Toytography Magazine (Winter 2023)

DECEMBER 2023

HOW TO POSE YOUR FIGURE WITH A FIREARM IN THE COOLEST WAY POSSIBLE

DITCH THE OUTDOORS AND WORK WITH LIGHTS ON THE INSIDE

SPEAKS ABOUT THE LENGTHS HE WILL GO TO CREATE A DIORAMA FOR THAT DESIRED PHOTO

TOYTOGRAPHYMAG.COM

CON TE CONT E NT S

TABLE OF

2 POSING WITH GUNS 3 FEATURED TOYTOGRAPHER 12 WORKING WITH INDOOR LIGHTING 26 TOYTOGRAPHY WALL 30 CONTEST WINNER 35 NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER A Message fr om Br ian Car r

Cr eating unique poses with guns

Visual Appr oac h- Sean Kenar y

ditc hing the outdoor elements and taking photos indoor s

Inspir ing wor k fr om our r eader s

Themed Contest #ac tion

A Note from the Founder

I always enjoy discovering new ways to enhance my toytography. Lately, I have been inspired to create my own little diorama projects to make my photos appear more lifelike.

During this year, I have become acquainted with more diorama builders and I have received so much valuable advice. I’m still amazed at all of the interesting people in the toy collecting and toytography community who are eager and ready to share their knowledge with everyone who wants to learn.

I truly hope you take advantage of all that this magazine has to offer. There truly are some talented people out there..

r r a C n a i Br Founder

In this issue It’s always fun to pose figures with guns, so we’re giving you a tutorial to get you started with some great poses.

Our feature interview is with Sean Kenary. A talented Toytographer who also likes to create dioramas for his photos. He explains his love for creating sets for his photos and where he gets his inspiration.

Don't forget to check out our artist wall and this issue's themed contest winner.

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O P

G W N I I TH S

GUNS

One of the main accessories that comes with most action figures is a firearm of some kind. Whether it be a figure from the old west or a hero from a faraway galaxy, you can expect it to be a cool looking weapon. And when you’re posing your figure with that weapon, you’ll want to pose the figure in the coolest way possible. First, let’s start off with the pistols and work our way into the trickier poses with weapons that require two hands.

When posing your figure with a sidearm, there are several different creative ways to do so. Let’s start with something simple with just having your figure stand and aim their weapon. It may seem like a simple enough task (and it can be), but there are some subtle adjustments that need to be made in various areas. Depending upon the size of the weapon, the character needs to be able to withstand the recoil. If the firearm is small, there’s not much recoil and obviously a larger firearm produces a greater recoil. In some instances, you can place the figure in a tactical position. This generally means the character will hold their firearms with both hands instead of one. This creates better stability when the gun is fired.

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POSING WITH HANDGUNS When posing your figure with a handgun, there are several different creative ways to do so. Let’s start with something simple with just having your figure stand and aim their weapon. It may seem like a simple enough task (and it can be), but there are some subtle adjustments that need to be made in various areas. Depending upon the size of the weapon, the character needs to be able to withstand the recoil. If the firearm is small, there’s not much recoil and obviously a larger firearm produces a greater recoil. In some instances, you can place the figure in a tactical position. This generally means the character will hold their firearms with both hands instead of one. This creates better stability when the gun is fired.

Depending on the articulation of the figure, you can also have the figure’s hand on the holster as if they will draw their weapon at any moment. Usually, when the figure is in this type of pose, they are slightly leaning forward. This can be achieved with slight adjustments to the torso. You’re going to have to work with the figure’s center of gravity to keep it from falling over. This may be a little difficult at first, but patience is key.

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One interesting way is to pose the figure with their hand just resting on the gun while it’s in the holster.

This is a cool pose for when you want to portray that casual look.

To achieve a proper stance with this pose, your figure’s waist is going to need to be slightly twisted in the direction of holster. This will allow the arm and hand to look more believable when it’s resting on the gun.

Slightly lean forward Slight twist of the hip Hand on gun Second hand is ready to pull back the hammer Opposite leg is leaning forward

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Depending on the articulation of the figure, you can also have the figure’s hand on the holster as if they will draw their weapon at any moment. Usually, when the figure is in this type of pose, they are slightly leaning forward. This can be achieved with slight adjustments to the torso. You’re going to have to work with the figure’s center of gravity to keep it from falling over.

