Photography: Jon Hodgson Backdrop book

Lexico Arcanus Tsuchinshan 9981600.11Z/f (Leica M4 + 90mm f2.8 Elmarit, Tri-X 400).

A while back, Trench Crusade teamed up with Jon Hodgson from Handiwork Games to create a series of backdrop books to enhance miniature photography, funded via Kickstarter. Recently, I saw that Julian Wild (@hightechoger), an incredibly talented photographer, got some of the backdrop books and used them to amazing effect. This inspired me to order one of the books, World War Ruins Backdrops, in their smaller A4 size. I received the book quickly and wanted to share a few images I created with it.

The World War Ruins Backdrops book in A4 size.

Two example pages from the book.

This is the first time I have used a backdrop book for my miniature photography. Normally, I place the miniature I am photographing on a piece of terrain and take a photo with nothing behind it. This is usually not a major issue because I tend to photograph with a macro lens at a relatively close focusing distance, resulting in a shallow depth of field that blurs the background enough that it is not noticeable. To test the backdrop book, I set the book with a selected page a few inches from the terrain I was using, then positioned the model and took some photos. I primarily used macro lenses for the photos displayed below, which largely blurred out the backdrops (as I alluded to above), but I still think it creates a pleasing effect.

A meganob trudging through a war-torn landscape (Nikon Zf + NIKKOR Z MC 105mm 1:28 VR S).

A tired rebel grot, still fighting against their oppressors (Nikon F5 + AF MICRO NIKKOR 60mm 1:2.8D, Ultramax 400).

A diorama of an Astral Claws Dreadnought and Space Marine created by the talented Lunax7070 (Nikon D700 + AF MICRO NIKKOR 60mm 1:2.8D).

I have only just scratched the surface of using these backdrops in my photography. I am pretty happy with the photos I got here, despite spending very little time planning and setting up the vignettes. In the future, I want to experiment more with positioning them relative to the models, using more elaborate lighting, and possibly integrating a smoke machine. If you are interested in miniature photography and have tried integrating backdrops, I would love to hear from you!

- Eric Wier