Action Figures

Hooligan Dan · Jul 18, 2008

When I'm not taking pictures of city council meetings, fires, and sports for work, I love sitting down and relaxing with an action figure shoot. Haven't seen anybody else here doing it, so I thought I'd share. If photojournalism doesn't work out for me promo shots for a toy company is me other career choice.

Here's one I took today. C&C welcome.

Nikon D300
ISO 200
f/5.6 @ 1/10 sec
SB-600 with green gel at 1/32 power
Smith-Victor 200w continuous camera right w/shoot through brelly

Thanks for looking guys. I'll post some more if anyone is interested.

Overread · Jul 18, 2008

I like that - the pose speaks of action occuring and there is mystery in the hand we cannot see. The overall green effect on the shot works well at creating a wooded area with canopy filtered light.
Sharpness is spot on - though I wonder about the depth of field - I am getting this niggle that the arm in front would work better in focus rather then very slightly out of it - a smaller aperture possibly solve this? Course I understand the need to keep the background in this well blurred
Very good shot and yes - lets see more!

Hooligan Dan · Jul 18, 2008

Overread said:
I like that - the pose speaks of action occuring and there is mystery in the hand we cannot see. The overall green effect on the shot works well at creating a wooded area with canopy filtered light.
Sharpness is spot on - though I wonder about the depth of field - I am getting this niggle that the arm in front would work better in focus rather then very slightly out of it - a smaller aperture possibly solve this? Course I understand the need to keep the background in this well blurred
Very good shot and yes - lets see more!

Thanks! And looking at it I agree I could have used maybe a stop more dof. I try not to get much dof though when I shoot these because most of the time the backdrop, such as the trees in photo, are printed on matte paper and can look kinda funky if they are sharp.

Overread · Jul 18, 2008

Yah - I suppose you also cannot compensate by moving the screen back too far or else it won't blend with the foreground as well - a tricky area, but I can very much see the appeal to this sort of shooting - one where you have total control over camera, subject, lighting and background

Trenton Romulox · Jul 19, 2008

I'm not sure how I feel about the forearm chopping, but honestly, the lighting had me so mesmerized, it took me a while to even see his arm. I really think you did well with the lighting here, and the green tones really carry this image. The only quibble I have with the lighting is that it seems to be a tad bit brighter in his midsection than anywhere else, but that could well be the action figure itself and its coloring. But yes, really nice work here, well done.