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Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Minty_Magic on January 18, 2021, 06:25:54 AM

Title: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Minty_Magic on January 18, 2021, 06:25:54 AM
Hey guys!

I finally got a proper light box to photograph my ponies with, and it’s awesome! Being a night owl, I appreciate having nice lighting at all times of the day. :lol: However, I’m already sooo bored of the few solid color backdrops it came with, so I’m looking for ideas on alternatives!

For info, my light box is one of those collapsible box ones. I think it’s 20in x 20in, so it’s pretty big! The backdrops it came with feel like they are some sort of thick, but flexible vinyl? Plastic? Not 100% sure. They are one solid piece that drapes from the back of the box to the floor. They are secured on by Velcro strips.

I was thinking of buying some fun scrapbook paper when I first bought it, but when I see how big it is, I actually don’t think that will work! I bought some poster board to paint, but that will be kinda hard to store and make multiple backdrops with. I was thinking maybe wrapping paper could work? I can cut it to size and probably get some different varieties cheap at the dollar tree. Are there any other materials that you like to use for a backdrop?

Also, what kinds of props do you like to use in your photos? Are there any other toy lines that are in scale with My Little Pony? I’d love to make more “scene” type pictures, but I often struggle to find accessories that look right with them. I’m also open to props just to give a basic shot some more pizzaz! I already bought some of those glass stones from dollar tree to scatter in the pics. They also had some fairy garden fence that looked like it might scale well, so I picked that up too.

Of course feel free to share some of your favorite pics to show me what youre working with! ;) I appreciate any suggestions you guys have!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: LadyAmalthea on January 18, 2021, 06:42:46 AM
Curious to see what people respond with...I'm a terrible photographer, have a not-so-great phone camera, and I live in the woods so I have hardly any natural light in my house. I'm embarrassed that most of the pictures of ponies I post are taken in the bathroom, because it has the best lighting. I want to be able to take pics with playsets as a backdrop, but again, lighting is the biggest problem. Your light box sounds interesting, I look forward to seeing whatever pics you end up taking in it!

If you are an artist at all, you could always draw/paint your own backdrops! Castle scenery, pastures, fantasy-type scenes perhaps.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on January 18, 2021, 06:59:04 AM
I just use scrapbook paper and such. I'm still adjusting to taking proper photos with my larger lightbox, but smaller paper isn't usually a big deal for most pony sizes.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: BlackCurtains on January 18, 2021, 07:57:24 AM
I like the wrapping paper idea, colored tissue paper is another option. I use scrapbook paper and colored cardstock mostly but sometimes I'll use some of the fabric I have or even bedsheets and blankets.

As for props, seashells, river rocks, beads, tumbled gemstones, swarovski rhinestones, driftwood, aquarium scenery, dollhouse miniatures. There's lots of stuff. I think the Rement minis are scaled to G1 and G3 ponies. They're kind of expensive though.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: starbritesprinkles on January 18, 2021, 09:25:31 AM
I started experimenting this year with scrapbook paper and PC wallpaper-sized backgrounds that I print. In the past, I have used fairy garden accessories from Michaels, which can get expensive unless there's a good sale/coupon, and LPS accessories. My daughter also has some fun Peppa Pig and LOL toys that have pony-sized accessories. I'm not the best at it, which is part of my purpose of posting a pony a day, but you can check out my Instagram (link in sig) to see what I've done.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 18, 2021, 09:46:04 AM
For backgrounds I use old nature calenders.
I've found some adorable mini food erasers at the 99 Cent store.
Botbots
Colorful cloth i.e. towels, sheets, sewing cloth, wash cloths

Small Playsets. I have a Swimming pool that I made with paint, stickers, and a potato salad container, Harry Potter, Pretty Parlor, Lil Woodzees and a Shopkins

I'd also suggest doll house accessories

Here is a picture with my Lil Woodzees playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Fluttershy-Out-Shopping-857863934

Here's one with food erasers and the Shopkinz playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Chiffon-850834673

Here's one with sewing cloth and a text box app.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Mellow-Yellow-Flutter-Ponies-843108527

Here's one with a nature calender.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Moonstone-and-Fizzy-Cross-the-Cascades-812747466


Here's one with a botbot.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Twerple-Burple-s-Prank-pt-Two-792431390
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Ponyfan on January 18, 2021, 10:09:04 AM
I feel like I'm not very good at pony photography.   :blush:  I do enjoy taking pics.

