Toy Photography Behind the Scenes: Low Profile

Low Profile, toy photography


Hello and welcome back to another behind the scenes toy photography video! Today I'm going to show you how to stay hidden from Stormtroopers. I call this shot: Low Profile.

I'll also show you my editing process!

As usual, I shot with Star Wars the Black Series. We've got Princess Leia, R2-D2, a Pyke Soldier and two Stormtroopers.

I began my setup by posing my main subjects in front of this door and then fleshing out the scene around them. I made this building by carving up and painting an old styrofoam cooler. If you have the patience for arts and crafts, foam can be extremely versatile for set building.

Next I used this figure base along with a small spotlight to cast a light pattern down on my subjects. This base came with the 8” Hyperreal Darth Vader, my very first Black Series figure.

I positioned some cardboard as a flag to block off my spotlight on the left side.

Next came another carved and painted cooler and a Pyke Syndicate flag which I stuck in place with some thumbtacks. I made the flag out of some scrap fabric and marker.

Following that I positioned the rest of my figures. My concept for this shot was to show Leia on the run from the Empire, with the Empire questioning local gangs in an effort to find her, hence the drug runner being held at gunpoint.

To finish the setup I positioned my last light and moved this TV into frame to completely fill in the background.

Here's my starting shot!

This was an easy edit. I mostly just wanted to do some colour correction and touchups.

I started with a couple adjustment layers before removing all the visible articulation points on my Leia figure. These double knee joints were a pain and I'm glad Hasbro has moved away from that particular kind of articulation lately.

Next I used the dodge tool to lighten up my subjects before brushing in some eye glow on R2.

So once again, here's my starting image. And here's where I ended up! Thank you so much for watching.

Batuu Door:
AxeKondo, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:582...

Music:
Aura (fast version) by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...