This may be a little difficult at first, but patience is key.

Posing with a type of revolver can also be interesting. But this type of pose can also get a little tricky because the arm holding the gun must be in a position that is ready to withstand the recoil and, if using both hands, the second needs to be positioned to pull back the hammer. The key areas that you need to focus on in this type of pose are the firing arm, the torso, the head and the feet. Once you have those areas in the proper position, you can adjust the other areas as you please.

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ROCKIN’ THE DUAL PISTOLS Two pistols are better than one! Posing a figure with dual pistols can be the coolest poses to pull off with relative ease. You can either aim them both in one direction or two opposite directions. The figure’s head can also either look in the direction of where they want to aim or have them look in neither direction of a particular gun and still look cool.....sort of.

Depending on the style you want your photo to be, you can cover this type of pose from numerous angles and still have the image look pretty awesome.

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SAWED OFF SHOTGUNS Sawed off shotguns are another very cool weapon to pose with. Nothing screams “Tough Guy” more than holding a shotgun with one hand. The only main thing you need to be concerned with when posing a figure that is aiming this type of gun is how the arm is positioned.

Because this is a type of firearm that has major recoil, the figure needs to be posed in a position that looks like they will be able to withstand it. This can be achieved by posing the figure with their arm extended outward. With a straight arm, they will appear that they are ready to take the kickback.

Other cool ways to pose your figure with the gun is by simply holding it while walking or (if the gun has functionality) pose them as if they are reloading.

There are numerous ideas, so be creative.

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POSING WITH RIFLES Things can get a little tricky and a bit more difficult, when posing with rifles. Some figures are limited in their articulation and can therefore make it difficult to raise the arms of the figure to the right height. In some cases, the figure may have good articulation, but the outfit on the figure will be the thing that creates restrictions on the figure’s movement.

The size and type of rifle will determine the stance of the figure. The “build” of the figure will also play a factor in the posing. While the rifle may be just a piece of plastic, when using your imagination for the photo, the rifle must appear to have some significant weight to it. If it doesn’t, you will pull the viewer out of the illusion you are trying to create.

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Remember, this is all a learning process. As you’re working with your figures (and improving their aim) check out other photos and various forms of media for references. There are some rich material out there that can give you some good ideas.

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WWW.JAZZINCDIORAMAS.COM

www.onesixthkit.com

SEAN KENARY

Toytography Magazine: So, how long have you been doing your toy photography? How did you get started with it?

Sean Kenary: I think I started in April of 2019. I think that’s when I took what I consider my first toy photo. I took, I think it was the Hot Toys Empire Strikes Back... Oh, it was the Return of the Jedi Boba Fett, and I paused the Return of the Jedi DVD, held him in front of the TV, and I took a picture of it. Prior to that, I had been taking pictures of my collection with my phone, but I was looking for a new way to enjoy my collection. As a 40, now 44, year old person, you can’t make them punch each other, and you can’t have dialog between your toys. So, I was like, “How do I enjoy these in a way that is engaging and enjoyable?” I was perusing Instagram and I came across those accounts, The Imperial Grunt and Work More or Less...

Trooper Nerd was another one. Sgt Bananas, obviously. I’ll talk more about him in a minute...

I saw those guys, and I felt pretty welcomed into the community because the Imperial Grunt commented on one of my photos. Then, I remember posting something, if you go back in my page, there’s a post that says, “I have a new hobby. It is toy photography,” and I think I posted four times in one day. I was just obsessed with it, and they were atrocious, but I didn’t care. I did not care. I found a way to tell some stories with these action figures and toys that I had and enjoy them.

I was an inbox collector before that. I was like, “Alright, I’m just going to open a couple Black Series figures and I’ll take the photo,” and now I paint everything I get. I matte clear coat them, I’ll put washes on them, I’ll chip up the paint, and try to get them camera ready. It has snowballed. That’s kind of how I got into it.

Then I saw the Tested episodes with Johnny and he really pulled back the curtain. You got to watch him do this stuff with Norm Chan, and he was just a guy who enjoyed toys and was just a humble person who just got into it and loved doing it. I churned through those videos.

