Hi everyone.

The owner of NAF wanted me to share a little about the process in which I photograph all the toys on Nuts for Anime Figures.com

Antony has known me through another website (http://www.gametz.com/) for quite some time now. He has provided me access to anime toys in the past for subjects of my ongoing fine art photography portrait series. When he came up with the idea for this website, he was familiar with my photographic images and contacted me about being NAF's product photographer.

All subjects are currently shot digitally with a Canon 300D "Digital Rebel" 6.3mp digital SLR camera using a Sigma 50mm 1:1 2.8 macro lens. This is the same camera and lens that I use for my ongoing "Portraits" series of fine art photographs that can be found on my website (http://www.sidceaserfineart.com/), and sold through my fine art gallery McGowan Fine Arts in Concord, NH (http://www.mcgowanfineart.com/).

The images are shot in a controlled lighting environment using one or two Alien Bee B800 Pro Photoflash lighting stobes with either a large soft-box or two reflector umbrellas being used. If I want more dramatic lighting, I use one light with the soft-box and a piece of white foam-core as a bounce. If I use a two light setup, I butterfly the lighting to provide an even coverage on both sides.

I created a small backdrop stand by gluing two square pieces of foam-core against each other creating a 90 degree angle. I then roll a piece of white seamless backdrop paper down the foam-core to create a seamless background.

When shooting the images for NAF, web-master and reviewer Antony does the toy reviews in advance, and then i receive the review and the toy at the same time. In the reviews I read, he makes notes on what he'd like to see images of and I photograph them accordingly.

These images I shoot for NAF are pretty direct and don't require thought behind them since I'm told in advance what each specific image should look like. When shooting my ongoing fine art series, I'm very mindful to the standards of composition: line, shape, color, and use of negative and positive space within the focal plane.

Most of the time, the images are all shot at 100 ISO right around 125th of a second. The images are then opened in Adobe Photoshop CS, resized, levels and curves are adjusted, and then I give them the Plastic Camera Studio/Sid Ceaser Fine Art watermark. Images are then uploaded to the NAF website.

If anyone ever has any questions about photography, my work, or anything in general, please feel free to email me, or pop into the Photography forum on the NAF forum boards. I love talking shop about photographs and creativity.



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About me: I'm a 2004 Cum Laude Graduate from the New Hampshire Institute of Art with a BFA in Fine Art Photography. I work out of Plastic Camera Studio - my 1,100 sqft photography studio currently set up for both traditional film and digital workflow. I'm also experienced in alternative handmade photography (http://www.alternativephotography.com)

I'm also the owner of Ceaser Fine Art Printing & Restoration - providing artists and photographers the chance to create archival inkjet reproductions and editions of their paintings and photographs. This process is more widely know as "Giclee" printing. I also provide photo restoration and reconstruction to old and damaged photographs.

My "Portraits" series of anime toys started in 2003 when I was a junior in college. As a result of exhibiting the Portraits series in October 2003, I signed with the most reputable and successful fine art gallery in the state of New Hampshire when I was only a Junior. I have been part of the AAF Contemporary Art Exhibit in New York City for the last three years, and have been part of group exhibits in museums in the New England area and New Jersey. It is my plan to get more gallery representation throughout the United States over the next few years.