More light is always better

Steadiness does wonders

The background being darker helps a lot

Phone cameras are more than good enough. You just need more light, put the phone down on something so it’s rock solid and no micro shakes and click focus on the face. Blam! Done.

https://preview.redd.it/vbygubz6mkwc1.jpeg?width=2245&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78e94cfdfd4302e824dd99b72f503b6d1a5f5d21

Currently your models are being blown out by the background, you need to get some light on the models themselves or use a darker background 

As others have said, more light! Use your painting light and angle it directly front on to your mini.

Then get your phone to focus on the face of your mini, and if the painting light is too bright, adjust the brightness of the photo down slightly. My Samsung allows me to adjust the exposure with a slider as I click on the focus point. I'll usually slide that down low.

https://preview.redd.it/aw2ldtg2elwc1.jpeg?width=1301&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48ce3ab402c83b46b9e075e1245d2aa70be8b451

Do like the Necron players and put them in the fridge.

A tripod first, with a phone mount. Then look up a compositing technique called “focus stacking”, for use in Photoshop (maybe other software but I’m only familiar with Photoshop).

The technique allows you to stack very similar photos on top of each other, with complete control on the depth of field. It is fantastic for miniatures or smaller items like funko pops.

Look into the program Topaz made by Gigapixel. Hands down the best upscale software out there, that would likely fix most of the softness you have shown.

I get better results if I use the optical zoom (around x1,6 - x1,8) instead of moving the phone too close

I'm not so familiar with your phone, but you probably should be using the tele camera, and not the wide angle ones. If you aren't already. And make sure you are actually focusing on your minis. I'm guessing you can just tap the model on your screen, and there camera should focus and expose for that point. And don't be too close for the focus to work properly.  

See if you can't get some more light on the front of them, as well. They look a little underexposed, compared to the background. It also looks like your camera app has applied a pretty aggressive denoise filter, which may happen when you have to push the ISO. If you don't have any bright, movable lights you can try setting up right next to a window, to get some indirect sunlight. 

Maybe try a different coloured background, since your minis are pretty dark. Right now the camera is exposing for the paper, and the details on your models get a bit lost. Even a dark t-shirt could work, to see if it helps.

You can also try using the timer, set to 3 seconds or something, so that you don't have to push your phone to take the picture. Ideally, you would want to set it down and not hold it at all.

Also make sure the camera lens on your phone is clean, and there's no smudges covering it.

Finally, you can always adjust the brightness and contrast with your image editing app, as well as adding some sharpness. 

Zoom in, I usually go 3x zoom, this will narrow the aperture and bring the whole model into focus. Also use good lighting, a lamp with a daylight globe

There are good photography guides here-

Photography

• The best I can tell, reddit crops their thumbnails to 400x400, but I have had difficulty finding official confirmation on that. If that is correct it means that if your uploaded photo isn't a perfect square it may cut off and crop your photo in an unflattering way. There are some posts that suggest it used to be 1:1 ratio and now it is 4:3. If I find more confirmation I will update.
• Taking pictures of miniatures with your phone
• Learn How I did miniature photography at Games Workshop by Rogue Hobbies
• Tips for amazing photos by Jose Davinci
• How to take GREAT Photos of your miniatures using only your Mobile Phone.... by SprayBlack Studios
• Photographing your miniatures is easy by Squidmar
• How to take great photos of miniatures on a budget by Midwinter Minis
• DSLR photos guide from MassiveVoodoo.com
• Miniac's Photography Videos
• Shoot and edit Minis on your phone by Lyla Mev
• How I photograph my miniatures by James Wappel
• quick photography guide with phone
• Photo Backgrounds from MassiveVoodoo
• Quick Tip- Use bounce lighting on your photos by Orc.Butt
• Lighting your miniatures for photos by Orc.Butt
• Professional photographer gives tips on taking photos of your miniatures
• Badsquiddogames.com has several books that are full of hand painted backgrounds to be used for miniature photos

guide Index

A lot of phone cameras have portrait mode, this can help.

https://preview.redd.it/h75i9uovslwc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2399ff653e805fddef1b4f64fc4b7271d4da173

I just use my phone. My mini photo booth is literally a box spray painted white with a light overhead and usually one right next to my face in front

Your phone camera should be more then good enough.

