Photographing Miniatures the Cheapskate Way

I (obviously) like taking pics of my work and posting it but not so much that I want to pay money that could otherwise be spent buying even more figs on it. Not all that long ago I finally accepted that you need a decent background to showcase the figure better. To wit, I use a piece of poster board:



$.98 well spent. I originally used white but quickly figured out that blue was a nice neutral color that provided a good contrast as well as context to the figure. Someone better versed on color theory can tell you far more I'm sure. I use the ambient light as a source; not as ideal as using a diffused source but far cheaper (and less work). However, to keep my shots stable, I did invest (okay my family got it for me for my birthday but same thing) in an inexpensive tripod. This has been a Godsend as I no longer have to stack things or jury-rig stable platforms to choose from. Even a basic tripod such as mine has 3 axis that it can be adjusted on providing flexibility when deciding how best to capture detail. Prices range from $15 to $24 for a cheap but versitle tripod.