Here’s what you’re seeing. There’s a 32x32 wooden folding table. The table was purchased to hold up the new 32x32 photo tent. The 32x32 photo tent was bought to hold the AEW Authentic Scale Ring. Thus creating an arena I can use to photograph action figures.
And it works. Mostly. I’m currently working through two problems:
1) Background removal is a giant screaming pain in the ass, between the weird reflections off the sides and the understandable but ultimately poor choice to use the black backdrop. I can try the yellow backdrop, but that doesn’t cover the sides.
So, with help from a VERY patient partner, my plan is to add velcro to the remaining inside wall corners (there are two already at the top back to hold the backdrop), then make four 32x32 squares of green craft felt to create a full surround green background and see how that works.
The second problem is… trickier. See, I got the Authentic Scale Ring (post/review imminent) and between the first and second times I set it up, one of the ringposts snapped in half. Jazwares does not offer a replacement. The first attempt at repair didn’t work. Some asshat on eBay thinks he can get FORTY DOLLARS for a single one, which, you know, supply and demand, but also go fuck yourself.
If a second repair effort doesn’t work or proves impractical due to time/effort constraints, my option is getting a new ring. The upside to that is that the ring currently for sale is not the ring I have, so if I do it, I’ll have a second (different) ring mat, a second (different) ring apron, and additional different turnbuckles to allow for a much greater setup variety. Also a different bundled figure and replacement parts for all the ringposts, the ropes, and the base supports if I end up needing them down the road. The downside is buying a whole second ring and either deep storing or recycling the main part of the ring. So we’ll see how that goes.
As you’ll see shortly, the first batch of pictures are NOT GOOD. Partly because of the background removal hassle, and partly because of the background replacement hassle. See, 95% of pro wrestling is shot from basically two angles - the hard cam over the entrance ramp (AEW; WWE puts the hard cam on the side) and handheld cams from people standing on the floor. Which means there are very few backgrounds available that match the kind of shots I tend to take (and took), angled down from above the top rope.
I played with various techniques to get around this in post, but I’m not thrilled with any of them, and given my already pretty casual standards for compositing, that’s saying something.
So we’ll see how it goes, but I think I can get there.
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