Miniature Photography 101: Let There Be Light!

With Alexander, our in-house videographer at DakkaDakka.store

Our awesome videographer Alexander knows a thing or two about making miniatures look truly epic — not just on the battlefield, but in photos too. In this quick tutorial, he’ll walk you through a simple lighting setup that helps your minis shine (literally).

Whether you're prepping shots for Instagram or just want to show off your latest masterpiece to your gaming group, Alexander’s tips will help you capture every heroic detail in the most dramatic light possible.

Let’s dive in — cameras ready!

Miniature Lighting Tutorial

Today I’d like to share one of the interesting lighting setups you might have seen on the DakkaDakka.store Instagram account. As an example, I’ll be using a grey-primed miniature from our “Stormpride Sisters” project. The photos will be taken against a black background.

Natural Light:

Let’s start with regular ambient indoor lighting.

As you can see in the photo, the miniature already looks quite dramatic. This kind of lighting might be enough for your purposes — just keep in mind what kind of mood you want your photo to convey.

Adding Light:

Now I’m turning on two lamps positioned to the left and right of the miniature.

At this stage, we highlight the figure as the main subject of the composition. You can move the lamps around and experiment with different angles to create your desired light and shadow pattern.

Background Lighting:

Next, I add a red light to the background to make it more visually interesting.

Here’s a sketch I made to show how this kind of background lighting can be arranged.

Accent Light:

In this photo, I decided to add a bit of blue light from the top right.

This adds volume to the miniature and helps avoid a flat appearance.

Smoke:
Let’s add some smoke.

Smoke in the background can create interesting patterns and add depth and atmosphere. Take several shots until you get the effect you like.

Color Correction:

Finish the process with a bit of color correction to your taste.

Here’s the final result I got.

I hope this tutorial inspires you to try creative lighting setups when photographing your own miniatures!

Drop your questions in the form below, and we’ll feature the answers in upcoming posts!
👉 https://forms.gle/DtmivW4c3TZqYZqu9

Thank you for your support!

Best regards,

DakkaDakka.Store Team.