My Photography Is Inspired By Everything I See
In the book, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, https://toyphotographs.medium.com the author suggests that by studying other people’s art, you can inform your own artistic views.
She suggests “artist’s dates” where you consciously visit museum, plays, poetry readings, etc., to look for inspiration.
I take inspiration from comics, pop culture, music, books, movies, museums, architecture, poetry, plays and even nature.
I have taken Julia’s advice and I think that it’s a fantastic idea. But, it doesn’t have to be a “thing” to be valid. Why? Because I am like most of you. I am a composite of everything I have experienced. That includes everything I have seen. Sometimes I take inspiration from something as mundane as watching a TV show. It can be just as inspiring as an official “artist’s date.”
For my toy photography, I take lots of inspiration from the pop culture (and the TV shows they have spawned — or vice versa).
Many of my toy photos are of Star Wars-related characters because that universe is very appealing to me.
Of late, “The Mandalorian” has been particularly helpful to me. Initially, I just loved watching the series as pure entertainment. It’s got everything you could want. It has a great plot, great actors, great directors, set dressers, costumers, special effects, music, etc.
But after the initial pass — which I consider my fun time. I go to work. I am now on my fourth pass through all of the first two seasons worth of episodes. Each time I watch, something new flashes before my eyes that I think might be something I can create in my meager home studio.
I do NOT try to directly copy what I see. I rarely go so far as to try to recreate what I see — or a version that comes close. I merely look for inspiration. I cannot duplicate what they do at ILM in my home studio so I don’t even try.
(Yes, I lust for a chance to work in “The Volume” at Industrial Light & Magic. Yes, I lust for that in the way I used to lust for Italian sports cars. I am not afraid to admit it. I also know it will never happen, but a man can dream…)
Just recently, I re-watched (for the fourth time) the last episode of season one of “The Mandalorian.”
In that episode there is a scene where IG-11 (A robot that is initially programmed to seek out and kill or capture Grogu, the child that Mando is sworn to protect) makes off with Grogu in a satchel slung over his neck while shooting at bad guys and taking off on a speeder. (By this time in the story, IG-11 has been reprogrammed as a ‘nurse droid’ and is protecting the very quarry he initially sought to kill.)
This moment flashes on the screen for only a few seconds but it’s long enough for me to get a glimpse and give me an idea of a photo I might make.
So last night I set up a background that looks like it could be one of the sets meant to be the planet Nevarro (where much of the series takes place.) I used a Wimberley PLAMP (https://amzn.to/3Vkaqvd) to hold the 20x30" print I used for the background. (This is a stock photo I purchased off DREAMTIME and had printed and mounted on foam core by Printique.)
I set up my scene inside an Impact Photo Pro LED Booth 400 https://bhpho.to/3NTpLxQ — then I added a Raya Bi-Color Round LED Panel https://bhpho.to/3bDdUXm and bounced it off the side wall of the photo booth. This established my ambient light.
I next added a LumeCube Panel Pro — https://bhpho.to/3ulpqgB mounted on a Platypod Max https://bhpho.to/3uk5MSe using a Platypod Elbow https://bhpho.to/3SkINRr. This provided my front fill. I also added a third light to separate the character from the background by lighting from behind. In this case, I used the Lume Cube 2.0 Mini LED Light — https://bhpho.to/3L32iL7 mounted on a Platypod Ultra https://bhpho.to/3oZfBlb
I photographed the scene using my Fuji X100V and then brought the RAW file into Capture One 2022. I did the RAW conversion there and next moved to Photoshop where I ran Boris FX Optics https://bhpho.to/3NOd47G as a plugin and did my finishing work.
The final step (which I use on 95% of my photos these days) was to run the image through Topaz Photo AI — http://bit.ly/autopilotai.
That sums it up. I made a photo that was inspired by a few seconds of screen time that I saw in a TV show.
CONCLUSION
Always look around for inspiration for your next photograph. By looking when you don’t have a camera in hand, you’ll be better at SEEING when you DO have a camera in hand.
Remember, toys are joy.
