The Challenges of Outdoor Photography: Shooting 1/6 Scale Figures in a 1/1 Scale World

Taking your 1/6 scale action figures outdoors and shooting photos of them is a very tempting thing to do in many ways, especially as if you owned any of them as kids, when it was natural to take them outdoors to play with them. The problem of course is that children playing with their action figures outdoors in an out-of-scale environment is much more forgiving than than shooting photos of them since the former involves a willing suspension of disbelief, and that we selectively focus on only those elements we want to see. As such, children are focused much more on what the figures are doing in their game than on the discrepancies of scale surrounding them.  
The camera however, cannot tune things out the way our brains do when we're playing. The camera is indifferent to what we put in front of it, and what is behind that which we put in front of it and this is where much of the outdoor photography tends to fail. The photographer simply places his figure on the landscape, takes a few steps back, then shoots a photo in which the figure is dwarfed by his or her surroundings, be they giant trees, giant plants, giant structures, and is more often than nought shot from a high vantage point as if the photographer were 30-35 feet above the height of the ground.  

Now let me be very clear about this; if this is how you shoot photos and you are satisfied with them and feel that other people like them, then move on to another post and ignore EVERYTHING I've just written. I am not out to put down anyone's photos as not being good enough to post on this forum, or amateurish or whatever. My only goal in this is to offer up what I've learned about controlling scale discrepancies in outdoor photography TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC. Further, I am interested in getting a discussion going on this topic and I INVITE ANYONE who has something to contribute to this thread to do so.  I have only shot outdoor photos in a limited number of environments and if you've shot photos in others and have tricks to share with everyone, PLEASE DO SO!

Rule #1  Seek out landscape objects that have no scale.  The easiest are rocks. Unlike trees, most bushes, and grass, rocks can be made to look any scale because in nature you have a huge range of sizes in rocks. The photos below were all shot in a park across the street from where I live, where there's a retaining wall made of what I will call medium building-type stone of different types, and which when carefully photographed, can be made to look like much larger rock faces.  




Rule #2  Is to get down to the same level as your figures as much as you can when shooting. Notice how none of the above photos are shown from a vantage that looks like its 30 feet higher than the ground. Nor are any of the following. .


Rule #3: Crop the photos tightly around the central figure(s) and get rid of extraneous detail. Unless you are shooting a John Ford-style western in which the scenery is SUPPOSED to tower over the humans in the frame, making them look like insects against the backdrop of giant buttes in Monument Valley, MAKE THE FIGURE, NOT THE BACKGROUND THE CENTRAL ELEMENT OF THE PHOTO.


Now if you do want to have nature dominate the scene, have a look at this still photo from John Ford's classic, "The Searchers," regarded by many as his finest western.

https://wellingtonfilms.nz/films/the-searchers/

This is of course much easier to pull off in a place like Monument Valley were the buttes DO tower over us pathetic little humans, but much harder to do in your local wooded patch unless your figures are supposed to inhabit Middle Earth or someplace like that.

Rule #4: Selective Focus to blur out unwanted background detail. This can be used along with close cropping of the images.  Selective focus is easier to achieve on cameras with adjustable lenses like SLR's, but can also be achieved by making certain the distance between the film plane of your camera (yes the term is still used in the digital world) is closer to your action figure than is the background. Simply put, if your camera is closed to the figure and the background is much farther away, and you focus on the figure, the background will not be in as sharp a focus as the central object. This not only helps separate the figure from what might otherwise be distracting background clutter,  but also can blur out 1/1 scale object enough to compensate for scale discrepancies.

Here the first photo was taken at f.5.6 while the second was taken at f.4.0. Opening up the lens to f4.0, though both were shot from the same distance. Which one do you think is more effective?


So let's try that exercise one more time....Which photo do you think is the more effective of the two?



It's very subjective, but to my mind, in both cases, I prefer the photos with the slightly higher degree of background blur, which serves to isolate the figure from the background, eliminate distracting detail, and finally further reduce scale discrepancies.



Okay...so here's one in which I really wanted to focus entirely on the figure and shot at f3.2 which decreases the depth of field even more.  The background becomes almost irrelevant in this one. The only thing that give this photo away as a photo of an action figure, is the figure itself, not the background.  Is this effective? You be the judge.



So in closing, I would say that it can take a fair amount of experimentation as with lens apertures, zooming and cropping, not to mention careful composition of the image so as to eliminate unwanted out-of-scale elements from the frame before even considering the other factors.  I want to reiterate that I am not out to critique anyone. Everyone practices photography at their skill level and not everyone can have the benefit of being trained by professionals in the industry as I was.  Most will not have professional photo gear, though this is much less important than many people think.  I am not even interested in people replying to this and saying "Hey Gary! Those are great photos!" even if you really think they are. What I am interested in is in getting a dialogue going on the subject and getting people to ask questions, share their tricks if they have any, finally, and thinking of ways they can improve their outdoor action-figure photography.

