Diorama Shooting Demo – Koon Seng Road
– Demo by Editor AL Lee

Image: Editor AL’s set up for 1/64 scale diorama of Koon Seng Road.

21st November 2021, Singapore – Recently a photographer got featured for shooting a miniature diorama of Koon Seng Road in Singapore. And many of our students started asking me for tips on shooting diorama. I managed to get the exact same print-out from a reliable source and I decided to do up this article along with a video (below) to show how this is being done.

Check out the video!

I set up a portable table in the middle of the neigbourhood park in the direction of the sun.

The background/ backdrop scene was pre-printed on a sticker sticked to a foam board. Likewise the road are harvested from other images. The road were adjusted to fit into this scene.

As mentioned in the video, the cars used are from Takara Tomy in 1:64 scale. This is important, buying a wrong scale car will destroy the scale management of this scene.

Below is what I’ve gotten before I crop to size.

Below: After Cropping.

To view the full set of images from this project, click here.
To view the other images that I had done with this diorama set, click here.

I used my Sony a7R and paired it to the new Sigma DC DN 18-50mm F2.8 (C). It was designed for APS-C cameras – what I am really getting is about 27-75mm F2.8 once it is mounted on my full frame body. This is one underrated Sigma lens – designed as a budget walkaround lens with a wide aperture (F2.8), this lens amazed me with its focusing speed powered by a stepping motor and it is exceptionally quiet and very fast.

The external design is pretty standard. The front takes 55mm filters and generally a small-looking lens (61.6mm×76.5mm) and weight only 290gm). Inside the lens, the real surprise here are the lens elements. The optics are arranged in 10 groups with 13 elements including 1 SLD element & 3 aspherical elements for optimum optical quality and sharpness. That is amazing since such configuration are usually found in more expensive lenses etc. The lens has 7 rounded diaphragm blades that produces nice and smooth bokehs. Another feature that I was very impressed with – the minimum focusing distance is only about 12 cm!!!!!  Add that to the magnification ratio of 1:2.8, this lens is capable of doing many close-ups! (Not exactly macro, but close!) The lens also comes with a dedicated Petal Type Hood (LH582-02) which was supplied in the retail box.
Note: We will be back with a full review for the Sigma DC DN 18-50mm F2.8 (C) 

In Summary, shooting a diorama is similar to shooting miniature toys. Just that a scenery of the same scale are added thus the importance of scale management. A wrongly scaled vehicle or fixture will destroy the overall composition easily and that is pretty obvious why.
Use good lighting and make use of the outdoor sun. Shadows adds a “reality touch” which adds to the feel of the final image delivery. Remember, you are trying to create a real scene with toys but still leaving hints of reality so that your viewers can be optically confused -and that is the desired effect of such diorama images.

Hope all of you had learn something about shooting diorama today, take care and I will be back with a full review of this Sigma lens too. Ciao.

Buying this Background
This printed background was found to had been extracted from Wikipedia. It was size adjusted and printed on sticker which was transferred to a foam board. If you are keen, I will be happy to help you print and ship it to you for a token fee.

Buying the Cars
All the cars used are from Takara Tommy in 1:64 scale. All Takara Tomy cars have their scale printed on the retail box, so please check carefully before buying. Using a wrong scale car WILL destroy your image. These cars are available in selected pretol kiosks, Toys R’ Us & Don Don Donki (in Singapore).

Buying this Lens
If you need a wide to tele zoom lens that does almost everything, the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN (C) is our best recommendation, you should go ahead & buy this lens.
Buy from our accredited merchants for a peace of mind!

Renting this Camera/Lens – (Please check for availability first)
For those of you who wish to try out this lens before purchase, we are pleased to share that this camera & lens is probably available for rental at our appointed rental merchant:

Camera Rental Centre is Conveniently Located at:
50 South Bridge Road, CMO Building,  (very near to Clarke Quay MRT)
#02-18. Singapore 058682
Website: https://camerarental.biz/

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Reviewer: Chief Editor AL Lee

Chief Editor & Founder of Ourshutterjourney.com Worldwide and Principal Trainer at Ourshutterjourney Photography Academy. AL is a commercial photographer as well as an educator who believes in the art of digital memories. An ambassador of several photography brands, AL is well versed in many camera systems. Someone once told us AL’s man cave looks more like a camera store than a bedroom.

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