The perils of pre-ordering action figures

 Back in January 2023 I pre-ordered this Indiana Jones figure from Mezco Toys:
https://www.mezcotoyz.com/one-12-collective-indiana-jones-temple-edition

When I pre-order figures I normally have a clear idea of what sort of photos I have in mind for them before I hand over my credit card - especially for expensive models like this one.  Since this was delayed and its been so long since I ordered, I've forgotten entirely what I had in mind for this figure.  So it will likely sit on my shelf instead of in front of my camera.

Its Indiana Jones tho, and he is rife with story-telling potential, so I suspect that will change shortly after he arrives on my doorstep, but for now, I got a $130 credit card bill with no purpose.  Oh well. It ain't cheap being a geek.

Hopefully its worth it.  Indy is one of my favourite characters, and its incredibly hard to find good action figure versions of him.  They are either badly rendered plastic that looks nothing like Harrison Ford, or long-term very rare collectables that require the resources of Harrison Ford to afford.  This may be the sweet spot I need to deep dive into some sweet sweet Indy photography.

Game On

There is nothing quite like a good game of hockey to lift the spirits.  Game on, boys!  Drop the puck!

 

The Pumpkin King

 

My latest project.  Likely familiar to most of you.   Gonna look good in front of my lens!  Stay tuned for the final results, coming soon.

Deadpool In The Void Video

 My latest video is up on my YouTube channel.  This one is all about how I created this image:

The video is here:

A Fantastical Frame Of Mind

Last weekend I came across this magical scene of light filtering through the trees on a misty morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

 I have a fantastical mind so I immediately thought of Lord Of The Rings...   It is likely not a surprise to know that almost everything, especially woodlands in the mountains, reminds me of Middle Earth.

This evening I decided to make my vision a reality. All it took was setting up an action figure in front of my camera with some lights.

Once I had this image, it was just a matter of spending some quality time in Photoshop. About an hour later I had turned my vision into reality.

So now you know a little bit more about how I see the world.

Back to my roots - Toy Photographer Mandalorian

 Over the past couple of years I have been on a make-custom-dioramas-and-figures kick.  It is a lot of fun, but it can take figuratively forever to make an image.   Tonight I wanted to sit down and make an entire image from scratch, so I went back to my toy photography roots and set about making an image with just an action figure, some lights, a camera, and my imagination... Oh, and a steady supply of Photoshop magic.

In just a couple hours, this is the image I created.

Gotta love near-instant art creation, eh?

Spartan

 Done. Well, sorta... need to finish the base, but thats a simple paint job, and likely not going to make it into any photos I make with this figure. The Spartan is done tho, and thats the important detail you should take from this post.