Prototype shot of zombie hunters and measuring grid.

Welcome to  sneak peak of a pet project of mine, the Master Zombie Database. The concept is simple, assemble representative samples of every line of zombies and/or zombie hunters I can lay my hands on and take comparative scale photos, complete with a reference grid. The goal is to eliminate the enternally frsutrating question of zombie collectors everywhere, “Company X makes great-looking stuff, but how will it look with my stuff from Company Y?”

There is still more to do before the first stage of the project goes live, but I thought I’d post a work-in-progress shot to see how the basic format will work. The background grid is laser-printed 4mm graph paper from a pack I picked up on RPGNow during their big GM’s Day sale. On first blush buying computerized graph paper seems kind of crazy, until I realized that I often have need for a single sheet of graph paper for one reason or another, and then naturally can’t find any of the zillion packs I’ve bought over the years. For a buck, that problem is now permanently solved. Thanks, Healing Fireball!

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot already. First, I’m going to need to take more care in getting everything to sit flat. This is harder than it looks because my photo backdrop has a rather stiff backing to it, and often wants to bulge or pucker in the most inopportune places. Also, I’m going to need to push the exposure a LOT, because the camera is obviosuly metering off the predominantly white background and underexposing the minis. Don’t believe me? Check out the shot below, which has been improved as much as I can in Photoshop. Grim, huh?

Fix exposure settings and reshoot. Got it.

Anyway, I’m happy with the labels, though I think I’ll keep it to four minis per shot in the future to allow room for text. As always, any suggestions about presentation or the project in general are most welcome.

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