5 Practical Tips For Toy Photography

5 cheap and easy ways to up your toy photography game

Here are 5 practical tips for toy photography that will elevate your pics in a snap! If you’re a budding toy photographer or want to give it a go, in this guide you’ll find 5 simple tips using practical methods to enhance your story telling abilities and photo-taking game. Enjoy!

1. Rain Effects

Spray Bottle

By using a spray bottle you can create rain for your toy photos! Simply fill the bottle with water and spray over your scene whilst snapping shots. Bonus Tip: Spraying the ground with water first can help enhance the overall effect.

2. Snow Effects

Flour | Confectioners Sugar | Diorama Snow

Any of the things listed above will work as snow for your toy photography! First, spread a layer on the “ground,” then dust it over your scene with your hands, sieve, or even a spoon, whilst snapping your shots. Voilà! Instant winter wonderland.

The picture above was taken with flour as the snow replacement.

3. Floating Figures

Modeling Wire | Figure Stands

Using wires or figure stands to prop up your figures is a must! If you’re edit-savvy, you can simply remove the objects in post, but if you’re not comfortable doing that, you can always hide them behind other props or figures to get the job done. Tools like Adobe Photoshop (paid) or GIMP (free) have great features for object removal.

4. Particle Movement

Compressed Air | Drain Blaster | Air Bulb

Keyboard dusters, drain blasters, or even the air bulb that languishes unused in your camera kit are all priceless tools when it comes to toy photography. Simply blast some air onto your scene’s dirt, sand, water, flour, and so on to capture extreme particle movement.

5. Smoke

Atmosphere Aerosol | Mist Maker | Fog Machine | Vape Smoke

If you’re into vaping then go ahead and chuck some clouds into your toy photos! If you’re not (and even if you are) Atmosphere Aerosol has you covered too! These cans of atmosphere really help to glue a shot together, highlight beams of light, or finish off detailing an explosion.

Ultrasonic mist makers are also a great option for fog effects. Using water, these tiny devices create a cold, heavy mist that clings well to low surfaces.

That’s it for our 5 practical tips for toy photography… for now! 😉 Stay tuned, as we’re sure to have more down the line. For some other awesome toy photography guides, check out our previous article here.

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TJ Collects

Hi, I'm TJ! I'm an avid collector of art toys and action figures. I'm also passionate about toy photography. A big kid, really.

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