Be a Kid Again with Toy Photography

I remember, as a child, creating incredible landscapes of imagination with my toys. I would place random-sized items across my living room floor and place a blanket on top. This would give me the illusion of sweeping landscapes. I would take my Star Wars action figures or He-Man characters, and what would unfold would be of epic proportions, all in the eyes and mind of my childhood self. 

I am now a grown man, and guess what!? I still do that. The fun part is that I have three boys of my own to share in this experience. The stories that unfold would surpass any Hollywood production. Bring a DSLR camera with a shallow depth of field option, and you can really start to have some fun with your surroundings.

I shoot with a Canon 7D. It is an older camera, but it has been faithful to me in all these years. I have pushed this camera to its absolute maximum. It can be shots like long exposures, or insanely fast action shots, but the type I want to "focus" in on (see what I did there?) is toy photography.

I started doing toy photography as a way to decorate my boys' rooms with pictures and characters they loved. The example images here show Steve from Minecraft. He went on an adventure in our backyard. We got down low to the ground and shot with a 50mm fixed prime lens with a depth of 1.2 to really blur out the background surroundings and help you forget that we are truly just a few steps away from the house. The feeling, though, is that we are in a world full of bricks deep within Steve's world of Minecraft!

What worked wonderfully to my advantage with these images was that I had a broken pathway at my house with old bricks. This truly allowed me to venture into what I thought the Minecraft world would look like. My character is smashing bricks in the real world, but with a little photography magic, getting low to the ground, and adjusting my field of view, I can transport the viewer to another world. 

With the introduction of AI (artificial intelligence) into our world, much of this can be done with a few words and prompts, and I am not against that, but if you spend some time crafting the work you do, there is no duplication like the real thing. That is why I love stepping behind the lens and bringing toys to life.

Some items I recommend to help this process along are the following:

1. Tripod, but get one of the small ones that can be close to the ground. Most of my shots were taken with my camera on the ground by itself.

2. Remote trigger or intervelomiter. This helps just keep things steady. Sometimes you will find yourself at a weird angle, and it will be hard to push that button without some camera shake. 

3. Keep a handful of toys with you. I would keep Steve, R2D2, a Lego character, and Yoda with me in my camera bag at all times. You never know when their photo opportunity is going to present itself.

4. Imagination! This is always with you, but like a muscle, it needs exercise, so be always thinking outside the box! I promise it will help you keep that imagination young and fresh for years to come.

Authors Note: Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing. My writing is a part of my healing process. I am a broken spirit, a fallen sinner, but I am a forgiven child of God. That is why I share my vulnerable heart openly. Thank you for your support.