Close Up

These are Marx 60mm figures, they are originals, not recast figures.  They are likely 40 years old or more.  They are perhaps worth a dollar each.  Not too hard to find online, on eBay, and at toy soldier shows.

To take photos this good I made sure to buy a camera with a macro lens, one that lets me take photos from as little as an inch from the subject of the photo.  It also has a decent zoom, these photos were taken from a couple feet away, and I zoom in on the soldiers.  That way I avoid getting my own shadow in the picture and I don't disturb the terrain.

These photos are taken outside on a bright sunny day.  Be careful of shadows.  Note the figure in the back of this picture, his body is in shadow and makes it hard to see the detail on his chest.  The figure up front is in full light and his pockets and Thompson are clear.  Watch for shadows when you set up the figures, it's too late once you start taking photos!

Hold the camera absolutely still.  The slightest movement will cause the photo to blur.  When you press the button to take the picture is when you are most likely to move.  Many people recommend a tripod or a mono pod.  I don't use those because I move around a lot and like to get in really close.  I try to take several photos of any difficult subjects and select the best one.

I also crop my photos so the viewer gets a good look at what I want him to see.  Here I wanted you to see the standing rifleman.  So the other figures got cut out of the shot.  I almost never mess with any other aspects like contrast and adjusting other part of the photo.  After 15,000 army men photos on my blog, I can usually figure out a good time to take photos and get pretty good results.  About 90% of what I take gets used.