Photography Basics.
Let's start with a list of equipment:
1.- A digital camera. The camera doesn't have to be state of the art. All it needs is a decent Macro function. Ideally, you'll also need a tripod, but as long as you find a way of keeping the camera steady it's not mandatory.
2.- White light lamps. Most desk lamps come with incandescent bulbs that produce yellow light instead of white, and even some fluorescent desk lamps of questionable quality give off light that is not really white. Unless you don't particularily care about color fidelity, it is advisable to replace these light bulbs with true white lamps.
3.- A background. Any action figure benefits from having a nice background to shoot it against, be it an elaborate diorama or simply a solid color. The materials most commonly used for plain backgrounds go from fabrics to sheets of heavy white paper. Experiment and see what works better for you.
The single piece of equipment that provides all of the above elements, is known as a
Lightbox. A
Lightbox can be either purchased as a set, or be homemade using materials you have available at home.
My own photo set up is rather crude compared to ready made sets, but it gets the work done for the time being.
The screen on top is translucent and it's purpose is to diffumiinate the light from the lamps so the shadows are not too stark.