For backgrounds I usually use a plain colored comforter or towel. A couple of times I used a blue towel and green one to try to make sky and grass.

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For props I use whatever I think will work with the ponies.  I made a lot of photos with the movie baby sea ponies making mischief.  Sometimes Barbie accessories or My Life as are a good size for photos. 



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Ponyfan
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 18, 2021, 10:10:20 AM
I feel like I'm not very good at pony photography.   :blush:  I do enjoy taking pics.

For backgrounds I usually use a plain colored comforter or towel. A couple of times I used a blue towel and green one to try to make sky and grass.

Spoiler

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For props I use whatever I think will work with the ponies.  I made a lot of photos with the movie baby sea ponies making mischief.  Sometimes Barbie accessories or My Life as are a good size for photos. 



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Ponyfan

How cute
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Noasar on January 18, 2021, 10:13:08 AM
Wrapping paper works well - also coloured card!

I have some photos of my setup and lamps on my Instagram: little_starglow.

Also a good tip is to turn your phone camera upside down so that the lens is more on the same level as your subject :)
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: LadyAmalthea on January 18, 2021, 03:06:04 PM

Here is a picture with my Lil Woodzees playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Fluttershy-Out-Shopping-857863934

Here's one with food erasers and the Shopkinz playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Chiffon-850834673


I love these! The Lil Woodzees playset reminds me of something I owned as a child...I think the characters it came with actually were called Woodzees; I wonder if yours is a modern incarnation of the ones I had?

Also, do you remember which 99-cent store you got the erasers at? My son was making a 'bakery' out of blocks this weekend, and he would have loved these!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 18, 2021, 04:12:09 PM

Here is a picture with my Lil Woodzees playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Fluttershy-Out-Shopping-857863934

Here's one with food erasers and the Shopkinz playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Chiffon-850834673


I love these! The Lil Woodzees playset reminds me of something I owned as a child...I think the characters it came with actually were called Woodzees; I wonder if yours is a modern incarnation of the ones I had?

Also, do you remember which 99-cent store you got the erasers at? My son was making a 'bakery' out of blocks this weekend, and he would have loved these!

It could be? I don't know anything about the brand's history.


The store is called The 99 Cent Store. I found them last year.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: LadyAmalthea on January 18, 2021, 08:15:11 PM
Aw, we don't have that one here, darn it! Just Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, I believe. Oh well, they are cute anyway!

So I had to do a Google search to see the toy I was thinking about, and it was a line of toys called Woodsies, unrelated from the sounds of it, with little animals (I think they were actually finger puppets), mostly squirrels, that lived in a soft log house that came with furniture. I also had the general store, which came with squishy produce baskets that would fit into either the wheelbarrow cart or the store window. I was going to try to copy and paste the link, but my phone doesn't seem to want to cooperate tonight.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Minty_Magic on January 19, 2021, 07:00:47 AM
YES thank you everyone, this is exactly the kind of stuff I’m looking for! :biggrin:
For backgrounds I use old nature calenders.
I've found some adorable mini food erasers at the 99 Cent store.
Botbots
Colorful cloth i.e. towels, sheets, sewing cloth, wash cloths

Small Playsets. I have a Swimming pool that I made with paint, stickers, and a potato salad container, Harry Potter, Pretty Parlor, Lil Woodzees and a Shopkins

I'd also suggest doll house accessories

Here is a picture with my Lil Woodzees playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Fluttershy-Out-Shopping-857863934

Here's one with food erasers and the Shopkinz playset.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Chiffon-850834673

Here's one with sewing cloth and a text box app.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Mellow-Yellow-Flutter-Ponies-843108527

Here's one with a nature calender.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Moonstone-and-Fizzy-Cross-the-Cascades-812747466


Here's one with a botbot.

