Photo Showing - Micro Minis
How to Photo Show Your Micro Mini Models
by Katrina Michaels, EquinArt Creations Ambassador

Photo Showing Micro Minis-
Headache or Heaven?

Believe it or not, micro minis can be photo-shown quite successfully!  And
it doesn’t have to be a headache at all.  With some creativity, a sharp eye,
and a decent digital camera you can get really nice results!  My micro mini
model horses have won over Traditional sized models in photo shows
many, many times, and I have even won a few championships and
reserve champs, and I am just starting to get back into photo showing
seriously.  Once you get the hang of it, you may even prefer working with
micro minis-I know I do!  I very seldom photo show larger scaled models
anymore.  To get started, you’ll need a few basic supplies.

A good light source
A decent digital camera- this will definitely need a Macro setting
and have it where you can adjust the light source.  
A photo-editing program on your computer
4”x6” scenic prints, clips from magazines, etc.- I take most of my
own
Small diorama or a few basic woodland scenic supplies
Small stones, twigs, etc. from your yard or??? Keep your eyes
peeled!
Small items from Christmas village or nativity sets, or dollhouse
stuff
Super Sculpey or some other type of hardening clay, for when you
just can’t find anything small enough and have to make it yourself.
A good imagination (this can be developed however)
And last but not least, a painted Micro Mini horse from EquinArt!

To really give that real, 3d effect for any photo showing, there are three basic elements you will use: foreground/footing, mid-ground “breaking
up” element, and background photo.  Lets look at each of them in relation
to micro mini scale, which is approximately 1:64 scale, and close to
model railroad “S” scale.  The biggest challenge here is to keep
everything in scale; you want your little guy to look as big as a real horse!

Footing/Foreground

Some of my favorite footings to use are Woodland Scenics products.  It
can be purchased at most craft stores that carry model train supplies, or
also online on eBay or model train online stores.  They make really great
in-scale realistic grass “turfs” and arena dirt.   My favorite is the Fine
Blended turf, which has a variation of colors and is fine enough to be
realistic in micro mini scale.  It is a little on the pricier side  (~ $10 for a
large shaker) but it goes a long ways, and is definitely worth the
investment in my opinion.  It can be sprinkled on a piece of paper or felt
for a quick shot, or you can use their Scenic Cement following their
directions, to attach and seal it to a thin piece of wood for a more
permanent and less messy effect (which is nice when you are having to
use it on a regular basis).

Their “earth” colored turf is also quite nice for arena footings, as well as
regular sand.  Depending on what I’m after, I sometimes experiment with
both mediums until I get the effect I want.

Baking Soda can be used for an inexpensive snow footing (this idea just
came to me the other day, so y’all are the first to hear it, lol!).  So as you
can see, use your imagination!  Sometimes you can find inexpensive
household products might do a good or better job than some more
expensive stuff!

Mid-Ground Accessories

This is really what will set your photo apart, and give it that 3-d effect.  
These are the items you’ll be putting in front of your photo and behind your
horse, to break up the “seam line” where your footing meets the photo.
Sometimes your photo will match up great without any help, but a lot of
times a little extra something will really make a difference.  I like using
small rocks and twigs as boulders and fallen trees.  I also frequently use
Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage of different shades for good in-scale
bushes and shrubbery.  They also have Deciduous and Pine Tree kits,
with small trunks of varying sizes that you can attach the rough turf and
clump foliage to make really nice micro sized trees, and they work really
well!  You can also frequently find nice scale trees, animals and
occasionally people in the small Snow village and Nativity accessory kits.  
Just keep your eyes out around Christmas time, and there’s no telling
what you can find!  A lot of times I will stick one of my unpainted micros in
my pocket and compare it to things at the store to check for scale.  
Another thing that is really helpful in model horse showing is a fence.  I
am still looking for a good pasture rail type fence, but I have made my own
resin “sponsor” fence, and I cast these in unpainted resin.  These can be
purchased from my website at  http://www.freewebs.
com/diamonddreamsstables/microminipropsnsetups.htm  You can paint
it with white paint or primer, and glue small sponsor logos (I find mine in
breyer box catalogs) and presto, a cool arena fence!  You could also do
the same thing with a small strip of lightweight cardboard painted white.  

Background Photo

The nice thing about micro minis is that you don’t need an expensive
poster sized background photo!  A 4”x6” photo works perfectly.  I have
taken quite a few of my own.  We have several nice pastures with
mountains in the distance near our home, and that is one of my favorite
ones to use.  I’ve also gone to football fields to get shots of the bleachers
for an arena background.  Nowadays it is so easy to get your digital
photos printed out quickly and that’s what works for me.  I also use
magazine shots occasionally, especially out of Country Magazine, they
always have the neatest scenic photos!    Sometimes if I am looking for
something very specific I’ll see if I can find a photo online, but that is pretty
rare.  If you have a good printer/scanner and a favorite calendar
background photo you can scan it, downsize on your computer, and print it
out in the size you need.

Putting It All Together
Ok, now to put all these principles and ideas together!  I have had this
idea to make a snow scene for my micro minis.  Follow along with me as
I make it happen!  

First, since I don’t have a good 4x6 snow scene photo, we just don’t get
that kind of snow where I live (real bummer, lol!) I’m going to have to find
one elsewhere.  Out come the Country magazines, and others that have
scenic rural shots.  I cut out anything that might possibly work, even if it is
kind of a remote chance, and probably wouldn’t work for some reason, it
doesn’t hurt to try them all until I find the perfect one.

Now, I get out all my other snow stuff I’ve been hoarding.  Small sticks for
logs, small rocks for a boulder/rock pile, and some small Christmas
village trees I picked up this year on sale.  I’m going to see how well
Baking Soda works for micro mini snow!

