Photo Experimentation. . .

They might be giants. . . Another shot of the same vignette, this time against a neutral background in the lightbox.

Goofing around this morning with the camera timer and lightbox. Here are the particulars:

* Distance between Sony Cyber-shot TX20 camera and subject -- slightly over 8" or 20.5cm.
* Camera flipped automatically into the macro setting.
* Tripod used.
* Self-timer set for 10 seconds. . . Look Mom, no hands!
* No flash. Indirect, diffused lighting came from three different lamps each with 100watt "daylight" corkscrew bulb. One aimed at the top of the lightbox, and two aimed at either side of the light box. No lights were aimed directly onto the figures.
* Five slightly different pictures were taken. This one was the best as far as the position of the base and both figures goes.

In Photoshop Elements 9, I pasted in the picture and first cropped it way, way down from the original size, and then used in turn the following bits of editing magic: 1) Select > All, 2) Auto Smart Fix, 3) Adjust Color > Remove Color Cast, and 4) Auto Sharpen. I finally saved it again onto my computer desktop as a jpeg file. The original unedited photograph has also been saved.

Later, today, time permitting since we are headed out tobogganing and then to a cafe for warm beverages afterwards, I'll try the same photo with 9"/approx. 23cm and 10"/approx. 25.5cm between the camera and subject, to find that sweet spot as suggested some weeks ago by Der Alte Fritz. Be sure to check back later.

This evening, it's back to the painting table for a while to start either on those Fife&Drum 4-pounder Swedish cannons that have been cluttering the painting table for eons, or maybe I'll start on the next two-figure vignette.

-- Stokes

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Search This Blog