The DIODER is meant to be a shelf or cabinet light. When I first saw them my brain lit up. The compactness of LED makes it useful for toy photography purposes. The downside is the power output of the lights is pretty low, so not yet ready for main setup purposes.

As a spotlight in an otherwise dark and shadowy set, they’re good enough, as I found while using them in the Narika shoot. They also make great fill in lights. For the Narika shoot I used it a lot as a narrow fill light, providing another fill option to use in conjunction or instead of a reflector.

LEDs generate so little heat, they’re perfect to light up display cases full of PVC figures. When you’re done taking pics, you can mount them in your growing collection of display cases. They are so thin that even mounted under glass shelves (like in a DETOLF) they won’t attract too much attention to themselves with strategic placement.

Okay, now that we’ve got our little disc of light, we need a snoot to make a spotlight. A snoot is simply an obstruction to prevent light from spilling all over the place so that it casts a narrow beam. With the size of the DIODER, constructing a snoot shouldn’t be a problem at all with cardboard. Luckily enough, the box from a bar of soap is just the right size to fit all around. Just pre-form the box a little to make it easy to slide the DIODER in, tear a little slot for the cord, and there you have a spotlight.

You could probably get the same effect with a pocket flashlight and wrap some cardboard around the front to create a snoot for your spotlight. The nice thing about the DIODER is that it’s got a diffuser built into it.

It’s not the greatest thing ever. There’s a ton of actual lighting equipment that will do a better job, but I look for things that can pull double duty or just using things in ways they weren’t meant to be used that work anyway. I was happy to find this for my display cases. At $40 they might be a little too expensive to get just to play around with.

Using the DIODERs gives a little tighter control versus just a desk lamp. The shot below was with the swing-arm desk lamp on for a little ambient lighting to cut the contrast a bit. The basic setup of the shot is above. The lamp isn’t positioned exactly, so you’ll have to play around with it. The DIODER isn’t a strong light, so holding it through the soap box a few inches away wasn’t going to blow out the figure with enough surrounding light to soften the contrast.

The purpose of this “tutorial” isn’t to get you to buy these lights or to show a neat trick, though it’s there. What I’m trying to illustrate is re-purposing things opens avenues, so keep an eye open for those opportunities in all things you do.

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One of the great things about figure photography is a lot of times it doesn’t cost that much to replicate expensive lighting equipment. On professional lighting gear there is an accessory that many systems have called a barn door. Its job is to cut down on the spread of light. Any opaque black material will work to block out light, but I use black poster board since it’s easy to take a box cutter and cut, score, and fold to make it stand on it’s own, plus it’s cheap.

This pretty much works on whatever light source you’re using, such as a continuous light source like I use (i.e., desk lamp) or if you use a remote triggered flash. The further away the barn door opening is from the light source, the more defined the light/shadow line will be. If you want a softer bleed for the edge of the beam, position the doors closer to the light source.

Keep the lighting on the side if you want more dramatic shadows. You can use a diffuser for these types of shots. I did with the PSE-01 shots, but didn’t use the diffuser on the video to keep it simple.

Hopefully, this gives the growing number of figure bloggers an idea for an easy way to mix things up for their figure review shoots. Plus those of you who want to get that uber dark background can use the same method to keep light off your backdrop.

I used this focused beam of light for PSE-01 to make it look like someone had just opened the door to her room and light was spilling in from the hallway or maybe a beam of light from the moon or something.

Flickr link

The video tutorial was inspired by Lev-Vespers excellent post on Dakimakura, which you’ve probably seen by now. It looked like fun, so gave it a whirl.

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The image on the left was taken on April 24 and the one on the right on May 11:

On the other hand, it gives me a reason to start rotating the figures on display instead of just buying another display case to fill up with pvc. And Erwin writes a little about figure warpage and prevention.

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Why Do They Warp and Lean?

Figures warp because the PVC material that the figure is made out of is not rigid enough to support its mass. So why don’t manufacturers just use harder PVC? The PVC composition used in most figures is a balance of flexibility for injection molding and finishing purposes so that our anime girls look as pretty and detailed as possible while trying to be rigid enough to keep its shape. Some figures just have more stress at their support points than they can handle and some aren’t given enough support in the base (RIUVA, for more information on bases), so they start to lean.

How to Prevent Figure Warp

Other than keeping your fingers crossed, there isn’t much you can do to prevent figure warp. Still, it’s not a bad idea to make sure that your shelves are level, both side-to-side and front-to-back, so that you don’t create an imbalance. The main enemy though is heat. I got my Feena figure on a 100 degree Fahrenheit day and she was jiggly like lime Jello. Keeping temperature below 80 degrees Fahrenheit helps to keep the PVC from growing too soft. For some people that’s just not practical, so you might want to box up the one’s you think will lean during the hottest months, but that’s a crappy way of avoiding the problem.

