A holiday. A vacation. Vacay. A break.
I’m away. I’ve gone fishing. (I’m probably not fishing.)
Except for fake fishing in Sweden!
I’m in the Lakes. I’m relaxing, hiking (weather dependent), and generally trying to get some down time from all things.
Except toy photography. Because where I go, toys go.
Holiday snapshots
I might take a lot of ‘holiday snaps’ of my toys, but actually, it’s something I find really difficult! I have comfort zones for shooting toys, and out in public, in holiday destinations, is not one of them.
My biggest problem?
How do you take the essence of a holiday snap with figures only a few inches high? Especially when you prefer a very shallow depth of field! It’s hard to portray a location, to get that background in, and to fit your toy into a new situation. Not to mention it’s often at a time when you are trying to do things other than toy photography (except on toy safari! Then it’s all about the toys!)
I hope that one day I’ll grasp it. It’s something I’ll be working on over this week in the Lake District (although not too hard, this holiday is for relaxation after all!) but especially when I head to Paris for the toy safari this summer! Perhaps what I really need to do is book more holidays to perfect this type of toy photo? Where else should my SigFig go?
Here are some of my SigFig’s holiday snapshots from her previous travel shenanigans.
Berlin rocks!
Swedish snow freak who apparently can’t hold a camera!
LEGO in Iceland!
Hamburg means bagels and coffee!
The London toy safari required appropriate location clothing!
Sailor Lizzi in Sweden!
If you have any tips for holiday toy photography, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear your suggestions!
– Lizzi
Stepping on Bricks
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I would not worry too much about making sure the location is recognizable. With a short DoF only the most famous landmarks might be recognizable, and even in extreme cases it might so blurry that they’re not. I’ve personally learned to not care anymore and embrace blurry backgrounds.
During the winter holidays, I took pictures of Anton and Moomintroll in front of the Atomium in Brussels. I first tried one far enough to have it completely in the frame but didn’t like it. I ended up with photos taken closer but where the monument is a big blurry mess and not so recognizable.
The only problem is when other people want to see your photos of an exotic place and all you have are pictures of toys with a blurry background. That happened to me with the toy safari in San Francisco last year 😀
Maybe I’ll adopt your attitude in Paris then! As long as I get at least one blurry Eiffel Tower shot, I’ll be happy! I’ll probably need a decent photo of it to though, to appease the parents! 😀
Hello! This is also somerhing I struggle with. Have bought a close-up lens ( thanks Reiterlied for the tip ) for my 24-105mm, shall start to practice with more.
Super plan! I need to do that for my 35mm still so it’s more useful for toys and regular shots!
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with and meeting in Paris for tourist snaps! 😉
I love seeing the adventures of your sigfig. I especially like the shot of her with the sailor hat 🙂 She looks like she’s having a great time 🙂
Lynn
Thanks Lynn! She is much more adventurous than I am! 😉
I love that your sigfig travels with her who changes of clothes, so sweet! The adventures are cool.
Overpacking is a problem for both my SigFig and I! 😉
SigFig Lizzi is certainly a well seasoned traveller.
She really is! Toy photography takes her lots of places! 😀