There’s so much to love about MatthewK’s photo reviews. I spent some time talking with him about his setup and process, and one thing we discussed was how he creates lighting effects for things like laser beams or jet pack flames, like you can see in the “Space Ace” portion of MattK’s Masters of the Universe Classics Vykron review. The secret, he told me, is tiny LED lights – that and a whole lot of patience. Basically, he sets up in darkness, opens the shutter on his camera, triggers his flash for the basic lighting, and then draws the lighting effect he wants. The patience is key, because it takes a lot of tries to get it just right.
Since I am a pretty impatient guy, I thought I’d try something simpler. I found some action figures and accessories that I could try lighting with a couple of simple laser pointers that my wife picked up for me. So, while you won’t be getting laser beams in this article, you might still find some pretty cool looking action figure pictures – I’ll explain how I set up each shot so you can try it for yourself.
Continue reading “How to Use Laser Pointers for Dynamic Action Figure Lighting”