Gunpla Photography

Pardon the lack of updates. I actually have my hands full at the moment from several projects here and there. But anyway, we're going to discuss more toys/kits/action figures photography. This time we'll concentrate on Gundam plastic models or 'gunpla' for short.

The images used here is from a recent gunpla photography guide and is sourced from here.

First thing one has to take note before taking a picture is posing gunpla. Always remember that your gunpla must not look static even thought it's in a neutral or standing pose. The lower left picture here shows that a slightly bent elbow  (correct poses are shown with a circle mark, while those with 'x' marks are wrong from here on) can work wonders in a pose.  The lower right picture on the other hand shows that keeping the gunpla's body straight and checking/correcting crooked posture is the way to go.

 Next we go to action poses. The key here is exaggeration. Figure A on this page show the RX-78-2 in a shooting pose with it's feet spread wide and arms raised as if they are in mid-action. Figure B shows the correct aerial shooting pose: notice the left leg is bent more than the right leg giving the gunpla the feel of 'springing into action'. The gun and shield arms also convey action simply by bending them. Figure C shows an aerial melee pose: The beam saber is held slightly higher over the head and the shield shown full on the frame. The right leg in this case is bent more giving the gunpla a sense of forward motion in this case.

Here is a simple gunpla photo booth. If you notice, the background is just a piece of colored paper (choose according to your preference) tacked on the wall adjacent to a table. Note that the background does not lay flat on the wall and instead is placed rather bent and tacked unto the edge of the table.

You can use an ordinary desk lamp for lighting coupled with a do-it-yourself light filter made from tracing or filter paper attached to a frame. This will soften the light striking the gunpla. Again, like in my last post, a simple digital camera mounted on a small tripod can be used in gunpla photography.

Now position the gunpla in between the light filter and a piece of white board. This is commonly referred to as a 'reflector' which does what it is named after: it reflects light back to the other side of the model. This way, you won't have to use another lamp.

After you have set up the model, shoot away! Simple isn't it?