“Capturing Magic: Toy Photography Adventures in Tide Pools”

Embark with me on this fresh adventure as I capture toys in various settings across California, the United States, and beyond. In this inaugural episode, I bring my camera and toys to the breathtaking 17 Mile Drive, alongside the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California, where I shoot toys in tide pools. And may I just mention, “The sea was furious that day, my friends!” Check it out!

Why Destination: Toy Photography? Let me enumerate the reasons…literally!

1. For me and many other toy photographers, it’s typically one image and that’s it with the final edited version. The purpose behind Destination: Toy Photography is to illustrate that the scene is genuinely a product of a journey and to pay tribute to the wonderful sites where I capture my shots. For me, that experience is the authentic narrative, and the resulting image is a tale within a tale. This collection will focus predominantly on environmental photography, taken on location in various areas around California, other states, and indeed, the globe. The ambition for this series is to uncover, rather than fabricate or create, fantastic places to photograph toys.

2. Destination: Toy Photography embraces the beautiful concept of ‘wandering and wondering’ and adapts it to toy photography. Venturing into diverse locations and environments to photograph toys compels me to adopt a different perspective, and to observe my surroundings with greater detail and intensity.

3. The insights and experiences I acquire outside the studio will ultimately influence my work inside the studio via newfound creative inspiration, novel perspectives, and innovative thinking. This new initiative is significantly focused on creative revitalization.

In this episode, and in my forthcoming second episode, I am capturing images with my reliable (though hefty and cumbersome) Canon R6 teamed with the Canon 24-70 f2.8L Mark II (also hefty and cumbersome). However, I am thrilled to announce that I have just put together a completely new camera and lens combination for this new series. One that is significantly lighter, more compact, and very travel-friendly, without sacrificing image quality. Stay tuned for additional details about my new setup in an upcoming video.

Concerning the toy captured: the figure is Javvik Mosa, a cold, calculative mercenary from the Saurozoic Warriors Collection, produced by Boss Fight Studio These are action figures I wished I had during my childhood, although that has not deterred me from enjoying them as an adult!

Explore additional toy photography and discover more about my work at: