Making a Splash
Sitting at the bar down by our lake, drowning my sorrows, lamenting not making it to Utah this year, it dawned on me that I’ve never really taken many toy photos in the lake’s water.
Category: Ideas About Creativity
Podcast 57: Exploring Creativity with Kristina Alexanderson
How do we define creativity? Exploring this elusive question is one reason I started the podcast, because it manifests differently in all of us.
All the World’s a Stage – Part 3
”Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” (George Eastman) In parts 1 and 2 of this series I covered the design and building of a lighting stage and its associated lighting …
Finding your place in a toy photography fandom
As we often share stories from toy photographers about their “Why” (see JoanMarcF’s post or Carlos Hernández’s for a couple of recent ones), it got me thinking about how we find our place as a toy photographer, and specifically finding a niche within the fictional universes we love.
One person’s trash, is another person’s (wabi-sabi) treasure
So often I find myself scouring a beach for pristine, unspoilt sand. Or I’ll spend countless hours on all fours looking for that perfectly scaled moss. More often than not, I’m quick to disregard an imperfect location for toy photography. But some rats and a dog have taught me to …
How to make a Hologram for the toy photos
The toys inspire us to the search of the special places for outdoor pictures and creation of our own micro worlds. Would you like to make a shot of lightning without looking through the window? Is it possible to shoot a jellyfish without water and light? That’s what we are …
Travel Photography
I have never been super comfortable taking toy photos out in public, especially when I travel. I have done so from time to time, but normally when I felt I could do it and escape notice. Its not that I am ashamed of taking photos of toys, I just dislike …
The “Toying with Bright ideas” series: Barn doors, laptops and snoots
Ask anyone who has ever picked up a camera, whether they are a professional or just snapping on their smartphone, what is the most important thing in photography? I’m hoping that 99% of the responses say light… Without light, there is no photo… period… Now for those of you who …
Inspiration From Prints
I have become a fan of collecting and displaying prints of my favourite contemporary artists on my studio walls. I started doing this because I liked their work, and wanted to help support them by buying a print of their work. However I also found that they have become a …
Grub Street: a toy photography project
Grub Street emerged from the photocopied pages of a zine. At the risk of showing my age, back in the early 90s I was into the zine culture. Now the memory of that zine has become my latest inspiration.
Custom Characters – Thirst for greater things
It’s so wonderful to get something unique and special when you tell your own story! When the official toy sets can’t satisfy all my wants they give me the motivation for the exciting creative process. Pens, pencils, paper, decorative clay and glue transform into the instruments for my micro workshop, …
Toy Photography Jazz
Earlier this month, Shelly wrote about singing the toy photography blues as she steps out of her comfort zone. I truly feel fo her when it comes to leaving photography sessions with more frustration than photos. Yet I couldn’t help but notice that despite having a few similar things on …
When the weather says “NO”
The winter is in the full play. It’s a good time for the snowy, bright and extreme shots!
Creative slump: a survival guide
As of the time I am writing this, I have not made any significant new art for well over a month.
The Tale of the Three Brothers
Painted with light and darkness, sculpted with ink and paper, my story is waiting for you, dear reader… I’d like to thank dear Shelly for the great opportunity to share my story on Toy Photographers Blog! Thank you for your attention! Ann @Miss_Feklista
My 2018 Photographic Journey
Wow, what a year! 2018 was my biggest year yet as a toy photographer in so many different ways.
What if you’re blind inside your mind?
Picture an apple. Now make the apple blue. Hold that apple in your hand. Picture it in your kitchen. How about on the beach? Now picture a family member. Can you see their face, the distance between their eyes, the texture of their hair, the shape of their body? Can …
To photoshop or not to photoshop, that is the question
In today’s fast paced, technology-saturated world, photography has in its self become a multifaceted medium and art form with many different people, artists, creatives etc: using it to portray their own unique style and ideas.
Kitbashing a sigfig?
Sure, we’ve all heard of sigfigs, most of us LEGO photographers have one. But what about kitbashing a one sixth scale version of ourselves?
Lessons from the Cinematography of The LEGO Movie
As any minifig photographer knows, lighting these highly reflective four-brick-tall toys dramatically can be a chore. Unlike an action figure, a minifig’s head is just a cylinder: there are no facial features to sculpt out with light and shadow to bestow mood. Their bodies are humanoid but largely cubic, making …