Volkswagen Photoshoot -- Die-cast

Diecast? What comes into your mind? Yes, toy cars, usually. Die-cast are model toys made by the die-casting method using metal, plastic, and rubber. More details about die-casting can be found in this link.

I am stuck at home and it's raining outside and I thought it was a good time to spend time with a little photography. Actually, I was really planning on taking some photos of a die-cast VW Beetle that I borrowed from a co-worker at the office.

I knew shooting this beetle will be a challenge as this model have a lot of curves. I was planning of using two lights for the photographs but I ended with only using one 24W CFL bulb in my DIY soft box and lots of card boards for fill-light and shapers.

VW Beetle 1/24 scale - Door Ajar

The above photo is edited. I frosted the headlamps with a hint of yellow just to give a little color. I wish that it had real lamps. The following photos, I retained the original color of the headlamps.

VW Beetle 1/24 scale - Parked

My one 24-Watt DIY softbox is placed directly on top of the model and card boards are placed around depending on the what needs to be filled with light and shaped.

VW Beetle 1/24 scale - Hood Up

Now from this shot you can really see that this is a die-cast car as the detail under the hood shows that it is really a scale model. I like though the detail of the spare tire inside the 'front' trunk.

VW Beetle 1/24 scale - Bin

Here's one shot that I did where I placed it beside a perfume cap. Actually, I thought that it can be substituted as a model garbage bin just to have some accessories.

Well, it was a very interesting afternoon and I'm looking forward for another set of die-cast stuff to shoot.

Who Wants Pear?

Related to my previous post: Back To Stock. Here's one of the unlucky ones that didn't made the cut. Actually, it's a good thing it didn't as I wanted to share how I lighted this and how I really liked the way it came out.

f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO 100

I had the pear on a transparent glass lined with tracing paper and a CFL bulb beneath the glass. Yes, this was a back-lit subject. I had to touch up a little flash on the upper-left corner of the pear. This then created  a crescent-shaped shadow. I had to lift up that shadow to reveal some details there by placing a white cardboard opposite of the flash. The flash was diffused by a DIY 12"x12" soft box.

The highlight and shadow defined the shaped of the pear while the back light revealed some texture - a bit wrinkled up. The pear seems to float as there are no shadows on the sides or beneath it.

The photo of the brown bear in 'Back To Stock' post had the same lighting applied.

Back To Stock

I've been out of the loop on stock photography for quite sometime as I have been preoccupied with portraiture. Here's an extra shot from the recent stock photo session I had. It's one of those shots not really for stock photos as this photo have identifiable marks as you can see below:

LV Bear Key Chain

So this was not submitted for review for my portfolio with Fotolia. I am currently waiting on my submitted stock photos' acceptance or rejection. I'm wondering how will I do this time? I submitted 15 new stock photos. Right now, since it's under review, it cannot be seen in my portfolio as accepted stock photos only appear in my portfolio. I hope all appears in my portfolio.

Cheers!

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* Update: I got 11/15 stock photos accepted. Here they are: © MrGreenBug - Fotolia. :) More to come!

Cheers!