Get ready for a big episode of the podcast this week, because I interviewed Johnny Wu, aka SgtBananas! Johnny has been called an “Instagram sensation” by outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Yahoo, had a book of his work published by Dynamite Comics, and has worked with big companies like Hasbro and Lucasfilm. He’s also one of my favorite toy photographers.

Johnny’s latest collaboration is with Lume Cube, co-hosting the Ultimate Toy Photography Contest (which ends this week on the 26th). I wish I could say that having Johnny on the show – after my interview with Trevor at Lume Cube and last week’s Lume Cube roundtable review – was all carefully and ingeniously planned, but it was more a stroke of dumb luck. Johnny messaged me on Instagram last week to say he liked the latest episode, and I extended an invitation to be interviewed. He’s been on my wishlist of potential guests since starting the show, so I’m happy that the stars aligned. Within 48 hours of messaging each other for the very first time, we were sitting down to record what became a great conversation. It was a prime example of how great technology can truly be.

Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny!

Riding on fumes…

I asked Johnny the usual questions about how he got into toy photography and his creative process, but also wanted to see if he could pass on any lessons from the many opportunities he’s had. As someone who’s just barely scratched the surface of doing product photography for companies, I wanted to know about his experience and see if he had any advice.

You can hear all of that and more now, either on your go-to podcast app or right here on the blog. I’m extremely proud of our conversation, and hope you enjoy it!

Thanks again to Johnny for coming onto the show and sharing his insights. I’m excited to see where he goes from here! You can follow his work on Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his own podcast, “They’re Not Dolls!” here.

There are still a couple of days left to enter Lume Cube’s Ultimate Toy Photography Contest! Get all the rules about submitting your entries here. The deadline is this Wednesday, September 26th. 

Here’s the Lume Cube firecracker shot Johnny mentions in the episode!