I watched them a hundred times to watch how he was doing the snow, and I was like, “Oh, he’s putting all his lights behind his figures or on the sides.” I was lighting figures from the front, and I was like, “Why are they so washed out?” He used film sets. They looked like little film sets. I saw that he was scaling down his lighting.

That’s how I got my first Lume Cube Air and an aperture panel from Target, and I started trying to scale down my lighting. Once I started backlighting and rim lighting, I started to see some success. Then, I started shooting every day. The first year, I think I posted every other day, at least. I was editing on my phone. I didn’t have Lightroom. I didn’t have any photo editing apps. It was just moving some sliders and I would just post, post, post, post.

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TM: You don’t use your phone now? Do you still use your phone to take pictures?

SK: No. So, I was using my phone originally, then I got a Canon. I still have it here somewhere. My sister-in-law gave my wife a Canon TI1. That was my first DSLR. That’s when I was like, “Ok, I’m going to try to take proper pictures of my toys.” But I would send the photos through the app to my phone, edit them from my phone, and then upload them. I did use my phone for a toy photo last month on vacation. The Walker on the beach I took with my cellphone, because I wanted the walker to feel huge. The only way for me to do that, was to use the phone. I use a 50mm macro, and I have a Canon T6, maybe? It doesn’t matter... I just couldn’t get the scale that I wanted with that camera and that lens setup, and I tried it with my phone. I took one photo, and it was exactly what I wanted, and I packed up and went back to the beach house we were renting.

TM: So, when you take your photos, you still feel that there are times when there are things that a DSLR just cannot get?

SK: No. We’re shooting stuff that’s so small, and if you want it to feel big... So, I keep talking about him, the Imperial Grunt. He does both.

He’ll do phone and a regular camera. He does some shots and they look like there’s a photographer embedded with these troops. He did one where they were in the Mandalorian troop transport. The storm troopers are kind of sitting on these seats and he put his phone in there and took a photo and it’s like you’re in the vehicle with them. So, sometimes, I think people can get bogged down by the gear, but you just have to do what works for the shot. He would have never gotten that shot with a regular camera. If you do it well, you can’t tell.

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TM: Yeah, I’ve noticed it has to do with your angles and your lighting. You’re two thirds of the way there with that combination.

SK: Yeah. You can’t rescue a bad photo in photoshop. I’m not great at compositing. I use a lot of printed backgrounds from a print shop or I use the dioramas that I have, because it’s hard for me to see an idea, only shoot half of it, and do the other half afterwards and post. I feel more comfortable with a setup if it’s almost fully realized. I don’t do digiramas well.

One of the comments that my wife made when I first started doing toy photography and building sets is that I would build this elaborate setup, but I would only shoot a small portion of it. For my brain to work, I have to get it right. I have to feel like I'm there, and it has to be all encompassing. Sometimes my setups take a while, sometimes they don’t at all. I did a shot with Conan vs the Predator. He’s shoulder blocking the Predator off a cliff, or something,

TM: Yes, I saw that! That was a really good shot.

SK: I had an idea, and I was like, “I think I can make this work.” I got that shot in 45 minutes to an hour. I went and I looked at it, and I did a couple of things in Lightroom and added the snow effect under his feet in Photoshop. I was like, “Oh my God, it’s done.” Sometimes, it’s a slog. It takes all day, and I’m building stuff, and I’m moving the camera trying to get the right angle, to get the image in my mind into the camera, and it’s impossible.

TM: Yeah. I did something recently where I was spent hours trying to put together a scene. And after several hours of putting it all together, the scene just didn’t look right and I ended up taking the whole thing down and not using the shot.

SK: I hate that. So, I shot the Mandalorian holding onto a Tie Fighter. It took me... I think I started shooting that on a Friday, and I think I finished it the following Thursday. I tried to shoot it every day. I had the Tie Fighter, it’s the Black Series First Order Tie Fighter that I repainted, I had it balanced on this little pole thing because I needed to get it in the air.

