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.

New Learning: Portraits

I learned something new today. Something about portraits.

When we look at models on a glossy magazine of any kind, models have this sort of silky smooth skin. I thought it was just pure make-up and special lights that makes it look that way. Technology has it's share on how it's done nowadays as I have just learned.

Having myself as the lucky guinea pig for this learning, I believe I learned a lot. It needs a little patience to do it though. But for a first time try, this a good result in my opinion. I used the photo I took on my "Flash Experiment" entry as it has some nice things to clean up and also has a nice play of light and shadows. So, here's the result:

I think I should put myself on a magazine cover like so:

Thanks to technology!