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Twerple-Burple-s-Prank-pt-Two-792431390
These are great! I’ll have to look into the Lil Woodzee playsets, it looks like that’s a perfect scale for the smaller ponies. I’ve picked up some of the Shopkins real littles line, even though they can be a little big, they are close! The calendar is also brilliant, I hadn’t thought about that!
I feel like I'm not very good at pony photography.   :blush:  I do enjoy taking pics.

For backgrounds I usually use a plain colored comforter or towel. A couple of times I used a blue towel and green one to try to make sky and grass.

Spoiler

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For props I use whatever I think will work with the ponies.  I made a lot of photos with the movie baby sea ponies making mischief.  Sometimes Barbie accessories or My Life as are a good size for photos. 



Spoiler


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Ponyfan
I always love your baby sea pony photos! :) The towels are actually perfect for grass, the texture looks pretty close! And here I was wondering if I could find a really small piece of Astro turf somewhere. :lol:

I’m going to take a look through my house and try to find some more inspiration in items I already have. It sounds like I was slightly over thinking the size of the light box and that regular paper should still work, so I will experiment some with that. :) I do plan to make some of my own backdrops too! I’ll be painting the poster board at some point. I am just lazy and want a full studio NOW haha!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 19, 2021, 07:29:51 AM
Aw, we don't have that one here, darn it! Just Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, I believe. Oh well, they are cute anyway!

So I had to do a Google search to see the toy I was thinking about, and it was a line of toys called Woodsies, unrelated from the sounds of it, with little animals (I think they were actually finger puppets), mostly squirrels, that lived in a soft log house that came with furniture. I also had the general store, which came with squishy produce baskets that would fit into either the wheelbarrow cart or the store window. I was going to try to copy and paste the link, but my phone doesn't seem to want to cooperate tonight.

If I see anymore food erasers, do you want me to snag him a case?

Lil Woodzees do have animal toys, but they are more akin to  cheaper Sylvanians.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Ponyfan on January 19, 2021, 08:10:57 AM
Thank you Leave a Whisper and Minty_Magic. :) I’m glad people enjoy my photos. I’m inspired to take another baby sea pony pic but I need to get motivated to get all the pieces together that I want to use.

I never realized that the towel looked really close to grass.

Ponyfan
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: LadyAmalthea on January 19, 2021, 09:28:43 AM
Aw, we don't have that one here, darn it! Just Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, I believe. Oh well, they are cute anyway!

So I had to do a Google search to see the toy I was thinking about, and it was a line of toys called Woodsies, unrelated from the sounds of it, with little animals (I think they were actually finger puppets), mostly squirrels, that lived in a soft log house that came with furniture. I also had the general store, which came with squishy produce baskets that would fit into either the wheelbarrow cart or the store window. I was going to try to copy and paste the link, but my phone doesn't seem to want to cooperate tonight.

If I see anymore food erasers, do you want me to snag him a case?

Lil Woodzees do have animal toys, but they are more akin to  cheaper Sylvanians.

Aw thanks, if you happen to see them, sure! But don't go out of your way or anything. He would probably love them...he's really into building 'worlds' for his toys right now.

I did look up the Lil Woodzees, and you are right, they do look a lot like the Sylvanian families. Super cute playsets!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: dannahbanana on January 21, 2021, 10:05:19 PM

I finally got a proper light box to photograph my ponies with, and it’s awesome!

May I ask for a link for where you got it from? Or for a similar product perhaps? I'd really love to have one of these light boxes, but I am having a hard time finding them. Right now I am just using a large cardboard box that I lined with nice wrapping paper and some lamps that I bought at the thrift store.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Minty_Magic on January 22, 2021, 10:02:55 PM

I finally got a proper light box to photograph my ponies with, and it’s awesome!