I think this has the potential to be an interesting discussion, although it is likely to become somewhat technical, as some amount of "camera jargon" will inevitably be required.

This is a good introduction to effective methods for creating the illusion of a full-size setting looking appropriate to miniature scale using limited depth of field.

An aspect I would like to see discussed at a future time would be how to make a figure look "in scale" with background elements -- structures, vehicles, even animals or people -- with everything in sharper focus. I believe this technique is called "forced perspective."

FIELD STATION 42 wrote:

I think this has the potential to be an interesting discussion, although it is likely to become somewhat technical, as some amount of "camera jargon" will inevitably be required.

This is a good introduction to effective methods for creating the illusion of a full-size setting looking appropriate to miniature scale using limited depth of field.

An aspect I would like to see discussed at a future time would be how to make a figure look "in scale" with background elements -- structures, vehicles, even animals or people -- with everything in sharper focus. I believe this technique is called "forced perspective."

Any topic is open for discussion.

Your photos are most effective, and I agree with what you have said. Blurring the background is most effective in keeping
the subject what draws the eye. In fact when I photograph sports in bright sunlight I use f2.8 which eliminates the background
and makes the action stand out more.

And as Dave said, keeping the figure close and the background far away is using forced perspective, making the figure look
more like its in scale with the surroundings. I can't think of anything off hand to add to your technique.

TNshooter wrote:

Your photos are most effective, and I agree with what you have said. Blurring the background is most effective in keeping
the subject what draws the eye. In fact when I photograph sports in bright sunlight I use f2.8 which eliminates the background
and makes the action stand out more.

And as Dave said, keeping the figure close and the background far away is using forced perspective, making the figure look
more like its in scale with the surroundings. I can't think of anything off hand to add to your technique.

I think that the careful selection of the spot where you will take the photos, the framing and cropping in post production are also important. You can edit and crop photos with pretty much any smartphone today, so this isn't limited to people like me with pro camera and lenses, Photoshop, etc. Yes, the pro cameras and lenses make things easier...no argument from me on that score, but the message I'm hoping to convey is that they are complementary, not essential to the process. You can shoot great photos with point and shoot cameras, tablets or smartphones as well. It simply requires practice and effort.

I agree. But to be honest I have never tried taking photos on my cell phone other than 'snapshots."
But I have done good photography with a point and shoot. Cameras are tools, you need to know what
you can do with what you have.

Very good point.

When I was ten or 12, I asked my father (who was a photographer) what the best camera in the world was. He told me flat out that it was the photographer, not the camera that mattered and that at a good photographer with a box camera will shoot a better photo than a poor photographer with a $3000 camera back when that was a huge amount of money fo a pro camera.

Some people here use point-and-shoots, others use pro cameras, but a lot use phones or tablets. What I want the folks NOT using pro cameras to know is that the effort they make in thinking about the photo a setting it up will affect its appearance more than the camera.

I digress. I have agreed with you. But I don't like being trolled. I'm done.

TNshooter wrote:

I digress. I have agreed with you. But I don't like being trolled. I'm done.

I wasn’t attempting to troll you and apologize if I gave you that impression. I was merely attempting, or so I thought to give a concrete example from my own life, of the very truths you had expressed in the previous statement.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

TNshooter wrote:

I digress. I have agreed with you. But I don't like being trolled. I'm done.

I wasn’t attempting to troll you and apologize if I gave you that impression.  I was merely attempting, or so I thought to give a concrete example from my own life, of the very truths you had expressed in the previous statement.

I do not believe for a second Gary was being offensive or making you feel, 'trolled' as you put it Daryl. I think this is a classic example of no emotion coming across in text, it's easily done were wires can be crossed unintentionally. I thought, imo, that Gary was merely attempting to extend the discussion or conversation you two were having?

Hopefully, any ill feeling can be put to bed, so to speak, and we can move forward .

I agree with the tips in the original post, though I have to confess I often deliberately break some of these concepts in my images. I like to make the background just as heroic as my Action Man so will often shoot at f16 whilst still trying to keep the subject the centre of attention. and if I need even more depth of field I am happy to go as far as f22.
Here is an example where I have tried to keep the background in focus as much as possible  



I am fortunate enough to have regular access to spectacular parts of the countryside.
Often finding a foreground that is within scale is the hard part. Snow can work well, here the little stalks of heather that break the surface can just be interpreted as larger bushes.



Sand and rock also do well.



