Best way to take toy photos?

[Loon]

Hey everybody,

I'm wanting to take better toy photos for reviews and such, but I'm not sure about what equipment to use to get nice pictures. I have a decent enough camera, I'm mostly just looking for advice on lighting.

I was thinking about using a light box, but I'm not to find of how sterile that looks. What's a good set up for just shooting on my desk?

[PhilSauria]

Can't speak for anyone else of course but here is my method and reason for it for what it's worth, hopefully suggestions from others will be forthcoming and you can choose the approach that best suits you.

My approach is to keep it simple with a clean sheet of grey paper as a backdrop, held to some card by clips (see image below) and this setup was initially done outdoors using daylight but I have since found that I have enough light with this setup now on a desktop indoors lit by room light and a desk lamp. The desk lamp is pointed away from the subject and not shone straight on to give a more diffused light. The camera is on a tripod with the images taken at 'eye level' with the models or slightly below it. The subject filling the frame.

I shoot in this way to put the focus literally on the toy or model and show off the features and details with no distractions, displaying the sculpt and paint app clearly for whatever the viewer cares to take from the image - informed buying choice or appreciation of the work that went into creating a now retired figure. Any basic digital camera will do as long as it has the ability to shoot close-up.

I would only add that there is no real 'best way' to take toy images, placing them in a naturalistic diorama or taking them out into the garden or a nearly park are equally as valid - just depends on how you want to present them.

[Loon]

Thanks @PhilSauria, I like your backdrop, I think I'll do that. What material is it? Also, I'm looking for some lighting advice, even during the day, my house is pretty dark.

[PhilSauria]

The paper is just a large sheet of grey paper I would image to be available from art supplies stores, any art and craft shop or maybe some newsagents. Doing this indoors now the lighting for my shoots comes from the ceiling light in the room (recessed halogen bulb, in my case) and an ordinary desk lamp in close proximity to but like I said turned slightly away from the subject.

[Loon]

@PhilSauria I found a nice size paper on Amazon, and I think I'll need a new desk lamp, cuz my old one is pretty much dead. Thanks for the advice.

[RobinGoodfellow]

If it could help you, I tried to do a thread about photography (lights, lens, cameras, post-production):

http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3562.0

I don't know if it could be what you're searching for..

[Loon]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. @PhilSauria, I really liked your set up; so, I hope it's ok that I copied it. Here's a picture of some figures on it:

I'm just getting used to the new camera and lights; so, forgive me if it looks amateurish.

[PhilSauria]

Not amateurish at all, looks great to me - whatever works for you is the bottom line and you have a good clear result here so go for it!

Not sure where I first saw the simple grey background but I picked that one as the best one for the way I wanted to present my figures so by no means do I have any rights to that particular look. In fact I am thinking of adding a small logo in the corner of my images, as RobinGoodfellow does and similar to the way Boki personalizes his with the sign he puts on his rock now.

Happy that I was able to provide a solution for you, or more likely point you in a direction that you could work with.

[Loon]

@PhilSauria thank you, and yeah, I'll keep messing with it; currently, my setup's a little rough. I also like the grey background because of how neutral it is, I was going to use a more blue-ish grey, but this just works more.

[vmi]

sounds very helpful

Can't speak for anyone else of course but here is my method and reason for it for what it's worth, hopefully suggestions from others will be forthcoming and you can choose the approach that best suits you.

My approach is to keep it simple with a clean sheet of grey paper as a backdrop, held to some card by clips (see image below) and this setup was initially done outdoors using daylight but I have since found that I have enough light with this setup now on a desktop indoors lit by room light and a desk lamp. The desk lamp is pointed away from the subject and not shone straight on to give a more diffused light. The camera is on a tripod with the images taken at 'eye level' with the models or slightly below it. The subject filling the frame.

I shoot in this way to put the focus literally on the toy or model and show off the features and details with no distractions, displaying the sculpt and paint app clearly for whatever the viewer cares to take from the image - informed buying choice or appreciation of the work that went into creating a now retired figure. Any basic digital camera will do as long as it has the ability to shoot close-up.

I would only add that there is no real 'best way' to take toy images, placing them in a naturalistic diorama or taking them out into the garden or a nearly park are equally as valid - just depends on how you want to present them.