Showcase: Mirkwood Spiders from the Hobbit

With the spiders finished, I thought I’d commemorate the project with some atmospheric photography. Find out how I created the scene and view pictures after the jump.

I created the scene using all the bits of terrain I had which were suitable. I then used Fallen Leaves (available from the company Secret Weapon Miniatures) and nylon wadding to dress the scene. With the wadding stretched out it makes a nice cobweb effect. 

The two dark and eerie shots were shot on bulb (the shutter stays open for as long as you hold down the shutter release button, so it was a very long exposure. ISO was around 400 so they’re a little grainy on closer inspection. I used an aperture setting of f22 to ensure all the elements were in focus (long depth of field). WB is custom, set using a grey card. To create the lighting I used my iPhone. For the blue light i just searched google images for the colour blue and then with the screen brightness at it’s maximum I pointed the blue light at the areas I wanted to be lit with blue light while my shutter was open on my DSLR. With the shutter still open i switched the screen to a white a white colour and bathed the subject in that light. Altogether the exposure is around 20 to 25 seconds. The phone is the only light source, I was working in the dark with the camera on a tripod. Because of this you have to set the auto focus with the lights turned on (can’t focus automatically in low light). Once it’s found the focus point, turn it to manual focus then turn the lights off and you can guarantee your shot will be in focus. 

These two perfectly lit photos were taken on 1/60th of second (a very fast exposure), which is the flash sync speed of my DSLR. Using two large flash head units I can light the scene perfectly. Because I can control the amount of light I could lower the ISO to 100, in turn reducing grain. I still wanted everything in focus so I kept the f stop at 22. A benefit to shooting at 1/60th of second is you avoid camera shake, so you can shoot in your hand and don’t need a tripod. I still prefer the tripod and I use a remote trigger to fire the shutter release which limits camera movement.  

All four of these photos were captured in the camera, with no post production work done in photoshop. I also have hi res originals which I’ll happily email to anyone wanting to use them for personal use (wallpapers, screensavers etc). 

This is all a bit techy and won’t make sense to anyone who isn’t into photography. I’m a keen amateur and if any professionals are reading this and have any advice, I’d love to hear it. I’m really happy with the shots. They’re probably the best miniature shots I’ve ever taken. 

Finally I’ll finish this post with some clear shots of my Mirkwood Spiders.