“Like a lot of folks, I grew tired of photographing my miniatures against a boring blue board. I tried using landscape photographs, but it made my miniatures and scenery look weirdly stylised and out of place. As an illustrator, with a lot of landscape paintings on hand, it was a natural step to print some paintings and use them as backdrops. And it worked!”
Backdrop Books are A4 or A3, softcover, wire-bound books of painted landscapes by Jon Hodgson (artist for Warhammer Historical, The One Ring Roleplaying Game, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay).
The books are intended to be a tool for miniature painters who want high quality, thematic backdrops to use when photographing their miniatures and models.
There are a range of books to choose from, and they all come in A4 or A3 sizes, in the heaviest paper weights we can source:
Book One: This was the first book we put together, not knowing if we would be making any more. If we remade it today, it’d probably be called “Fantasy”. It contains 32 images of misty moors, rolling hills, forests, and more. Many of the images can also happily be used as modern day countryside. All of the images are quite muted in tone to allow your figures to leap out of the scene as the main focus. This book also contains advice on photography from professional photographer Jared Earle, and renowned cell phone photographer and troublemaker Annie Norman.
Sci-fi Backdrops: Working in collaboration with 3d artist Paul Bourne, this book is perfect for sci-fi models and contains a range of futuristic landscapes in a variety of flavours from rusty abandoned factories to strange planetary vistas to drop behind your models. The images are both painterly and hard-edged.
Fantasy Ruins and Tunnels: Another collection of fantasy landscapes, featuring rolling hills, misty moors, and mountain scenes. There are also a series of tunnels, caves, and sewers to offer new options. This book also has some portrait format pages for your taller models, or for scenes with much greater height.
Sci-fi Ruins and Interiors: More sci-fi! Dystopian and utopian, landscapes and interiors this book will refresh your sci-fi model photography! This book also has some portrait format pages for your taller models, or for scenes with much greater height.
Skies: This is a really useful book, with universal application for miniatures, models and more! It’s also our most subtle collection, and will find a wide application in your photography! This is perhaps the book which brings new atmospheres to your set ups with the least effort, and is ideal if you use a lot of scenery in your shots.
Winter: A series of wintery scenes, with chilly vistas of 32 frozen landscapes. This book also has some portrait format pages for your taller models, or for scenes with much greater height.
Backdrop books are really easy to use. Set up your figure, select your backdrop and away you go! It’s very easy to swap backdrop mid-shoot, and the backdrops add a huge amount of narrative and simple quality to your photographs. Read more about using the books here.
And get a free PDF guide to making your own simple plinth for your figures here.
If you do take some photos with our backdrops and share them on social media, be sure to use the hashtag jhbackdrops – we love seeing your projects!
We also have a FB group for sharing your work here.
Backdrop Books
If you’re looking for digital files, you can grab set one and set two here. These PDF files can be home printed, but are not available for commercial licensing.