Photo Editing: Does it make a difference?
I’ve been working on more pages for Transforming Expectations, the sequel to my Transforming Collections* book, and I thought everyone might enjoy a peek at the broad strokes of the photo editing process I use for my toy pics.
All of the photos are shot staged in the light tent kit* I bought about five years ago and that tent makes a huge difference when getting the raw pic. Having something fairly clean to start with (raw pic above) helps a lot once I open the image in Photoshop.
The above pic shows how much just cropping the figure from the background changes the entire look of the photo. This takes a little time as I work at 200% and make sure not to eliminate any of the toy (white toys are a pain to edit). We could stop here, but let’s put just a few more moments into the shot so we can graduate to . . .
And that’s the finished photo all set to drop into layout and move into the finished page design. I may or may not use this photo, but I find it’s better to have too many pics than too few when working on the page layout. Each photo takes ten to twenty minutes to edit, so with over 100 photos in the book you can tell this isn’t exactly a fast process. But it’s fun, and I’m really looking forward to getting the finished book into my hands.
I have always thought your photos are stunning — and now I know your secret! I have been using a light tent for a few years now, it was a fairly inxpensive — but I think it makes all the difference in toy photography. I understand folks taking quick snapshots for Instagram or Twitter, but sometimes I cringe at the photos people post for their reviews online. I know people are just doing the best they can but still… I wish mine was a little bigger, but it’s really just about the right size since mostly I’m photographing 3.75″-7″ figures. I could imagine for Hot Toys or larger Transformers you would want something bigger. One thing I really do need is a better light setup. I have a couple LED lamps I bought for a song a few years back. I’ve always regretted not picking up more because they are perfect for what I want and since they’re easily adjustable I can work with the lighting depending on what it is I’m photographing.
Thanks for sharing!
@prfkttear – Thanks! For a really detailed look at how I edit photos check this older post that shows step by step:
https://www.battlegrip.com/?p=40362