I was lucky enough to be sent some of the new LEGO Disney minifigures early by the Stuck in Plastic crew. Upon opening the package realised I’d been sent the DuckTales gang.
Out in the wild, on a brand new adventure we find the DuckTales gang…
It’s a grim-looking Friday morning and I’m sat at a bus stop in the wind and rain. I’m waiting. The bus is late but I’m okay with that because I’m not going to my day-job today. I’ve got my camera bag on one shoulder and a rather innocuous-looking carrier bag containing a veryspecial LEGO set on the other. I’m on a top-secret mission into deepest Manchester’s city centre in search of the perfect setting. This is going to be a shooting session with the new LEGO CreatorExpert #10265 Ford Mustang.
This blog post is part of a series about the new LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigures Series. Thanks to the folks from LEGO for providing us a box of Minifigures that we sent to 9 creative toy photographers to review for the blog.
What’s going on in the new LEGO movie? Something has changed and it is if darkness had spread across the land.
Benny
Take a look at Benny. That face looks like he’s been through a lot. What has happened that means he needs a cybernetic arm? Perhaps something happened to wipe that smile off his face. He certainly looks like he’s been through the wars since we last saw him. With a brand new tool kit hopefully he can help put something right. Then again, some things just can’t be repaired with a wrench or a spanner…
I’ve never played Overwatch. However, I am aware of its influence on gaming culture. Its reach into modern culture is now so deep, you can go to any major comic con and you will find plenty of Overwatch cosplay there.
I was really excited when I received the email from SiP asking for some helping out on a creative project. And what a project. The opportunity to shoot this iconic car. I even woke up that night thinking about potential locations that would fit for this amazing set.
The comfort zone ...
There were a few go-to outdoor spots that I had used before, but I decided that I needed to test myself and step out of my comfort zone to come up with something new. Something original. Since it was mid-September and heading into autumn, I immediately thought of the color palette that nature would supply at this time of year. Colors complementing the racing green of the classic Mini. Images of the car, speeding along a country lane with leaves falling all around under autumn’s golden sun, started to emerge. I was all ready.
I think Nostalgia is one of the main things that brought me to toy photography in the first place. Having collected toys for most of my adult life, picking up vintage Star Wars figures and immediately being transported back to being a child again has driven my obsession. Continue reading “Classic Space Nostalgia”
When I picked security as a word to tackle this month, I thought it would be pretty easy to come up with an idea. However, as I delved deeper, and asked a few friends for their interpretations, I realised it wasn’t such a simple task.
So when I eventually came up with this shot I, felt it encompassed the word on different levels. Vader feels emotionally secure surrounded by friends, confident in his own abilities, but also physically safe and sound in his own bed.
The thing is, toy photography has always been a very personal and private thing for me. Yes, I’ve chatted online and even sold some of my work, my friends also know about my toy obsession, but the actual creative process was something I’d always done alone. Continue reading “My First Toy Safari”
When I was invited by Shelly to write this ‘why?’ piece, I felt privileged but I also felt a sense of trepidation. I was reminded of being an 18 year old art student and when I was asked to explain the meaning behind a piece of work by a tutor. I managed to chat away about religious symbolism and that seemed to go down quite well. However, I also thought that meaning could be very personal to an individual. It can be interpreted differently by the artist or viewer, but each idea is equally valid. Continue reading “Why? – by Chris Rose”