Mando has a wire around his waist and into the little cockpit of the Tie Fighter, and he’s holding on. It’s so precarious, like a strong wind or someone opens the door and this thing’s all going down. I left it up for a couple of days because I just couldn’t get it right. Then I finally... I have these soft boxes that I got on Groupon for 30 bucks and they’re awesome, and I just kind of swiveled it and I got the shadow or contrast that I wanted, and I finally got it. I took a couple and I was tweaking them a little bit, but sometimes it takes me a week because my mind will just not let me stop until I feel like I’ve taken something satisfactory. But nothing beats a shot you get in 20 minutes, though. Those are my favorite shots.

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TM: Yes! And they’re just so random! It just depends on what it is and how your mind sees it. Sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn’t.

TM: Yes! And they’re just so random! It just depends on what it is and how your mind sees it. Sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn’t.

SK: Yeah. No rhyme or reason to it.

SK: Yeah. No rhyme or reason to it.

TM: How many dioramas do you own?

TM: How many dioramas do you own?

SK: So, I have two lava dioramas. I’ve got Jabba’s Palace, like the back half of Jabba’s Palace, so if you’re looking over Jabba’s shoulder. I have that three story building that I just finished. I have a church that has an arch that has three walls of the interior or exterior of the church, depending on how you shoot it. I just recently made a roof for it with cedar shingles from Hobby Lobby. I have three Star Wars buildings that I made. I have the hangar that I made. It’s Styrene and foam and it’s a 1/18 scale Star Wars hangar.

SK: So, I have two lava dioramas. I’ve got Jabba’s Palace, like the back half of Jabba’s Palace, so if you’re looking over Jabba’s shoulder. I have that three story building that I just finished. I have a church that has an arch that has three walls of the interior or exterior of the church, depending on how you shoot it. I just recently made a roof for it with cedar shingles from Hobby Lobby. I have three Star Wars buildings that I made. I have the hangar that I made. It’s Styrene and foam and it’s a 1/18 scale Star Wars hangar.

TM: What’s your largest?

TM: What’s your largest?

SK: So, the Star Wars hangar is on its own table.

Haha! But the lava diorama is 3’ x 3’. It’s a pretty wide surface area, and there’s two of them. That’s probably the biggest. That’s kind of part of my problem. I do tend to make things that are enormous, and they take a long time and they end up taking up a lot of room. You can’t park your car in my garage right now. It’s only a one car garage. I have a modest home, but it’s where I build stuff and it’s my shooting studio, more or less.

TM: What’s the inspiration behind the dioramas? Do you just get a scene in mind and you’re like, “Ok, I need to build a diorama for it”? Or do you just build a diorama and the photos come after?

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SK: So, the Star Wars hangar is on its own table.

Haha! But the lava diorama is 3’ x 3’. It’s a pretty wide surface area, and there’s two of them. That’s probably the biggest. That’s kind of part of my problem. I do tend to make things that are enormous, and they take a long time and they end up taking up a lot of room. You can’t park your car in my garage right now. It’s only a one car garage. I have a modest home, but it’s where I build stuff and it’s my shooting studio, more or less.

TM: What’s the inspiration behind the dioramas? Do you just get a scene in mind and you’re like, “Ok, I need to build a diorama for it”? Or do you just build a diorama and the photos come after?

SK: Yeah, so it’s usually build the diorama because I got an idea for a diorama, or a saw a technique that I could apply to a diorama.

Then, the shots come afterwards. I don’t think I ever built a diorama for something specific, except for the Jabba the Hut thing. I built that for a specific project in 2020. So, I was watching ILM documentary on Disney+ and they were talking about how they used Styrene for model making, and all this other stuff, and they were showing how they were making scratch built models and stuff. Then, I saw an episode of Tested where Adam Savage did a Styrene panel. It showed how you do a panel, like how you would do one on a Starship, with greebles and all these little things. And I was like, “Ok, I think I can do that.”

So, I went and I bought a ton of Styrene, and the first thing I made was this hangar, which fits the Legacy Falcon. I put the Razorcrest in it.

Luke’s X-wing has been in there. The Republic Gunship fits. All the vintage scale stuff. I think it will fit the Ghost, when it comes. So, the first thing I did was build this massive hangar, and I really enjoyed it. It took me a couple of months. I think I spent $300 on materials. I think it was the first thing I built that was held together by magnets. All the people who make these things are adept at putting this stuff together with magnets, so I was like, “I’m going to put this together with magnets. I’m going to learn my lesson.” And it worked great. I’m looking over my shoulder at it, and it hasn’t collapsed, it has held up beautifully, and I’ve shot it a billion times. I would shoot it every day, but I know people are already sick of it.

