carpenters shop window has been pulled back to let some light in and also allows us to see the far wall for the same reason.The windows on the back wall open into a darkened storage area.
The idea here is to get the viewer wondering about what they could be talking about.I have left a space in the grouping to allow the viewer's imagination access to the conversion.Here again the era is around the 1920's when smuggling booze across the border was a popular thing to do.In my mind the mobster is trying to convince the barnstormer to bring some stuff in for him while the corrupt official looks on.

Here is another pic that I played a bit with in photobucket.Originally in color I wanted to see what it would look like in B&W.
I have used the carpenter's shop as the main source of light and a little overhead light to create shadows on the figures.Depth is achieved by the floorboards with a little added interest created by the light patterns on the floor.
The carpenter's shop is a self-contained unit heated in winter with a wood/coal stove.The door at the far end leads to the dispatch/airmail office.
This downshot was taken when the roof was removed from the main hangar.A lot of my shots are taken while the diorama is underway as it would be impossible to take them now.
The title of this piece is "Keepers of the Flame" 1918-1927" an era when aviation was struggling to survive commercially.
It is in honor of the risk takers,entrepreneurs&barnstormers,air show men,airmail providers etc...A period in aviation not well known today to the public.
Here the emphasis is on the guy with the tie,a large imposing figure trying to get his point across in a rather intimidating way.He could be the owner,the airport manager or a mobster but he definitely is being listened to.What is he saying? Well that is left up to the viewers imagination.

Here I have mixed a 1/18th scale car with 1/16th figures.I took the pic at a low angle,an upshot, to help conceal the difference.I wanted to see how close I could bring the background figures to the car and still be believable.
The figures are only underpainted and I just let the shadows do the rest.By keeping it slightly out of focus helps a lot too.
The car is a diecast and the figures were only slightly modified.It could be nighttime but this garage is very well lit or it could be daytime with the windows facing a dark storage area or in wartime even blacked out.
You could build many stories into this scene but here again it is pretty much left to the viewers imagination.The title is really not necessary.
The secret here is in the composition and sometimes just a slightly cocked head on one figure gives you the impression that the other figure is saying something interesting.

Here is a pic that I played with using photobucket.The description of the scene in the pic itself is not really necessary but I thought that I would throw it in.
This is an eye-level 3/4 shot that is probably the easiest to set up.I included a little of the foreground to help add depth to the piece.I wanted the airplane to be the center of attention so I focused on it and left the rest a little blurry.I used overhead artificial mobile lighting in this shot depicting late fall or early winter here in Canada where it can be dark by 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
This airplane is a barnstormer and airshow type Jenny Canuck being rebuilt after an accident, that is why I painted one wheel red and the other wheel green.

I have always loved the "Old Barn" look with the light filtering between the boards.Here I have set up a light outside representing the rising sun.The subject matter could be anything from any era.It is the overall look that I am after,a mood,an atmosphere.
The boards are tongue depressors which are quite thin birch wood so I had to paint the opposite side black.The buildings structure is clear pine which I bought at the local wood store and painted using my "Barnwood Technique".The weathering is acrylics and pastels.
The story in this piece is from WW1,probably somewhere in France around 1917.It is an American temporary summer type hanger with lots of nice fresh air.The "Hat in the Ring" symbol hung on the wall confirms this to a knowledgeable viewer.The ripped out piece of canvas with the bullet holes is an Iron Cross souvenir tacked to the wall.The aircraft is a Nieuport of French manufacture that was supplied to the Americans during the hostilities.
Depth has been achieved here by the converging lines on the walls ending in a corner of the barn and the tail of the aircraft also resting in the corner.The aircraft wing set up at an angle also helps with this illusion.The light on the wing would indicate where the barn doors are located or they could be non existent with just a canvas opening used for protection.

The picture that I have titled "Sunrise" is from my 1/16th scale diorama that is now on permanent display in the lobby of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa Canada.My other three 1/16th dioramas will be on display on the main floor of that same museum some time before Christmas.I hope that you enjoy them. Cheers ! John.

This group of figures was photographed using just the overhead doll house type lighting.This lighting was installed specifically by me for pic taking purposes only as the museum has no way to replace the burnt bulbs.The fixtures themselves look good and I am sure their experts will find another way to light it.From a normal viewing distance and inside a case the figures themselves look OK even in natural light.
As you can see I am no great figure painter but I compensate for this by using the shadows to bring them alive.The faces here were underpainted only and just a small amount of pastels were used for a little shading.Models in a diorama can in my opinion be overpainted. Unlike the stand alone figure that will be picked up and examined very closely my figures are different.They are there to primary help tell a story , mood , atmosphere and composition are of primary importance to me.Here again I have left a space for the viewer to join into the conversation.
The second group of figures are there to add depth to the piece.

A funny thing about eyes,most modelers have trouble painting them ,myself included.My solution ?,don't bother. A strange thing happens when it comes to shadows and eyes.The human eye is so used to seeing eyes on a face that the brain automatically puts them in there for you when you leave them in shadow and at a certain distance.
The keen observer will also notice that I left a little joke in there stuck to the heel of a boot.Could that be what they are laughing about ?

I grew up around fighter pilots from WW2 and flew co-pilot with many of them during their later years.My dad was one of them.The piece is called "Buds" because of the unbreakable bond that exists between fighter pilots of any era.

Here is one for the ship modeler guys ! I have included it here for two reasons.One to show what can be done with an ordinary flash light and two making a poster of your work.
This model is in 1/72 scale and it was my first storyboard diorama.It didn't start out that way but the idea developed over time and I had lots of it as this piece took twenty years to build,on and off between woodcarving teaching sessions.
The light is placed low because it is supposed to be sunrise,in harbor and under bare poles.
I won't bore you guys with the storyline ,it is available on the web for those interested.The point here is the lighting.There was absolutely no set up ,the pic was taken with my hand held camera through a plexiglass case in my own darkened living room.
There is a slight tilt to the pic as I wanted the ship to be in a gentle roll.I used the figurehead to put one side of the ship in shadow.The lighted rigging helps to keep things interesting.
The poster was created in photobucket and is very easy to do,just follow the instructions.Believe me if I can do it you can too.