Subject: How @ Photos of Photo shoot.
From: Vern Gwin <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], Jack Zeleznik <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:13:49 -0600

Steve

I hope a picture is worth a thousand words.These photos show the setup I
use to do my photos.

[photo h2 back at here]Looking back at the setup

I use a Minolta 7000 SLR,28mm lens set at f22 and about 1/15 to 1/60
depending on what keeps the camara happy.This camara is child
proof[modeller proof],I have been using this camara for years and I am
extremely familiar with it,so I swear by it,this make this type of stuff
easy.I am sure if I had one of the several other brand names I would
swear by them to,but this is the equipment I have come to know well.

I work on full manual and focus accordingly at a distance of about
12-14"

[photo hs pos here]

The camara needs to be about 1.5" from the surface[the fake apron] to
the centre of the lens.This is about 6 scale feet to the centre of the
lens for 1-48.Weather conditions are an important factor.Partly
cloudy[puffy white ones are nice] shoot your photos about mid day[sun
over head] and little or no wind[we have had a near disaster a few
times].

[photo h2 left here]

I use an electronic relase for the shutter,some camaras use a cable
release,a tripod is a must for consistant steady vibration free shoots.

[photo h2 right] camara height and electronic release
[photo right front] this is what you get.

Take a good look throught the lens,do you see everything you want
too?You don't want any giant fire hydrants or the occasional giant grass
hopper[yup this has happened].By setting the  camara to f22 the depth of
field will make for a decent background.

Are the shadows where you want them?Is the angle of the subject what you
want.Remember not every photo will be great.You will not get 24 good
photos from a role of 24!Is the base surface clean,little things can
turn in to BIG things in a hurry!

[photo h2 check here]
[photo h2 a here] this photo shows the camara angle[not straight down a
tar line],and the equipment used and the surface of my fake apron.

The fake apron is a piece of gray art board glued to a pice of particle
board[plywood would be fine ,too]the frame work around it was added
latter when it started to warp a little.The surface is 30" x 40".The
surface was lightly dusted with a couple of spray cans of grays,from a
height of about 24".The lines were drawn with a HB pencil then over
painted with a brush using the old Testors[square bottle] Rubber
colour.The yellow lines were masked and painted with acrylics.The
staining of the surface was done using the sludge from the bottom of my
brush cleaning thinners jar.It was ramdomly sprinkled and patted around
the board and allowed to dry.

The back ground is something that I have easy access to,it's real and
it's where I work.Wide open spaces of the local airport,with some old
planes in the back ground ,too.

My fake apron and the real apron just blend together .My helper Colin is
used in the following photos to demonstrate this effect.

[photo h2 helper2] shows table setup and colin about 150' away at the
edge of the real apron.The CV580 in the back ground of some photos is
about 350' from the fake apron.

[photo h2 helper]shows Colin standing on the corner of the fake apron.

I hope this gives some ideas as to what works for me and my setup for
doing my photos.This is most certainly not the only way to do this ,But
it works for me,I am sure a variation of this might work for you.Give it
a try,experiment and enjoy.Take a friend or two with you,make a day of
it.

I would like to thank Colin Kunkel of our club"Scale Modellers
Association of Saskatoon" for his help during this photo shoot,of our
photo shoot.

I know this will raise some questions and provide some answers for
some,ask,enjoy and take photos and share the results.

Vern Gwin