Haha!

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TM: Haha, I ran into the same issue when posting photos on Instagram. Sometimes you can fall into the trap of wanting to please your viewers instead of what you want to post.

SK: Right! More than anything, I don’t take the audience into account when I’m planning a photo. I think that the audience is there because they like whatever figure I decide to shoot and how I decide to shoot it, for whatever audience I could possibly claim to have. And I care more about how it looks in my gallery on Instagram in conjunction with all the other shots that I’ve posted. I think about how it fits into that, more than how it would be received. I’m often revisiting my work because it’s my Instagram page, so I want that to look pleasing. I’ve actually archived a couple of photos that have done well, that were well received, because I didn’t like how they fit into the gallery as a whole, so I just archived them.

They’re just hidden now, so I could see what I think is a pleasing gallery view.

TM: Oh, that’s interesting! So, do you have a toy that you just can’t stop photographing, even though you have other stuff? Do you have a favorite figure?

SK: I think of the Mandalorian as a blank canvas, so I photograph him a lot. I put him in precarious situations. The reason I like shooting him, too, is he’s wearing a bucket, and I shoot a lot of 1/12 scale, and it’s easier to make him look like a convincing person in a costume when he’s wearing a bucket, and not a head sculpt. So, I think I get better results with my shooting style. In my mind, I’m thinking of it like a Renaissance painting where I have Mandalorian fighting four Storm Troopers, and I use these long exposures to try to capture as much of the ridiculousness as I can. So, probably Mandalorian. Probably Darth Vader.

Those two characters. Mandalorian has recently captivated me, since the show came out, and I’ve always been enthralled by Vader.

Luke is my favorite Star Wars character, but I prefer to shoot Vader. There are not many Luke head sculpts that look like Mark Hamill, so I’m stuck with Vader.

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TM: Those seem to be the two most challenging people that I have seen that just make it so difficult to get right, and that’s getting Mark Hamill and getting Harrison Ford. Those seem to be the main two. It’s so hard to find somebody to do a good job with a Harrison Ford head sculpt.

SK: I think there are enough pictures of him where you can get it right! I have a Hot Toys A New Hope Han Solo. It doesn’t look like Harrison Ford. I mean, you can tell it’s him, because he’s in a Han Solo costume, but it doesn’t look like Harrison Ford. From certain angles, but not really. I still love it, but it’s not Harrison Ford.

TM: It’s interesting that you mention that, because sometimes I can look at a particular figure and I can say, “Ok, I know that when you sculpted this, you were looking at a photo of this person from this angle.” Because when I turn it at a certain angle, it looks great, but when I turn it to another angle, no.

SK: And they’re really only now starting to do expressions. Before, they were doing these static, expressionless, deadpan faces. It’s very challenging to do something where the character’s not just standing there, unless they have an expressive face. It’s another reason why it’s a good idea to use a character that’s wearing a bucket or a helmet, because you’re not pigeonholed by the expression on the character’s face.

TM: Yes. And that’s why I see that it’s just extremely difficult to get certain angles, certain poses, because no one would have that kind of blank expression while throwing a punch.

SK: We look at things from a very interesting vantage point, because we think about how we’re going to photograph it, what it’s going to look like in front of a camera. And the large swaths of the community, the majority of them, that doesn’t enter their thoughts at all.

They get an expressionless, stoic Luke Skywalker, and as long as it looks like Mark Hamill, they’re good. But I’m like, I can’t have this guy light saber fighting anyone, because he looks like he’s standing in line at the deli.

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So, the SH Figuarts Mandalorian Luke that came out looks exactly like Mark Hamill. It is great. But it also looks like he’s just standing around casually, waiting for a ride. So, you can’t... When I first did that Tie Fighter shot that I was telling you about earlier, I actually had Luke Skywalker on the Tie Fighter, holding on with his light saber up. But he’s got this expression on his face where it’s like “business as usual”. I don’t like to do scene recreation, so I didn’t want to put Moff Gideon in the Tie Fighter then have Mandalorian hanging on to it, like he did in the season finale, because I don’t think I could ever do a scene recreation well enough to my liking so that it looks like the scene that we saw in the show or movie. So, I try not to do them.

