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Cool and Collected

Collecting pop culture toys, comics, and collectibles collections

January 25, 2012 By 12 Comments

Photography tips and techniques for taking better photos of your toys

Taking better photographs - Transformers Grimlock

Here’s a picture of Grimlock, one of my favorite Transformers toys. This is what I would call a product shot — something that might be used in a catalog. The figure dominates the photo and all the details are crisp and clear. If your job is to sell and market toys, this is probably the kind of photo you would want.

Taking a photo like this is not very difficult. Here is a picture I snapped of the very basic set up…

Taking better photographs - DIY Tips and techniques

Before taking the photo, I turned off all the lights in the room except for the one spotlight, which is a an incandescent flood light in a reflector, which you can get for a few bucks at the hardware store. I don’t use fancy lighting setups, only because I don’t own any! The camera is on a tripod, which is a must when you are shooting small objects like action figures. I use a remote shutter release since the slightest movement will make your subject appear blurry.

For most of my shots, I set the shutter to F2.8 on the AV mode, and zoom in on the subject as much as possible. I have learned that this setting gives me the best results. For these photos I used a wide angle lens, but a zoom lens would also work great since it would give a low depth of field that would throw the foreground and background out of focus, making the subject nice and sharp.

Here’s another photo that has a little more excitement than the standard product shot…

Taking better photographs - Transformers Grimlock

Action figures almost always look best if you photograph them at eye level, as if you are in the scene interacting with it. It’s also a good idea to try and create a scene or a story with your photo. In this image, it looks like Grimlock is on the prowl.

Here is the set up for this shot…

Taking better photographs - DIY Tips and techniques

Did you notice the blurry object in the foreground of the photo? By setting a scrap piece of plastic in the foreground, the photo instantly has much more depth. This is a great trick since it is so simple but can give some great results. Again, the low F-stop on the camera throws both the foreground and background out of focus and really makes the figure shine.

I did some color modification in Photoshop to give the scene a warmer mood, and darkened the edges to highlight the figure more, but most of the work was done with the camera.

Now here’s one last shot that shows the kind of fun you can have with a bit more Photoshop work…

Taking better photographs - Transformers Grimlock

I wanted this last photo to look like Grimlock was being lit up by spotlights from helicopters overhead, or maybe he’s running on the surface of the moon. The harsh, bluish-white tones really change the effect, don’t they? I added a touch of motion blur to give a little action to the photo.

It’s so much fun to photograph figures like this and to experiment with different techniques. Walk around the subject, turn it to a different angle, move the light to the other side — any of these little things can make a huge difference, but keep trying new things and you might be surprised at the results!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jboypacman says

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    I love these photo tips! I have been trying to improve my toy photos and these help me with ideas and improvements I can make so thanks Brian.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      January 25, 2012 at 11:26 pm

      You’re very welcome Jboy! I’ve been keeping an eye on your photos lately, and I think you could write up a post with some of your own tips. I loved your King Carnivus shots from the other day.

      Reply
  2. Jboypacman says

    January 26, 2012 at 5:54 am

    Thanks Brian and everyday it’s a learning process and am having fun trying out different things like light and angles in my pictures.

    Reply
  3. Van says

    January 26, 2012 at 9:50 am

    Love this! Grimlock looks incredible here, I love your shots. “Cheap gimmicks” can yield amazingly professional photos, it’s really all about playing around with what you have.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      January 26, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      Thanks, Van. Thank God for digital cameras! I burn through a TON of photos before finding the one that just “clicks.” 😉

      Reply
  4. kngfu says

    January 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Cool work.

    Reply
  5. Huy Tran says

    February 18, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    Hi Brian, I was wondering what the exact components were to create the light that you’re getting. I am totally new at this type of thing and don’t know a lick about light sources. But what exact components do you need to get your lights to be positioned correctly/powered/etc.?

    Reply
    • Brian says

      February 18, 2012 at 5:28 pm

      For these photos I used an indoor floodlight in a silver reflector dish. I think the bulb is either 75 or 100 watt and is the incandescent kind. A CFL bulb would give you a cooler light, while the incandescent bulbs are warm in tone. You can buy the reflector shields at the hardware store for a few bucks, and they have a clamp which let’s you position them easily. Turn off all the other lights in the room and you can totally control the light in your photos. I hope this helps!

      Reply
    • Brian says

      February 18, 2012 at 5:56 pm

      I forgot to mention that you need to keep your camera’s flash off. Use a tripod and a remote shutter release if you have one, otherwise you can use your camera’s timer. In low light situations like this, the slightest movement will blur your photo, so your camera should definitely be secured on a tripod or a solid surface.

      Reply
      • Huy Tran says

        February 21, 2012 at 9:26 pm

        Thanks Brian! Hopefully I get around to taking some pictures soon and showing you some of the results.

        Reply
        • Brian says

          February 21, 2012 at 9:47 pm

          Good luck! I’d love to see the results.

          Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Essential toy photography resources | Sofa Frog says:
    October 25, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    […] Photography tips and techniques for taking better photos of your toys – Brian – Cool and Collected […]

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