Avatar Sea Wasp Transformation
Hear me out — the most important tool in a photographer’s bag is IMAGINATION!
It took me a very long time (as in decades) to figure this out. But once I did — everything gelled for me and my work took off.
I often talk about pre-visualization and people’s eyes glaze over. So I am going to try talking about imagination — which is kind of really the same thing.
If you can see it in your mind’s eye BEFORE you press the shutter button, well now you are on to something!
This has all been brought home to me in spades as I’ve recently spent a great deal of time photographing toys. If you think about it, imagination is the central, essential element when you start thinking about, designing, selling, playing with and yes photographing toys.
Imagination is a very special thing. Imagination is a uniquely human ability. At its core, it permits us to explore ideas and experiences that are not in our present environment, that we haven’t done (maybe cannot do) or in many cases — things and ideas that are not even real.
For example, take the Sea Wasp from “Avatar — Way of Water.” I got this toy last week and had an idea. I wanted to flip the script. The movie is about water so I envisioned the opposite — a sand world — no water — but still where the Sea Wasp can fly — controlled by a magic orb. (No I don’t do ACID — my mind is just twisted that way.)
The key here is that what is imagined is generated from within rather than perceived based on input from without. It’s also why I’ve spent so much time exploring AI Art lately — the two go hand-in-hand.
Developing and exploring your imagination is a skill I urgently want everyone reading this to develop. Spend time with it. Since we have no way (yet) to read images from people’s brains — photography (and the associated arts) might be the next best thing to use to understand how imagination works and even more importantly, what it “sees.”
I can tell you a story. But you know what they say — a picture is worth a thousand words.
So this piece of art that I made of the Sea Wasp started with a straight photograph. I made the photo with my Fuji X100V, posing the toy against a black background. (SEE: Behind the scenes shot…)
Then I went to my AI generator and created the sand world — with an orb at the center of it — controlling all things. I generated a space-like nebula as the sky and then put them all together.
I used BORISFX Optics 2022.5 and it’s render engine combined with its particle effects engine to spice up the nebula, switch up the lighting and to add some flare. Then I did a color grade and composited it all together. As usual I finished it off with Topaz Image AI.
This final product somewhat accurately represents the vision I had in my imagination. And it’s easily one of my favorite things about toy photography. I am thinking like a kid again — and that’s a good thing. Because the reality is, I am a frail, failing old man in very poor health with limited physical abilities.
By transporting myself to these new realms, where anything I can imagine is possible, I free my broken old body from its bonds and create fantastical universes where people like me can do anything.
The ability I have to live in my mind is saving my soul. Sometimes, just living 30 minutes in my imagination can give me enough of a break from my real world problems to have a good day.
Maybe you are young and healthy and don’t need to live in your mind to escape reality. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it anyway.
CONCLUSION
Spend time with your imagination — no matter what kind of photography you do. Before you head out with a camera, settle down — preferably in a quiet place with no screens or distractions and just daydream what might be possible. Then go out and find the assets you need to create with your camera.
You might be surprised what you come up with. You also might be surprised to find out that expressing your imagination in ways that others can see is a very cathartic experience.
Remember, toys are joy.
For a list of my toy photo gear and props go to:
bit.ly/toyphotogear
Follow me on VERO
vero.co/scottbourne