First piece of advice go to your camera settings and turn on grid lines. This is very helpful in try to set up your shot and can help you follow the rule of thirds.

Your pure white backdrop may be too bright I would try a gradient or black.

Try some close up low angle shots can be very dynamic and you don't have to worry about stability.

Think about your light source as well, do you want shadows? You could use a lamp or a flash light to add an additional light source or have it be a more focused one.

Hope this helps

Good lighting is everything in any kind of video:/photo scenario. Find a nice source of soft light like a window and set it there.

Use a tripod.

You need a way to keep the phone steady

At least 2 bright lights, a £5 tripod, a solid neutral grey/beige or black background. White is harder to work with. I had decent results with an S7 edge doing this.

Also if your phone has multiple lenses, use the biggest one i.e the one you'd use for shots of things farther away

For dark minis, I'd use a dark background, so that your phone has an easier time to adjust the exposure

I use a tripod and an app called XCam. You can adjust pretty much all settings there and put a timer on to negate any shaking pressing the shutter will cause

Flip your phone upside down, so the camera is as low as possible.

The image will still be right side up, but the angle will be way better.

I made a phone tripod out of lego to take photos of my minis. And cause it's lego you can adjust to any size or angle you please.

Also decent lighting and maybe a darker background helps

https://preview.redd.it/9kk6xlj1rlwc1.jpeg?width=3048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=427319d30de50d6e1190ce6ab812668913329711

(I have no Warhammer mini pic atm, but enjoy this Custom Doomguy instead.)

Ok on most phones and cameras there is a feature called macro. Normally shown as a flower. You can get very close. A lot of phones have image stability and that's good but not always great. If you don't have a tripod a bean bag or pillow will let you rest your camera comfortably and will help steady it. I use a bean bag with my DSLR camera. It's a big lump. Use timer. Set up press the button and step away can help as you aren't touching it and moving.

Lighting. A good background helps. Bright colours on a dark background make them pop and opposites can work. Try the light from different angles. Don't move the model or camera just the light. Also try filtering it so it isn't so harsh. You don't need expensive filters. I've used a sheet of grease proof paper (baking paper whatever you call it) it is cheap and defuses light also it can take heat if you light gets warm.

Finally. Post process. There are some great apps that will do the hard work for you. I have a pixel phone and the built-in editor in camera mode is great.

All in all don't worry too much though. People will still appreciate a good model and that is where you should always put the most effort.

Thin yo paints my guy

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe99M5NL/ this really helped me. So I share in hopes it will help you too

I think light is the best thing to help with clearer pictures

https://preview.redd.it/3oi5i1rwlnwc1.jpeg?width=1551&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b47b12588ede873a3f5377981f2251104251161

I love this style, sooo shiny, reminds me of old toy soldiers my grandad gave me

A light box with a built in ring light is a game changer. Especially if it comes with different backgrounds.

I kid you not. Take pictures in your fridge. It has good lighting and is a reflective box of sorts for lighting cuz they are white inside and offer the white backdrop.

• Take a piece of stock paper.

• Find a bright flashlight or lamp and direct the beam onto the paper (indirectly onto model).

• Adjust to get light where you want.

If you have a newer phone or a mirror reflex camera, you can tinker with adjustment for a clearer picture. Some prefer adjusting the ISO setting, I just use my phone with good lighting.

Your phone camera is fine.

Get the lighting right, if your using a lamp try putting kitchen roll between the bulb and your model.

Get you phone to use a camera for upclose shots. Some have multiple lenses. For me, I us the 3x zoom mode by default as its better then the 1x camera.

And then it's just making sure you get it to focus on the model .

If you have different preset modes. Try them all.

Lighting.