Spotting a Potential Leaner

A figure with fewer points of support, such as a figure standing on one leg, is more likely to warp (Mikuru at animerunner.net) than one that is kneeling. All the standing on one leg figure has is one ankle supporting all of that weight. On the other hand, the kneeling figure has four points of support making it far less likely to warp because the stress is distributed over four points versus over one point.

More Tips:
Erwin expanded on his comments below in this post on his blog.

The other thing to look out for is does the figure look like it is well balanced? If it weighs more on one side than the other, then it’s creating stress, which makes it more likely to lean, like Rin. She’s carrying that inner tube. It hardly weighs a thing, but it’s enough to create an imbalance. Also, if you look at how her feet are arranged she doesn’t offer very much side to side support to counteract the skewed weight. I’ve had her for over a year now and her leaning was very very gradual. What slowed down the warp was likely the fact that she is screwed onto the base — the metal screws add support.

The truth is, you really can’t tell if a figure will lean or not. For example, everyone pretty much assumed that Iroha would be kissing the ground in a week, since she is on one tippy toe. But, here we are four months later and she’s standing just as she was before. So you might as well get what looks good to you. One foot, two foot, dynamic pose, or standing straight up, most figures don’t lean anyway. Sure some do and some are more likely than others, but I really don’t worry about it or let it spoil my fun. Out of almost fifty figures, only two of mine have warped slightly. While some warped anime figures might be difficult to fix (usually because they are flawed and instantly lean), fixing some figures that gradually lean over time is easy. Luckily, fixing Rin was easy.

How I Fixed Rin Tohsaka

There are several ways I could have fixed leaning Rin. I could have gone the Tsubaki, route and used some Blu Tack to stick Rin to the side of a book case and let gravity pull her figure back into shape. Another method could have been to put her back in the box to let the figure rest back into shape, but that method seems to take a while.

Heat softens PVC, so I decided to set Rin’s legs in a bowl of very warm water for a minute to make the PVC pliable enough to where I could bend her back to an upright position. I then dipped her into a pot of cold water to cool the PVC to set it. How healthy a quick cool-down is for the longevity of PVC, I don’t know, but you can hold her in place and let the air cool her cool down over a couple of minutes if that’s something you’re worried about. An alternative to warm water is a hair dryer, though starting on a low setting is probably the way to go to avoid damage. Either way, wet or dry, it doesn’t need to be too hot (not melting) to reshape them. Hopefully, this is all you need. Here’s Rin all straightened out:

Anyway, in about five minutes from set-up to clean-up I’ve got Rin back to her normal position. I fit her back in the box and she fit into the mold just fine (sorry no picture of that). Maybe I should have over compensated just a smidgen, because even though she’s back to spec, she could stand to be a little straighter.

If anyone has another method, please share.

Alter’s Rin Tohsaka swimsuit version was the first figure I took with my desktop lighting thing, gallery is here.

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“I’m not Kyon.”

“The photoclub will pay big bucks if we let them take pictures of Mikuru. Like an idol shoot, but with Mikuru!”

“I’m not Kyon.”

“Yuki, find Mikuru.”

Yuki reads.

“Kyon, we need to come up with sets. That way we can charge even more!”

“I’m not Kyon,” Not-Kyon sighs and figures on taking the easy way out and just going along with whatever it is Suzumiya says. Besides, someone has to stick around for Mikuru’s safety. Lucky for her Suzumiya forgot all about her, so why am I still here, thought Not-Kyon.

Not-Kyon’s Background Guide for Figure Pictorials:

Classic White
The white backdrop is a staple of portrait and fashion photography. It’s uncluttered and goes with everything, which is why it gets a lot of use. White often represents themes of isolation, solitude, virginity, after-life, and sterility.

Solid white is probably the trickiest backdrop to get good results from since it has the amazing ability to mess with your camera’s mind and give you the most lifeless colors imaginable. Red and black get real bold on white.

Classic Black
Black, like white, works well when you want to isolate and highlight certain colors. Whites and yellows pop on black, which can make things appear radiant and glowing. Black carries an ominous tone, deep and unfathomable like the true arteeeestic mind. Nothing distinguishes you from the unwashed masses quite like a black turtleneck. Yuki would look spooky on this set.

Look in the Box
For happier and less uptight pictures, get colorful. If color theory eludes you, just look at what color was used on the inside of the figure box. If the package designer did their job, then the interior color should be the most complimentary color for your figure.

Solids Are for the Weak
“But Kyon,” she says. “We are artistes and must explore beyond solid colors!” For you then we go the wrapping paper aisle where there are dozens and dozens of loud and campy patterns to choose from. The fabric store is a slightly more expensive alternative to wrapping paper.

Diorama
Include random pieces of doll furniture. It makes it look like you put effort into the shoot when you didn’t really do anything at all, other than spend money or dig through your sister’s old toys. Don’t include more than one piece of furniture, so you can claim to express a minimalistic aesthetic!

