davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[davidd]

16 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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VAMPIRA'S LITERARY LOUNGE Presents...

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TOY PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE - VOLUME ONE ISSUE ONE (June 2024)

The first issue of Toy Photographer Magazine (June 2024) is a professional quality publication, physically of a much higher caliber than I was ekspecting. It's an independently produced publication, possibly print-on-demand, but it is full color throughout, printed on heavy paper stock with a stiff glossy cover, and filled with photos which are reproduced at a very high quality. The typefaces used are large, clear, and printed in attractive colors contrasting nicely with the background colors and images for a high level of easy-on-the-eyes readability.

There are no advertisements in the magazine, so functionally, both in form and in layout, it is more like a reference book than a magazine. Little area is wasted with empty "white space." The layout maximizes color, images, and text size and placement for outstanding visual appeal and readability while fitting in as much information and as many images as possible.

The 95 pages consist of interviews with several Instagram toy photographers who talk about their backgrounds, their choice of subject matter, their influences, and their techniques. Other than one brief article on constructing dioramas using XPS (insulation) foam*, and some of the interviewees offering suggestions about lighting, there's not a lot of specific hands-on how-to info, but there's a sense of enthusiasm running through every page.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of copy-editing. There are very few punctuation errors, only a handful of easy-to-miss usage errors ("bare" for "bear", things like that), and a few negligible grammar errors where interviews were transcribed verbatim. After all, we don't all talk in perfect prose all the time, right? I noticed two or three minor instances of paragraphs having been misplaced during the layout process, necessitating hunting around to find where a sentence continues. One short paragraph appears to have been omitted, with another few lines duplicated in its place (page 4, left column, bottom). Overall, the reading eksperience was better than what I see in most mainstream magazines from legacy publishers.

My "takeaway" is that the currently popular style of toy photography requires a fairly high level of Photoshop proficiency. The interviews frequently mention Photoshop post-production and using "from 10 to 100 layers," and several photographers mention spending hours fine-tuning a single image using Photoshop and other digital image editing applications before posting to Instagram. The digital post-production seems to be an aspect that many of the current popular toy photographers enjoy. Several of those interviewed mention the compositing and editing being the "fun" part of the toy photography process.

The emphasis in this volume leans heavily toward Star Wars and super-hero figures in 1/12 (6-inch) scale, and there is a similarity of techniques used in the images showcased that, to my eye, becomes a bit monotonous after 90-plus pages. The quality of the images featured is uniformly high; but variety in the subject matter is somewhat lacking.

Subjectively, I would like to have seen a magazine broadly titled Toy Photographer include some toys outside the narrow scope of Star Wars and super-heroes; perhaps some miniature vehicles, model trains, or dolls (both playline and high-end). What is included, though, is presented very professionally in a fun, approachable, and colorful manner. On the whole, this publication offers an interesting, entertaining read and an enjoyable overview of the style of "1/12-scale action figure" photography that is popular online today.

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* Handy hint not featured in the mag: buy your insulation foam at a major home improvement supply center. The article recommends purchasing foam online from hobby retailers. You'll save buckets of money buying foam panels at a hardware store. "But... an 8-foot sheet won't fit in my car!" Yeah, well, you're not buying 8-foot sheets online, either. Take a pocket knife with you to the big box store and chop the 8x sheet in to manageable sections in the parking lot.

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Technical details: this image was snapped with an older model iPad. The figure was placed in front of the magazine, a small flashlight was propped up on the edge of a partly pulled-out dresser drawer, and several images were snapped from slightly different angles in the hope that one would not have an undue amount of glare.

The image was processed by tapping the "auto correct" filter on the iPad "Photos" app. Then the image was imported in to an image processing app called "PhotoToaster." The "Happy" filter was applied, which boosts the warmth in the image; and a framed edge called "Brushed" was selected. The image was eksported from PhotoToaster back to Photos and from there was emailed to my desktop computer and subsequently uploaded to Flickr. Total production time: maybe fifteen minutes.

It took me a lot longer to write and edit the long-winded caption.