If you haven’t noticed I like a challenge. My attempts to bring Chima to the attention of the Legography community is certainly my most famous and fool hardy pursuit. This next week I’m going to try to accomplish a more realistic challenge: I’m only going to take photos of my mini figures with my iPhone 6S.
Some of you will be groaning when you read this because you already only use your phones to take amazing toy photographs, but for me this will be a real challenge. It’s been about a year since I’ve had to rely on my phone for toy photos. I’ve been leaning pretty heavily on my DSLR and dedicated macro lens to capture my set-ups. But this week that’s going to change.
I’m taking my two kids for a tour of our nations capital, Washington DC. Since this is primarily a family adventure, I want to dedicate my big camera to capturing our shenanigans. But that doesn’t mean I will be leaving my plastic friends at home. I plan on bringing along one small bin of mini figures and a few accessories. I will keep it pretty simple with figures from classic space, a few appropriate collectible figures, my signature figure and a couple of aliens for good measure. I’m limiting myself to whatever I can fit in one small satchel that will also double as a purse; nothing more. I’m famous for over packing the toys, but I’m going to be disciplined about this trip . I want to see how creative I can be with only a few toys, a simple camera set-up, a bounce card and a little off camera lighting. (If I had the time I would get an adaptor for my phone so I could attach it to a tripod but alas, I just thought of that!). 🙁
There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are. – Ernst Haas
Since I’ve left Instagram for the time being, I wont’t posting my efforts to social media. When I return some time late next week, I will present a gallery of my photos and you can see how I did. In the mean time, have a great week and don’t forget to have a little fun!
~ Shelly
If you have experience with photographing toys with a mobile phone I would appreciate your tips and suggestions. Feel free to leave your sage advice below. 😀
I realize that this isn’t an original idea; I believe Boris tried something similar on his summer holidays. I wonder how it went?
It sounds like a great challenge Shelly! I’ve tried to get some minifig photos with my phone but I haven’t had much success 🙂 Have a great trip! I’m looking forward to seeing your photos once you get back. I’ll bet you create some amazing images with your phone 🙂
I love that you have more faith in my results than I do! I will have fun failing or succeeding equally. I was brainstorming about photos I will try to get when I’m on this trip, and the appropriate mini figures. This is going to require a very different set of figures. Im excited for the change! 🙂
As with any device, the magic is in the capture, yet I’ve come to rely on certain Apps to help an iPhone photo become less iPhone photo. Rarely did a photo snapped on my iPhone make it IG without passing though Snapseed or Photogene4 for editing, and Photoshop Fix to dust/imperfection removal. I still enjoy the occasional challenge of editing solely on my phone, even if I’ve shot using my camera?!
Having said that, there’s definitely something appealing about the low angles achievable with an iPhone. Angles achievable without having to dig a hole to hunker a camera down into!
I look forward to seeing your results. Have a good trip. x
Thanks for the advice Brett! I have two of three of those apps so I should be good to go. My biggest fear is the bright sun! It will be sunny and most warm so I will need to try to get my photos in the morning and night. Not always easy to plan when you are technically on vacation. Luckily my kids are patient.
I use to always edit my photos on my iPad. I loved it because it was quick and easy. I always found SnapSeed could get me almost completely where I needed to be with an image. Plus I enjoyed the ability to push the limits of the edit and still have it be non-destructive. It was fun to simply play around.
Thanks as always for your great advice!