Now to put these all together!  First I get a manila file folder to help hold
up the photos/clips in the back-they have to have something to lean on! I
also get out a clean sheet of typing paper to keep this mess off of my
desk for an easier cleanup.  (Once I’m finished I can fold the paper
together with the baking soda in it and slide it all back in the bag for
reuse.)  I lean up my first photo to try, then start sprinkling baking soda!  It
is kind of lumpy, so I use my clean blush brush (the one I use for
pastelling) to knock out the lumps and get it spread out without looking
squished flat, lol.  The first photo I tried didn’t work. The snow was way too
blue compared to the soda!  So I had to try out a few others.  This second
one worked much better, the snow was much whiter, even if it did have a
lot of grass sticking up.  The one tree is really too big, but I believe I will
put a little pine in front of it and you won’t be able to tell.  In the second
photo I put my “log” and rock pile on top of the snow and sprinkled
additional snow on top of it for realism.  I really like how it’s turning out so
far!

Now here I’ve put in the trees and brushed up the soda to cover up their
bases so they fit the photo better.  I’ve set the horse down centered
between the trees, and since we’re going to pretend he isn’t “Super
Horse” who is able to float out of space and land in the snow without
making footprints coming or going, make some micro footprints with him!  
I believe we’re now ready for that first shot, hold your breath!

And here is our first “raw shot”.  Not bad at all, I think this is going to work!  
Make sure to get your camera on the level of the horse.  With mine I can
actually sit it down on the desk and center up my shot through the LCD
before I actually take the photo.  Helps with keeping the camera steady for
a clear shot too.  Make sure you have your Macro setting turned on, and
adjust your lighting as best you can on the camera.  My desk has a nice
big fluorescent light attached to it, so I use my little fluorescent setting.   
Before I had the light on my desk I would have to wait for good pretty days
and take them outside.  It couldn’t be windy though or it would blow off my
background paper!


Now it’s time to download the photo to your computer and do some
adjusting.  It is hard to give instructions for this, since every photo-editing
program is different.  The two most important features you will need is a
“one click fix” sort of feature (unless you are competent enough to adjust
the light/contrast and color balances yourself), a way to crop it down, and
a resizing feature.  Most photo shows have size requirements so you don’
t fill up their inbox or use up their web memory space.  I like sizing my
finished photos down to about 500 pixels.  Big enough to see the details
but small enough I can see it without scrolling all over my computer
screen, lol.  Makes it quicker to attach pictures to send to my friends too!  
Now most photo shows have rules against “photoshopping” pictures, but
what they don’t want is you “fixing” up scratched up models on the
computer or cutting, copying, and pasting your horse to a neat
background photo.  Adjusting lighting and color balance to match the
actual color of the horse is allowed.  Here is this photo all sized down and
adjusted.  Now isn’t that cool?


Conclusion, and Inspiration!
So now you’ve seen how I put together my micro mini photo scenes!  This
basic method works for many types of pictures by varying the types of
footing, mid-ground material,  etc.  The possibilities are endless, your
imagination is the only limit.  Here are some of my favorite shots and what
I used, just to get you started.

You can probably guess this one!  This is my little Sparrow micro mini.  I
used my bleachers background picture, along with one of my sponsor
fences and some sand for a footing.  Quick, easy, and does the job!

Now this is pretty much the same idea, but without the background and
with different lighting.  I did this one at night in the house with a flashlight
for my “spotlight”  I made sure to cut off the flash so it would give that night-
time arena performance effect!


Now this one is my little micro, Sogni Passati.  He is a historic Spanish
Jennet, a now extinct breed.  I wanted an “ancient riding school” effect,
and went searching online for a good photo.  I finally found one of an
interior of a palace.  I used the Woodland Scenics “earth” turf for arena
footing, now doesn’t that really set the tone for him?


And this one here uses the Woodland Scenics blended turf, clump
foliage, and a couple small trees from their kit to give a cool wooded
effect.  The dark woods really makes Marzipan Dreams –my customized
Bennet Spanish micro mini- stand out much better than the snow scene
does.  Be sure to experiment with different-toned setups on different
horses.  Sometimes you will get that horse that just doesn’t quite “kick”  
color wise, but if you switch scenes it really makes a difference!

 
I hope you have enjoyed following along with me in my photo showing
adventures. As you can see, photo showing micro mini model horses
isn't as hard as you may think.  With a few simple supplies and a good
imagination you can have a lot of fun.  May this article be an inspiration for
micro mini owners all over the world!  
The micro mini scratching
horse by Maggie Bennett,
above and below.  Notice how
the wrong background (above)
makes the horse hard to see,
while the right background
(below) really makes her
beautiful paint job shine!
The micro mini rearing
Shetland pony (above) before
lighting and contrast are
adjusted.  Peanut looks so
much better below!  Same
horse, different background,
better contrast.
INSPIRATION above: Sparrow,
the cutting micro mini.  Watch
his creation and learn how to
paint with our how-to article.  
Purchase Sparrow here.
Again, the right background
and contrast make all the
difference.  The micro mini
Andalusian above doesn't
stand out with his dappled gray
coat and the snow scene.  But
below, in the Spanish riding
school background, he is
simply breathtaking.
The Andalusian again, this
time painted as a Spanish
jennet.  Note how different he
looks in the same background!
Same micro mini, different
color and background: an
arena performance, with
'spotlight' and nice rail
decorations.
Now the Andalusian has
become a unicorn!
Customized by the author.  
Note again the difference in
the photos!
Micro minis are live and photo
show winners!