In this tutorial I show you how to easily upgrade your light box to a miniature photography studio including terrain and realistic background images.
Some fluff first
I admit it: I’ve been worshiping many other hobby gods besides the miniature wargaming One. Besides being completely engulfed in science-fiction and fantasy escapism through literature, the Warhammer and RPG’s ever since I got Heroquest in 1989, I’ve also been a photography nerd since almost as long. Especially shooting with film. I started out with a cheap point and shoot Kodak film camera and a less cheaper NIKON F-801 SLR. After that, I enjoyed buying used cameras, for instance a NIKON FM and LOMO Смена, and restoring them. I used to develop my films myself in my previous apartment. We used to have a bathroom which could be completely darkened. Since our last move, we had no more suitable makeshift darkroom. That’s when, after a short break taking pictures with my phone(s), I decided to to reactivate my old Canon G11 and to invest in a new digital camera (Lumix GX80) with only fixed manual lenses.
The idea
I also bought one of these cheap fold-able photo booth some time ago to be able to take somewhat passable pictures of my miniatures. After shooting pictures in front of a white or black background for a while, I thought to myself why not designing something more realistic. After I painted my own wargaming backdrops, and after a comment by James Hartman on that very same post, I decided to create something more realistic to photograph my minis. Long story short: This led me to this simple tutorial or 5th Hobby shortcut.
![My miniature photography studio background setup in action](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230327_223403_copy_1280x960.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
Building your photography booth setup
You’ll need only a few items for this:
- support for the base. I used 20 x 20 cm canvases, but you could use anything even cheap/free corrugated cardboard (mind the warping though…)
- basing material (whatever you use for your minis and terrain)
- photo booth or a cardboard box and lights
- (printed) background picture (possibly glued to a rigid support
- Camera (any will do, even or especially your phone will do)
Let’s start!
First I got some very cheap 20 x 20 cm canvas.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0776.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
I covered the canvas in PVA glue. I then sprinkled some sand, tile grout and pebbles on it and painted and dry brushed the whole thing. Your standard basing, terrain method basically.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0777.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0778.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
![Finished floor tile for my miniature photography studio background](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0779.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
Next I printed some 20 x 20 cm pictures and cut them to size. Then I glued them to a same sized piece of foam core board.
![Image for my miniature photography studio background](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wp-16799570131018403321809302656872.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
Finally I put the picture in the back of my photo booth and put the canvas on the bottom.
![My miniature photography studio background](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0789.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
Now, it’s time to start shooting stuff in my miniature photography studio with its background image put in place.
![Gasland truck shot in my cheap miniature photography studio background.](https://i0.wp.com/www.agentlemanlysport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0781.jpg?resize=840%2C630&ssl=1)
Further ideas
I started building a wasteland setup to photography my Gasland cars and maybe some Sci-Fi miniatures. Of course your can make endless backgrounds and base tiles. Next I’ll do a grassland, snow and dungeon tile next. I already printed the corresponding images. Once you have different pieces, you can of course mix and match the different backgrounds and floors.
Really cool! I like the small form way of doing it, you can do a lot of unique images that way. I actually did something similar with my setup: https://spacedinosaurminis.blogspot.com/2021/01/tutorial-creating-miniature-diorama.html
Thank you very much for the kind words Raul.
I had a look at your approach over at your blog. It’s a great idea. Very efficient and cost effective!
Eric