wow that is sick!

awesome. what and how was the lighting done?

I took it outside under low light (overcast). Then played with light levels and noise (it was grainy because it was handheld) until I got to something that pleased me.

geo, you are the master of photoshop without appearing to be photoshop. you must take me under your wing and teach me....

I want to give him a hug
Great shots Geo!

I really don't know ANYTHING about photoshop (what I have actually is Elements 4). But I just play around and tweak this and that to see if I can come up with something that is visually pleasing to me. It is really just trial and error... sometimes it works (at least I think so - I know that some people have told me that they can hardly stand to look at my shots); sometimes it doesn't (and I just give up and move on).

The main things I play around with are lightness, contrast, focus, and color. That's all I used on this pic, and virtually all of my other shots.

Except on vary rare occasions, I do not use any of the other so-called artistic filters that are built into the Elements program (although I don't have anything really against them like some folks do).

I view things like Photoshop and Elements in exactly the same way that I used to view adusting exposure time, depth of field, focus, etc., when taking film shots, and the different techniques in the dark room when I developed my own film. I used to use a variety of approaches to manipulate the final developed images to my liking. I never did (and still don't) purposefully try to hide the fact that some of those techniques were being used - my main personal concern is and was whether I was pleased with the final result. Then I just put them out there for others to react to (good or bad).

I guess that makes most of my shots "impressionistic" rather than "photo realistic" if those terms mean anything at all.

Along the way, I guess I have sort of developed my own personal style that fits my liking (or, viewed another way, fell into a rut that perhaps I should crawl out of). On the other hand, I think it would be kind of boring if everybody's photos looked like everybody elses's photos.

geo,

wow, thanks for the all the tips. it does come down to trial and error. I haven't played around with PS that much at all. My last attempt was these Soul Calibur mini figures using motion blur. Hopefully ok to post here.

in any case, your photography is really beautiful and if you're willing, I would love to post your pics on http://toybotstudios.blogspot.com

I think the readers will love your work. I've showcased a bunch of other great toy photographers as well.

I think your blur effect pics look really cool and they "move." I kind of take the view that it is the final result that counts, not necessarily how you got there (obviously without lying, cheating, stealing, etc.).

I just took a look at your website and found it very interesting - it is now bookmarked.

And feel free to use any of my shots in any way you want to! It would be fun if you put some on your site. Please PM me if there is anything I can do to help in that regard.

This has to be one of the prettiest toy pictures I've ever seen.

It has me lusting after the toy and burning with professional (amateur?) jealousy at the same time.

Rock on, Geo (you rotten bastard)!!!

Those look really good guys! If anyone ever has any Photoshop questions feel free to ask! I have been working with it since 2.0. The fun old days with no layers or undos!

wow! nice shots, guys!