How to build and dress the set
Piece together the perfect paddling pool for your miniature modelling minions
1 CANNONBALL RUN
For my three swimmers enjoying the view (or ready to jump into the pool), I secured them with Blu-Tack to keep them stuck to the edge of the bowl. You could also tack them to a spoon, if you wanted to bring that additional element to your composition. 2 GO GREEK
Milk isn’t ideal for this project: the cereal quickly gets soggy, the colours bleed, and the figures sink. Thick yoghurt will keep the cereal drier for longer, and your swimmers won’t sink. You could even sculpt in some ‘waves’ if you’re feeling adventurous! 3 SUGARY GOODNESS Try to choose a cereal that has interesting shapes and colours – it may not be very nutritious when you eat it, unfortunately, but it will certainly make your photographs look more exciting! Your figures could even stand on or interact with the cereal pieces.
4 THE PERFECT POOL Your bowl might be inconsequential when you’re just eating breakfast, but picking the right bowl to photograph is key. You don’t want a white one, as it will disappear against the background, and you don’t want it too patterned or busy, as it will be distracting.
5 FIGURE IT OUT
Your figures are the centrepiece of your scene, so getting the right ones is crucial. These 1:87 scale miniatures from Preiser (available through Amazon and other retailers) are perfectly sized, and come in a variety of poses that work brilliantly for a little diorama like this.
6 KEEP IT CLEAN Whether you’re shooting on your kitchen counter or on top of an ironing board like I did, using a sheet of white poster board as your background keeps your image nice and clean, so that there are no distractions from the main event.