New Additions

[hydra427]

Here are a few new additions that I picked up over the last two months. Hopefully the next two months will be just as prosperous! Some are a little dusty and need a good cleaning. I will have to do that before they get into my cabinets.










Thanks for looking, John

[nickjones]

A very nice selection, great finds John.

[nearlymint]

I have to agree very nice minty models. J

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Agree, they are stunners and I don't even collect them, but could be tempted to start, just from looking at such good examples.

Top quality pictures do make a difference and full marks to hydra427 for his pictures of these models.

Regards
GHOSTHUNTER.

[hydra427]

Thanks for all the kind words, I try to collect the best model that I can afford and even then I tend to go over board. I wish all the boxes were as "minty" as the models but those always seam to suffer from age over the years. I designed a data base to track all of my models and to keep good records. The database shows the main picture, left, front, right, rear, base, box, & combined model with the box. This really helps me keep track when I go to shows as I have all the information at my fingers, including the Stannard guide variation & Charlie Mack variation. I go into detail about the description of the model & box and note any defects that I may find. I have set this up so I have access to it from my tablet so what a great tool at shows!

Below are all of the pictures that I display on the database and then I can blow them up to full screen if need be. It does help to have a decent camera & macro lens.










It took a long time to photograph each model at first but as long as I don't let them build up I can blow through them pretty quick.

John

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thank's for the 'insight' into your collection management, hydra427.

Would you like to share what camera and lens settings you use, I would like to add a few of your pictures into my Photography thread, with basic details of how the picture was achieved, as they are good examples of how to photograph models.

Many regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.

[hydra427]

Ghosthunter, I use a Nikon D3100 with an AF-S Micro NIKKOR 40mm 1:2.8G lens, I took a lot of pictures when I first started to see what settings work best. A lot will depend on the backdrop you are using and the lighting that you have. My lighting is very simple with 3 swing arm lamps and Utilitech 23-Watt (100W) Spiral Medium Base Daylight (5000K) bulbs. I like the "color" that these bulbs throw off and they seem to give me the best results for my camera. A lot of standard florescent bulbs tend to give off a yellow light which I did not like at all. I use all manual settings except for the auto focus feature which does a really nice job. I initially took close to 1,000 pictures to find out which setting I liked the best. I came up with the following settings Exposure: [M] mode, 1/80 second, f/22, white balance - auto, manual flash @ 1/4 (for fill in) - I did find that if I am photographing larger models and I have to move the camera further away then I increase the flash to 1/2 or even full for some shots. I got a great deal on the camera through Ebay and could not be happier with the results that I have achieved. I am no camera expert but think I have done a pretty good job figuring things out. A good tripod is a must for good pictures. Below are some pictures of a typical shoot. Sorry for the quality on these ones but I had to use my cell phone to take these.





Feel free to use what ever you want for the photography thread and if anyone has any questions feel free to give me a shout out and I will do the best I can to answer them.

John

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Brilliant Jon, I appriciate you doing those two exrtra pictures, just the sort of set-up many members on this forum probably use or could use and thank you for permission to use a picture or two to help explain how some good pictures were achieved.

Best regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.

[YYS4BOB]

This is pretty similar to my set up, except I use a light box/tent.