TM: Yeah, I’m the same way. I’m like, “You already saw the scene, so why do I need to recreate it?”

SK: All day today, all I saw was Anakin and Ahsoka toy photos. It’s like, guys, I get that you were so excited that you wanted to capture it in your own way, that you’re enthused about it, that’s great. But a new Boba Fett figure comes out, and my feed is just Boba Fett. When the black series Return of the Jedi Boba Fett came out, everybody had him with a bounty, shooting, punching, kicking, doing whatever, that’s why when I shared the picture of Boba Fett, that same figure, I had him sitting on a couch with his feet up on a Han Solo in carbonite coffee table. Because everything else had been done. They had done these incredible photos of him being Boba Fett, and I was like, “I gotta do something different.” It was fun for me to try to do that.

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TM: Yeah, and that’s the kind of out of the box thinking that I personally like to see. Honestly, those types of photos are the ones that stand out. If everyone’s trying to take the same photo, you’re going to look for something that’s different.

SK: Mashups are crazy popular. My friend Jason B. Michael, who everybody knows, has done incredible mashups, and they’re prolific, and they share his work uncredited all the time.

He’s gone viral a couple times with the Mario shot where Mario’s being chased by the velociraptor, or the Gamorrean guard being chased by the Swedish Chef, the great shot of Jack Nicholson from The Shining with Mike from Monsters Inc. He’s very good at doing mashups and making them work. I think the one mashup I’ve done is Conan and the Predator.

That’s the only one where I had the idea, and I was confident enough to post it. He does that stuff incredibly well.

TM: So, just to revisit the topic of your dioramas....how did you get started in creating them? Because I was amazed to discover that you build your own.

SK: Yeah. It’s out of necessity, you know. If you have an idea, and you can’t shoot the idea because you don’t have the environment or the background... I think commissions are appropriately priced, but that doesn’t mean I can afford them. Haha! So, I have been forced to make my own, and I gotta tell you, it’s become just as much fun as shooting. I think I’ve posted once or twice in the past month and a half or so, and it’s because I’ve gone into hibernation mode where I’m building this building diorama. It’s been super relaxing, it’s rejuvenating, and it helps me get excited for shooting again. It allows me to build the stuff that I want to have for the ideas that I have, however few and far between they are. It’s hard to explain to someone in a commission what you truly want, because you’re only going to get a percentage version of it.

So, it’s best to just try to build it yourself.

Jordan Affonso at “Oilers Workshop” and Terrafoamer and all those dudes will answer your questions, they do all these great behind the scenes, and Jordan is live all the time.

Then, I steal all these ideas from DVD behindthe-scenes, like I’ll watch the prequels and watch how they did the practical sets and stuff for the miniatures...just take notes and try to create some suitable version of that for my toy photography. It’s just been a blast. It’s been just as much fun as shooting for sure.

TM: That’s pretty creative! It’s cool to be able to find inspiration through so many sources. It puts you in a position to be able to share your knowledge with others.

SK: I spend a lot of time responding to messages, and I think people are surprised when I give them lengthy responses. I don’t have any secrets, because I don’t think I’ve developed any of these techniques myself. We call it a community, so if it’s a community, then the knowledge is shared. We’re trying to build our community, make it better, and I think part of that is.... You know, I think most people are aware of “gatekeeping” in certain communities, and I don’t want that to exist in toy photography because I would have held back so much had someone withheld information from me. Like, The Imperial Grunt or Work More or Less. I would ask them questions, like “Hey, I just started toy photography. I just got my first camera. You just built this little model and did this setup. Can you just answer a couple questions?” They were so very gracious and did that. Now, they’re people I can talk to about anything, you know, not just toy photography. I try to do the same thing. If somebody asks me a question, you’re going to get the full answer. I don’t have any secrets. I’ll tell you exactly how I did it. I’ll tell you every time I messed it up.

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TM: See, that’s the great thing about it. I was talking to another photographer about what we do, and that’s the reason why we can be so open with our answers. Because, when someone comes and asks, “How did you do that?”, “How did you get that image?”, or “What do I need to do?”, there’s only so much information you can tell them. When I tell you about my photo, I can only tell you about what I did with what you saw. But, unless you’re going to do the exact same photo, you’re not going to get the same result.

