# Minature Model Construction & Photography



## smoke665 (Jan 30, 2017)

I stumbled across the interesting artistry of creating minature model dioramas and then photographing them for a realistic scene. Below are a couple of examples. The first are artists that use cardboard of all things to create street scenes. The steps they go through to turn the mundane material into something magical are unreal.

These Intricate Cardboard Models Perfectly Capture the Look and Feel of World Cities      |     Arts & Culture | Smithsonian

The second uses model cars to create life like scenes with a point and shoot camera. Makes me wish I would have hung onto to the kids Hot Wheels.

https://petapixel.com/2013/10/14/li...t-using-model-cars-forced-perspective-250-ps/

I found a few more, but these give an idea of the art they create. Anyone else outhat there on TPF actually do this?


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## astroNikon (Jan 30, 2017)

that 2nd one has been floating around facebook for a while.
Pretty neat considering the detail.
One that I saw showed a hood like it would look like after a lost of dust buildup and then a light rain sprinkle.  Some great detail in those setups.


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## smoke665 (Jan 30, 2017)

astroNikon said:


> Pretty neat considering the detail



Interesting comments by the artist in the second one:
1. Lower resolution cameras are better. The theory being there is less detail captured that could lead to detection.
2. Every detail has to be considered from the proportion of everything from door knobs to shingles, to as you mention the careful application of dust.

The first one, I was surprised that the artists rarely "duplicated exactly" the scenes they depicted, but were an artistic vision designed to imply to the viewer the location. Spooky how well they do it?


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## astroNikon (Jan 30, 2017)

Yes, the smaller the sensor the better too for maximum depth of field.
I bought a P7800 last year for a project in which I needed maximum DOF thus a small sensor was needed versus a APS-C or larger.   The image quality was more graininess-like which was perfect.  But definitely not highly detailed like an APS-C.


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## limr (Jan 30, 2017)

There's a documentary short on those Elgin Park miniatures. Quite fascinating, really.

Elgin Park by Danny Yourd | Documentary Short Film


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## smoke665 (Jan 30, 2017)

@limr I watched it a few days ago. Fascinating indeed.


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## jcdeboever (Jan 30, 2017)

Very cool. I prefer the second link. Thanks for sharing.


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## table1349 (Jan 30, 2017)

I believe it was the Science Channel show How It's Made that had an episode showing how such miniature scenes were created and photographed.  Both of the links by previous posters are much more interesting and realistic, but it was informative to show how the whole process was done.


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## smoke665 (Jan 30, 2017)

@gryphonslair99 I'm always amazed at the creativity of those who can make something beautiful out of the ordinary. In the first they told how they would "age" the cardboard to make it resemble buildings. Seriously, they might teach basic techniques, but the ability to visualize and implement is something you're born with!


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## table1349 (Jan 30, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> @gryphonslair99 I'm always amazed at the creativity of those who can make something beautiful out of the ordinary. In the first they told how they would "age" the cardboard to make it resemble buildings. Seriously, they might teach basic techniques, but the ability to visualize and implement is something you're born with!


What amazed me was some of the materials used to create the miniature.  Things I would never think of to use for a totally different purpose.   I finally found it, it was Season 24, Episode 1. Saunas, Wheelchair Lifts, and Dioramas.


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## smoke665 (Jan 30, 2017)

gryphonslair99 said:


> I finally found it, it was Season 24, Episode 1



Thanks for sharing, just watched it. I was surprised that they used an 8x10 film camera to photograph the final result, that's contrary to the others.


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