The term is on everyone's lips at the moment among action figure and toy enthusiasts: indeed, toy photography is all the rage! Toyphoto, the photographic art form that involves using toys and action figures as subjects to create unique and original images, is a fun and creative activity that allows photographers to express their imagination and work on their photographic technique. With the growing popularity of social networks, a real community has formed and is increasingly active and dynamic, as demonstrated in particular by the high rate of participation in the latest Hasbro competition! In this article, we're going to give you some advice on how to get started in this activity, providing practical tips to help you create fascinating and unique images. Whether you're a total beginner or a little more experienced, we hope this article will help you discover the joys of toy photography and encourage you to take the plunge into this exciting photographic art form.
What is toy photography?
Toy photography really developed out of a desire by enthusiasts with a childlike soul to give a second life to their favourite toys by having them pose in creative and often humorous settings. Toy photographers today use figurines, toys and miniatures from all eras to create unique and original images or to recreate scenes from their favourite films.
The settings can be simple or elaborate and tell a story or express an emotion. Toys can be photographed in real environments, such as city streets, parks or home interiors, or in miniature sets created especially for the photos. Toy photographers can also use special effects, filters and post-production techniques to create even more creative images.
Toy photography has become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks to the growth of social networks like Instagram, where many photographers share their work with a community of fans. It's a fun, imaginative and accessible art form that can be enjoyed by amateur and professional photographers of all levels. Feel free to check out hashtags like #toyphotography, #toyphoto and #toyphotogallery to get in touch with the caring community of toylovers!
What are the advantages of toy photo?
Firstly, toy photo undoubtedly allows you to develop your creativity: by using toys as the subject of photography, you can create original settings and tell stories through the images. It stimulates the imagination and gives a second life to our toys!
Toy photo of course allows you to work on your photographic technique: toy photography can be an excellent way of improving several aspects of your photographic skills. By working with static subjects, it's possible to focus on composition, depth of field, light, etc.
Toy photo is also a playful and relaxing activity: photographing toys allows you to concentrate on a creative project and escape from everyday life.
Also, toy photo remains a social activity: there is an active community of toy photographers on social networks, such as Instagram, who share their work and inspire each other. It's an activity that makes for great encounters with other pop culture and merchandise enthusiasts.
Finally, toy photo can have a nostalgic value: by photographing toys, you go back into childhood memories and give new life to objects that can have a very strong sentimental value. And it's also an opportunity to get more active in the search for missing pieces for the more collectors among us!
All in all, toy photo is a beneficial activity for creative, photographic and personal development. So if you haven't taken the plunge yet, dare! You won't regret it.
Some tips for getting started
We've divided our advice into 3 categories: hardware, technical and creative advice.
Hardware advice:
- Choose your figures: start by choosing the toys that interest you the most, the ones that inspire you the most. You can buy them online in our shop here.
- Select a camera: most of today's smartphones have enough image quality to take good photos of toys. If you want something more professional, you can invest in a DSLR or hybrid camera.
- Light is key, so portable colour-changing LED lights will give you plenty of options. That said, there's no need to invest hugely at the outset: daylight or living room lights can suffice, especially as it's all possible to retouch everything afterwards on image-processing software such as Photoshop.
- Add accessories: props such as backdrops, miniatures, toys, background paper, LED lights, filters and lenses can help create more elaborate settings. Keep an open mind, because any object is likely to be useful: a place mat with a concrete motif, a chessboard, wallpaper, stickers... don't hesitate to create a "salvage box" in which you can store all the recycled objects that might come in handy. Remember that 1/12 scale is the most common, but it's obviously possible to cheat with dimensions in photography. It'll be your director's eye that makes the difference!
Technical Advice:
- Experiment with different angles: toy photos are often more interesting when taken up close or from an unusual angle. Don't be afraid to experiment and turn around your toys!
- Play with depth of field: use a wide aperture to create background blur or a shallow depth of field to highlight a specific element to create an emotion.
- Use natural or artificial light: experiment with different light sources to find the best option for your scene. White, yellow, green, red, blue... The light will have a very different impact. It's best to have at least three different light sources to consider that a subject is correctly lit: generally, two from the side and one from above. But again, it depends on your lens!
Creative Advice:
- Tell a story: toy photo is a narrative art form, so use your toys to tell a story, create an atmosphere or express an emotion. Make your characters "speak".
- Create original scenes: use backdrops or props to bring your image to life. Make your own if you don't have what you need to hand! But you'll be amazed at the number of possibilities offered by everyday objects.
- Have fun! Toy photo is above all an entertaining and fun activity, so take pleasure in putting together the elements of your photo and let your imagination run wild!
© Photo credit: Yulia Matvienko, Bimata Prathama and Dinu J Nair on Unsplash