SK: Right! You’re eye... We may technically be, and I think a lot of us are technically on the same level as far as skill, but it’s execution and how we choose to capture a certain idea or image. That’s why I’m like, yeah, this how I did whatever shot it was. Please, try it. There’s a handful of lava dioramas out there now, floating around, because of the lava diorama I made. Again, I was very open and said, “Go watch this documentary on the Revenge of the Sith DVD called ‘In Less Than a Minute’. They made a physical set that I copied to make my lava diorama.” I just copied that, so if you copy that, artistically yours will look different, based on the way you want it to look for your photography and mine will look how I want it to look for my shots. There are a few people out there that have made the same diorama I made and, again I told them, this is where I learned it.

Please, have at these. Do what you gotta do, and please tag me because I’d love to see it.

Some people, maybe they feel they have a trick of the trade and they gotta hold on to it, but I don’t want to do that. I like people.

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TM: Haha, that’s great! Well, speaking of the people... for those that look at your photography and follow you and want to know how you do things, is there any advice you can give to someone who’s just starting out? Or maybe they’re in it and looking to improve? Is there any advice that you could give to them?

SK: SK: I would say, keep shooting. You have to shoot a lot, because you have to make mistakes. We’ve all heard this, that they are learning opportunities. I’ve made, probably, more mistakes than most, and learned how not to repeat that mistake. I’ve looked at people that I’m inspired by in the toy photography community, in the art world, in movies, and tried to look to see where the light is placed, where it’s coming from, then try to emulate that. BJ Penn, the great Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, fastest in the world to ever get the black belt, he did it in three years, he said, “You emulate champions.” You look at the people who do it the best and you do it the way that they did it. That’s what you have to do. You’re not going to reinvent the wheel. This hobby exists. Everybody who has come before you has paved the way.

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That’s true for everything. Another thing is learning how to use your camera. You can’t rescue a bad photo in Photoshop. You have to learn how to take a good photo. So, don’t be afraid to put your camera on manual, you should be shooting on manual, and learn what the settings do, learn how to dial them in to tell the stories you want to tell. There are free resources. There are very inexpensive resources, like Creative Live on the app store or online, so you can learn how to take good photos. I think what toy photography is is somebody taking a good photograph of a toy. I think it’s portrait photography, essentially. It’s less product photography and more portrait photography. So, if you learn how to light and block a photo for a portrait and tell a story like that, I think you’re off to the races. The other piece of advice I would give is to forgo a lot of effects in the early going. Practical effects are fine, if you want to blow your figures up in the backyard with fireworks but learn how to take a good photo of your figure.

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You don’t have to add a ton of effects like laser blasts, explosions, and stuff to try to elevate the photo. The photo should stand on its own, before you add the effects to it. I think people get bogged down in that. They want to leapfrog. They want to skip steps in the process of learning how to do it. I was talking to Johnny about this, everybody goes through phase where they shoot their figures outside, because you don’t need a diorama for it. And everybody does the dust and debris, where you’re throwing dirt at your figure. Everybody goes through the fireworks phase. It’s like toy photography puberty. You have to go through all of these phases and learn all of these different techniques, so you can hone your own style and figure out what you want to do.

So, I guess if I had to give anyone advice, it would be keep shooting, learn how to take a good photo, then learn how to take a good photo of your toys. Learn the craft of photography, then apply it to your toys.

Otherwise, it becomes derivative. You’re missing the broader enjoyment of photography.

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Indoor toy photography is a creative and fun way to capture stunning images of your favorite toys when you want to avoid shooting in the outdoor elements. To achieve great results, you'll need to pay attention to lighting, composition, and camera settings. We are going to cover some key tips for indoor lighting toytography: When taking photos of your toys indoors, it’s best to select toys that have interesting details, colors, and textures. Your indoor lighting is going to enhance those details.

Figures with darker tones may be harder to shoot because they could possibly absorb the light that is being shined on them. It is doable, but a bit more of a challenge.

Set Up a Scene: Create a scene or diorama that suits your subject. You can either create a set that caters to the figure you are photographing or sets the “mood” of the image. Props and backgrounds will add depth and context to your scene.