Abstraction
Pictures are 100% more artistic if you throw random abstract shapes in them, such as this egg shaped air freshener transforming any shot into a vague expression of the human condition.

Peeps Shot
The famous tj han is a big proponent of the Peep shot.

Chicks, Lots and Lots of Chicks
When nothing comes out right and all else fails, go with chicks in a bed for the win.

Product Information

• Haruhi Suzumiya
• Manufactured by Max Factory
• Sculpted by Masanori Kuroda
• 1/8 Scale PVC Pre-Painted Figure
• Lists for 3,800 JPY
• US Release: Yes
• Affiliate Link: Haruhi at RightStuf

Final Tip
Re-use everything!

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Good photography is good lighting. A lot of people think that good lighting is expensive. Wrong. The best light source for photography is free. The sun! If you’ve got a backyard use it. Shoot in the morning or an hour or two before the sun sets for the prettiest light. Those looking for the quickest and easiest way to take pics of your figs, well there you go. But if you’re in the city or in an apartment and feel a little too funny about taking a half naked anime babe outside for a photo shoot while people walk by wondering what kind of freak totes a half naked anime babe out in public, this means you’re shooting inside.

It takes a little setup, but really all you need for an indoor lighting setup are two desklamps, a couple of big sheets of construction paper in different colors, a cardboard box, some tracing paper, and some tape. Many of you have tried the desklamp thing and gotten results you weren’t that happy with, but if you use them right, you can get some good results. The best type of easy indoor lighting is a daylight balanced (aka, full spectrum) light source, because it’s close to daylight in color and it burns relatively cool, which is a plus when shooting PVC. You can use normal lights, but just watch for overheating your figures and calibrate your camera’s white balance settings accordingly.

A lot of full spectrum desklamps are supremely overpriced, but there are cheap options out there. I bought a daylight compact florescent for a normal desklamp for about $10 USD at Lowes (they don’t seem to have it on their website, but they have them in stores). I also use a cheap one from Sam’s Club and it’s great (unfortunately they no longer sell it), it’s even better when I use it as a normal desklamp. It’s 27-watts, which is the equivalent of 150-watts of incandescent light. You’ll need about that much light if you don’t want to use a tripod (if your hands are shakey rest your hand on the table and rest the camera on top of that).

Update: Some bulbs are being called daylight, that really aren’t. The best thing to do is look at the color temperature rating on the package itself. What you want are bulbs with a color temperature between 5,000K and 6,000K to get the best color balance.

It’s helpful to have a second light from above (one that’s weaker than your main light) as a hair light, but you can use a normal floor lamp or a clamp swing arm desklamp, one of these is probably already in your house. My hairlight is a 75-watt light, so half as strong as my main light. The ratio doesn’t matter that much since you can move the light to get more or less intensity.

Anyway, the typical setup for taking a picture of your figure is:

You’ve got your main light at about a 45 degree angle from the figure and the weaker lamp from above and slightly behind the figure (ignore that stuff to the side for now). You set Mizuki down on a colored paper backdrop and you’re even in macro mode and have properly white-balanced your camera when you take your picture and it still sort of comes out blah:

It’s in focus and all, but it looks like some schmoe took a picture with a cheap-ass desklamp from Sam’s Club. The main reason is the light is hard, leaving a highlight that screams plastic and shadows that are too sharp and deep. Hard light is not flattering, so you need to soften it with a diffuser. A diffuser is pretty easy to make. Basically, all you need is a cardboard box, some tracing paper, and some tape to fix the paper onto the box.

A diffuser is a filter which you shine the light through to soften the highlights and shadows so that it blends with everything in between a little more smoothly:

Okay, so the lights are in the same exact position and so is the figure. Here’s what the diffuser does to the highlights and shadows:

Okay, the light is a lot softer now, the shadows less harsh, the glare less defined. It’s getting there, but needs something to make it less dingy. The third piece you should use is a reflector to make the shadows on the dark side of the figure a little less dark. It’s tempting to use another light on the other side, but what that does too often is eliminate shadows altogether, which totally flattens the figure making those round shapes less three dimensional. A piece of white posterboard or even a sheet of aluminum foil bouncing light back onto the figure is usually enough to lighten the shadows a little bit.

So it’s a little cramped with those boxes and the posterboard reflector (the purpose of the Betty Crocker chicken and dumplings box is to hold up the reflector, fancy setup indeed), but it’s worth the small bit of effort to set up and shoot. Here’s the result of this setup:

The reflector leaves the deeper shadows pretty dark, while the larger and more open shadow surfaces were lightened up a little bit to remove some of the dinginess. It also made the transition from mid-tone to shadow a little smoother.

You can get different moods by moving the lights around or by using a shallower diffuser. Sometimes you want a harsher highlight to simulate glistening skin, for example. Sometimes you want deeper shadows. Anyway, you don’t need expensive photographic lighting equipment or an expensive camera to get some pretty decent results.

Hope I was able to help.

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