May I ask for a link for where you got it from? Or for a similar product perhaps? I'd really love to have one of these light boxes, but I am having a hard time finding them. Right now I am just using a large cardboard box that I lined with nice wrapping paper and some lamps that I bought at the thrift store.

Absolutely! This is the specific box I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/ShowMaven-Portable-Photography-Shooting-Backdrops/dp/B07ZF4P5HC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=showmaven+light+box&qid=1611320960&sr=8-1 (https://www.amazon.com/ShowMaven-Portable-Photography-Shooting-Backdrops/dp/B07ZF4P5HC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=showmaven+light+box&qid=1611320960&sr=8-1)
I got it for Christmas, so idk if my family paid full price for it. Through US Amazon there is a deal where if you use your American Express points you get 40% off, so they may have done that. I think it’s worth the full price though, just because it’s so compact. The lights are built into the top of the box, and the whole thing folds up flat for easy storage. The lights are also dimmable, so if you are getting too much glare, you can turn them down.

Here are some pics I’ve taken with it (and with some of your suggestions!) to give you an idea of how it performs. These are all unedited raw photos I took with my phone.

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Hope this helps! :)
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on January 22, 2021, 11:13:11 PM
Such gorgeous photos Minty Magic!

Here's a photo I took with props. I like to use a mix of the 'correct' accessories and also some extras. I like to mix gens and add LPS etc. In this photo they are 'still all in curlers' and doing the laundry:

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Here I used a mixture of accessories from various baby playsets:

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In this one, Baby Applejack's accessories are correct but I added these little Carebear Pillows which I *think* may have come from PandaBear but I'm not sure.

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The barette in Cuddles's hair is orange teddies but I can't remember which playset it's from.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 23, 2021, 06:42:16 AM
What cute photos you two
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: starrynights on January 23, 2021, 03:29:37 PM
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May I ask, who is she? I'm in love
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 23, 2021, 03:41:41 PM
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May I ask, who is she? I'm in love

That's Velvet Bow. She's one of the winter ponies. Isn't she lovely?
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: starrynights on January 23, 2021, 08:15:23 PM
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May I ask, who is she? I'm in love

That's Velvet Bow. She's one of the winter ponies. Isn't she lovely?
She is very photogenic!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: LNS on January 30, 2021, 07:19:23 PM
Backgrounds not something I've gotten into, yet. Just take pictures wherever that I think looks good. Lot of outdoor pictures as those are some of my favorites to take. :D

For props I love using Littlest Pet Shop, Shopkins, World's Smallest, Strawberry Shortcake pets, Calico Critters, anything that is in the size scale for Ever After and Monster High Dolls or Barbie. Can find some cute play foods that way. While kind of 'big' I do like using Squishables micros as they are like giant plushies for the ponies. :D Games (board or cards) ... both normal size and miniature can be a lot of fun. Miniature tea sets are love!  :heart: There are so many amazing miniatures out there that work wonderfully for the ponies.

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Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on January 30, 2021, 09:26:13 PM
Lovin em LNS
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Taxel on January 30, 2021, 10:37:24 PM
I haven't taken photos of my ponies in years, but I always favored the mini Lalaloopsy accessories and late 90s/early 2000s Barbie accessories.
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: dannahbanana on January 31, 2021, 09:55:40 PM


Here are some pics I’ve taken with it (and with some of your suggestions!) to give you an idea of how it performs. These are all unedited raw photos I took with my phone.




Thank you so much! Your photos are lovely.

With your advice I just bought a similar lightbox on Japanese Amazon!

I love it so far!
Title: Re: What do you use for pony photography backdrops? Props?
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on May 12, 2021, 06:26:06 AM
I don't have a lightbox but I have a white shelf with a white wall where I take photos in natural light. I have also taken some photos with supplemental incandescent light to show off glitter hair or symbols.

I haven't taken any new ones lately but if you'd like to see my photos there is a link in my sig. I like to use a combination of original, reproduction and custom accessories on a simple white background. Where I have the correct accessories for a pony i will use them but I am also happy to mix and match. Sometimes I buy custom accessories and sometimes I make them myself.
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