Props and Accessories: Use other toys or props to enhance the storytelling aspect of your image. They can add depth and context to your scenes. And viewers love a good story because it stimulates the imagination.

Camera Equipment: Whether you are using a smartphone, a DSLR or mirrorless camera, a tripod will be your best friend. Using a tripod for stability, especially for those images that require long exposures.

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Lighting gear: Good lighting is crucial for indoor toy photography and there are two ways you can go about it; natural light and artificial light. When used properly, both can be very beneficial. a. Natural Light: Position your setup near a window to take advantage of soft, diffused natural light. You can use sheer curtains to further soften the light.

Direct sunlight may be a bit too harsh for the photo. b. Artificial Light: If natural light isn't sufficient (or too much), invest in studio lighting equipment.

Softboxes, cube lights and LED panels are popular choices. Experiment with different light angles and intensities to create the desired mood. Most mini lights have various features and settings to adjust, such as brightness and tones. Even a type of desk lamp can provide the type of lighting you desire.

Diffuse your Lighting: To avoid harsh shadows and saturated light, use diffusers or reflectors to soften and bounce light onto your subject. This can be as simple as using white bedsheets or cloth, poster boards, or specialized photography equipment such as reflectors.

Experiment with Light Temperature: Pay attention to the color temperature of your lights. Daylightbalanced (around 5500K) or warm (around 3200K) lighting can create different atmospheres in your photos. Adjust your camera's white balance accordingly.

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Camera Settings: a. Aperture (f-stop): Use a wide aperture (low fnumber) to create a shallow depth of field, which can blur the background and focus attention on the figure(s). b. Shutter Speed: Use a tripod to allow for longer exposure times without camera shake.

This can make your images sharper. c. ISO: Keep ISO as low as possible to reduce noise in your photos. d. Focus: You can use manual focus to precisely control what part of the toy is in focus. Most cameras today have an Aperture Priority setting that you can use to focus on your figure and the camera does the rest.

Some smart phones also have this feature.

Experiment with your settings and take multiple pictures to see what comes out best for you.

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Composition: Before you snap that photo, check your composition. Look for things like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and framing to make your photos visually engaging.

Post-Processing: You can edit your photos using software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to adjust exposure, contrast, color balance, and sharpness. Be careful not to overprocess your images, as natural-looking photos are often more appealing than something that has been heavily edited.

Practice is key: Like any form of photography, toytography requires practice to master.

Experiment with different angles, lighting setups, and styles to find your unique vision.

Remember that the key to successful indoor toytography is creativity and attention to detail. It’s good to learn from others and use references where you can. Experiment, learn from your mistakes, and enjoy the process of bringing your toys to life.

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Jack (USA)

Gabriel Balda (USA)

Jamie Amyx (USA)

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Legit Bricks (S. Korea)

Anthony Lamont (USA)

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Jay Boaz (Canada)

FigPix (USA)

Yazied Bahalwan (Indonesia)

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Michael Gresser (USA) Leo (germany)

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Michael Wulf (USA)

Michael Dugger (USA)

Adam Antman (USA)

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winner!

Congratulations to the themed contest winner! #Action

Name: Jesse Feyereisen Country: USA Instagram: jessefeyereisen What type of camera do you use: I currently shoot with a Canon EOS-R and various lenses

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Tell us a little bit about your photo. For this shot I grabbed a Master Chief figure and headed to the park.

Propped him up in the sand of a volleyball court, with my camera a little ways away. I stood behind the figure and repeatedly kicked sand at Master Chief, while remotely triggering my camera from my phone. Kept on kicking, shooting, and checking my shots until I had one that I liked.

In some of my photography, I love to blend real world, incamera elements with digital effects and this is a perfect example of that. In this case I used Boris FX Optics to enhance my practical, on site “explosion”, with some additional digital fire and explosion bits, composited it all together in Photoshop, then finished off in Lightroom with some color grading and final crop. I’m really happy with how it turned out and has grown to be one of my personal favorites!

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Photo Submission To submit a photo for the Toytography Wall in the next issue, post your photo in the Toytography Magazine Facebook group and use the Hashtag #issueno4 You must preorder the coming issue for your image to be accepted.

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