One of my top tips would be to choose a spectacular background, find a foreground that works in scale, but miss out the midground. It makes it harder for the viewer to judge distance to the background and helps it feel in scale, as seen here.



This is easier to achieve if you can find a slight rise to set up your figures on.
I used this trick to force the perspective and transport this chap to the Canadian forests.



I expanded on this concept with this chap by using the exposed roots of a fallen tree as a substitute for in-scale trees to blend it with the real ones behind. I also planted a couple of trees of my own closer to the camera using twigs I found on the floor to add depth to the image and sell the woodland feel.




here I have used forced perspective to try and make a 1/6th scale action man look good paired with a 1:76 Airfix tank. Maximising the depth of field helps here, disguising the distance in the foreground and posing characters so that eye-line looks correct rather than actually being correct all help. The massive explosion was Action Mans department, he has had explosives training.



I also get reasonable results having Action Man walking along full scale paths by shooting him from the waist up only, this would be common way to photograph real people so is easy for the eye to except. I just stand and hold him by his legs out at arms length. A focal length of about 50mm on full frame works well as a fairly normal real world field of view. Again maximum depth of field helps him to look as in focus as the area he appears to be standing in.



In summary:
Go somewhere exciting, choose an in-scale foreground, get down low, really low, try lying on the floor, shooting from below your subjects eye-line can make them look even more heroic, it also helps to hide the midground.
Posing is even more important, figures with lots of articulation are easier to shoot. Don't just settle for a pose that is in balance for long enough to get the shot. A little garden wire can help hold your hero in a pose that sells the emotion, hide it behind them, or Photoshop it out later. Don't underestimate the power of good light, as with all photography you are capturing the interaction of light and shade so having a little sun from the right direction makes all the difference.

Here is a shot of one of my set-ups:



Here is the product:



Good quality cameras and lenses do help as they let you push the boundaries of things like ISO and depth of field just a little further than cheap kit, but they are not essential.

This is my most recent shot, previously unpublished [aren't you lucky to see it first] I think it utilises most of the technics mentioned and makes out of scale trees work well. I think I shot this one at f11, if he had been a real person I would have gone for less depth of field, f2.8 would look approximately equivalent to this. The model village effect you see in real world photography is done by utilising extremely narrow depth of field, so I fell that if I want my toys to look less like toys then a greater depth of field will help. So if I don't need to hide the background I make the most of it.



Finally, if you cant manage all of this it does not matter. I still enjoy seeing pictures of your chaps interacting with real world scale objects, and seeing them on your shelf or kitchen counter is far better than not seeing them at all. My Action Men really enjoy posing for their portraits and complain if they have not had a chance to star recently, I am shore your collection feels the same

Thanks for posting and sharing your tips. These are all great photos and I'm sure there are others on this site who like to shoot outdoors that will want to apply your methods. I would point out though, that there are no rules to break. The tricks one uses are mostly a case of what works best in that situation. All in all----fantastic!

A couple of outdoor shots I did this year using the HM Armed Forces figures

KDM and Hawkeye those are some awesome outdoor photos!

I used to like to shoot photos at night with a flash...made the gijoes in white uniforms  stand out from the snow...


Once I was shooting photos and noticed the clouds in the water...so placed my diver in the water for a shot..

All good tips. I’m a novice photographer, and my only camera is my phone. Outdoor pictures are always fun, because most of the action figures are supposed to have outdoor adventures. Finding 1/6 settings or details is tricky. Rocks, snow and certain grass lengths can be used. I try to use closeups and cropped photos to hide the 1:1 world.










At our old house, rabbits had helpfully dug some 1/6 foxholes!





-Nate

Thanks for contributing. These pics are actually pretty good, I think. Grass always poses a problem, unless you can pass it off as elephant grass, which I think was obviously your intention since some the pics appear to be French Foreign Legion paratroops in the Indochina War.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Thanks for contributing. These pics are actually pretty good, I think. Grass always poses a problem, unless you can pass it off as elephant grass, which I think was obviously your intention since some the pics appear to be French Foreign Legion paratroops in the Indochina War.  

Yes those are my FFL paratroopers in Indochina. The one in the top pictures is the only one I still have. The elephant grass is my yard before mowing it!

-Nate

Glidah Drivah wrote:

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Thanks for contributing. These pics are actually pretty good, I think. Grass always poses a problem, unless you can pass it off as elephant grass, which I think was obviously your intention since some the pics appear to be French Foreign Legion paratroops in the Indochina War.  

Yes those are my FFL paratroopers in Indochina. The one in the top pictures is the only one I still have. The elephant grass is my yard before mowing it!

-Nate

And he's still wearing the Ritterkreuz he won while serving in the SS.....