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Posted on September 19, 2017
Tags: photography

The warrior woman delivered the goods. I'm amazed how bright LED lights are these days. I can clearly remember (not too many years ago) when they were sold as auxiliary lights for inside closets, under cabinets, etc., and they were simply useless. Not so any more!

I'm now the proud owner of four small table top LED spot lights to help illuminate my pictures. The lights, by 'Slow Dolphin' (yes, manufacturer, not delivery method) came with three covers, a clear, a blue and a red/orange--I suppose to adjust for the type of lighting you're shooting under. Interestingly enough, there was absolutely no documentation in the packages. Just the lights and the lenses. Nevertheless, I spent a grand total of $30.99 on these. They really do exceed my expectations for that cost. Here are a couple of pictures showing the lights and how I used them:

I'm using an upholstery leather sample as a continuous background in these photos. I think I might poke around and see if I can find some sort of landscape horizon image and compose the pictures as more of a diorama, but for now I'm quite happy with the leather. The color is fairly neutral and the image colors appear to be fairly accurate.

I'll have to devise a diffusing gel for the lights, though. Here are two photos of the same Gallic chariot. The first was taken with the natural light in the room augmented by the ceiling light. The second was taken under the new mini-spots. Since I use a fairly glossy finish on the figures, the reflections under the spots are quite noticeable. To be honest, I prefer the natural light photo. (And I also wonder why I never painted the wheel rim on this model!)

natural light + plus ceiling light:

using 3 LED spots:

I don't think LEDs tend to produce a lot of heat. I may be able to cut some paper circles and tape them over the clear lens to diffuse the light.

Finally, here are the rest of the figures photographed in my first session. These were all taken with my phone and there are a couple of zoomed shots included. I played around a little with the light placement but in all cases the phone was hand held or just placed edge down on the table.

These Gauls have not seen the light of day for many years. Quite a few broken swords, spears and carnyxes. Old Glory figures, each and every one.

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