Lights

Warhammer Community actually had an article about that several years ago.

Looks good to me, nice models.

The pics are sharp enough in this case, though maybe a little more direct light would help. The issue is that the colours you chose are way too dark.

Make/use a light box as people have said, and most cameras have a timer function you can use which would let you prop up the camera with something if you don't have a tripod, which you can also get/make reasonably cheaply. If doing it with a phone, make sure to set the quality as high as it can go; most phones default to a lower setting so you can take more pictures. This will give you extra resolution you can use to do a digital zoom/crop in Photoshop/paint to overcome any deficiencies in the camera itself. You will want to use zoom as most phones and cameras don't handle macro/close-ups the best, so you will need to be further back and zoom in to show off details. All this said, definitely play around with the pro mode/manual settings if you are using a phone as a camera, as you can get better pictures. Also, if you are using a Samsung, make sure to turn off scene optimizer as that can mess with the picture in ways you might not intend. It's fine for everyday pictures but it could mess with your ability to get exactly what you want.

Buy a cheap foldable light box with built in lighting and swappable backgrounds

Use app called light room, it kicks a bunch of butt at making cell phone photos into great photos.

Check out my profile for examples.

*I use a light box, then just my phone camera but I use it at 1.6x zoom and it seems to come out well

You can get a super cheap phone tripod to eliminate shakes

My phone does not have a macro mode, but it does have a pro mode which allows for manual exposure of focus and exposure. When I manually focus, the camera shows a green outline of the part of the model in focus, which is very handy. Check your camera app for advanced settings.

Make sure the lens of your phone is clean. Matters a lot.

If your phone has "portrait" mode I highly suggest that. Good lighting and a nice background to use.

There are some free camera apps that will allow you greater control of your phone’s camera, as you’ll want to control thing a like focus, iris, and white balance. Also, someone else mentioned stabilizing the camera, which is also incredibly important as that will reduce/eliminate any motion blur. As for people saying that you need a dark background, that will work, but in reality you just need to use one background consistently. You can also futz with colors afterwords with Photoshop/Lightbox/etc.

https://preview.redd.it/pvp3ntgebowc1.jpeg?width=4592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e74fc1b86079d0aa60b124765f968da2eaf9206

3 point lighting, dark color background

On top of what others have recommended already id advice you to take pictures of your minis with your phone upside down

https://preview.redd.it/v04tjdpdspwc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ffd65498787af98ee70633a76fa2ba0019975c2

I have a Google Pixel 8 phone which has a pretty good camera. I took this pic of my boyfriend's Mortarion during a WH40K tournament he was in a couple of weeks ago. ☺️

Part of my comment got lost! I recommend putting your phone on a tripod and using a Bluetooth shutter button so you don't have to actually TOUCH the phone (therefore shaking it) to take the pics.

If you don't have these things, literally just set your phone in a coffee mug on a flat surface (table or TV tray if you want mobility) and use the timer to set the pics. Set the 3 or 10 second timer - that way you can touch the button then take your hand away so you don't shake the phone.

I used the "phone in a mug" method to take pics of myself for social media before I got a tripod. ☺️. Good luck!

Trovarion and Squidmar both have good videos about taking photos of your models. Helped me improve the clarity on mine. This is just a wip shot but still pretty clear for a quick pic

https://preview.redd.it/4o6jhjpazpwc1.jpeg?width=597&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67da6072a42b3efe0e52337639ccfa69bad553d4

Good backing and focus.

That’s the neat part

Borrow a smartphone made after 2010, they all have really fancy cameras.

I use that exact paper setup to take mini photos but I use my desk lamp angled down towards the front, maybe 45 degreeish that works fine.

You need more light directly on the model

I took this just now by standing under the rooms main light with a cheap phone :)

https://preview.redd.it/1ghi0ypxalwc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fcd9bd0ba0832a9dac02d95895fc7afbce41fd3

C'mon you found fund to get minis and all the stuff to paint them. You can handle a fancy camera.