Episode #71: The Art of Toy Photography with Mitchel Wu
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Do you know the definition of toy photography? Well in this episode, Mitchel and The Toy Coach define toy photography as the creation of art using toys as a vehicle for storytelling. Mitchel Wu is known in the toy industry as an expert in creating impactful imagery that drives engagement and conversation. Mitchel comes on the show today and shares his personal journey leaving behind a job he didn’t love as well as tips on how you can take better photos of your toys.
What started as a hobby, quickly evolved into a full-on career, and in today’s episode you’re going to find out exactly HOW that happened. If you are a toy entrepreneur struggling with the photography of your products, or if you’re an aspiring photographer yourself, this episode is a must-listen, or must-watch if you’re a Toy Coach Podcast Insiders Club member. Hit play and let’s dive into the episode!
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Azhelle W: [00:00:00] You were listening to making it in the toy industry episode, number 71.
Jingle Intro : [00:00:06] Welcome to making it in the toy industry podcast for inventors and entrepreneurs like you, and now your host Azhelle Wade.
Azhelle W: [00:00:16] Hey there toy people, Azhelle Wade here. And welcome back to another episode of the toy coach podcast. Making it in the toy industry is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com. Today I am joined by Mitchell woo toy photographer and artist who is known in the toy industry. Stunning stories that he creates through toy photography. Mitchell is an expert in capturing the illusion of motion and emotion where none exists. And he has worked with dozens of toy and entertainment companies like Marvel Disney company, Hasbro Mattel, so many it's amazing.
[00:00:55] And I'm so excited to talk to him today. And we are going to dive in to the art of toy photography, but first Mitchell, welcome to the
Mitchel W: [00:01:04] show. Thanks so much, Michelle, it's been a long time coming. I mean, we tried to do this a few times and as I said earlier, third, time's a charm. It's so cool to be here.
[00:01:13] Thank you so much. I'm
[00:01:14] Azhelle W: [00:01:14] really glad that you're here. The first thing I want to say is almost a huge, thank you because you were one of the. Biggest names to support me and my podcast early on. When I, when I took a chance and talked about something that was like a tough topic, you just shared it so openly and supportively.
[00:01:34] And even when the trolls came out, you were defending me. I really appreciate you noticing me honestly, and supporting me. So
[00:01:41] Mitchel W: [00:01:41] thanks. Oh, you're so welcome. I mean, it's, you had an amazing message and that was probably one of the most amazing and courageous hosts that I'd seen in quite a while. So, and I totally resonated with me and I felt it, you know, being Asian myself, and we are going through our own challenges right now.
[00:01:58] But, you know, I just want to support people who have positive things to say and are trying to make a difference. And that post definitely did.
[00:02:05] Azhelle W: [00:02:05] Oh, good. So, I mean, thank you. Thank you. But let's talk about you and you are toy industry famous for your photography. I remember once you liked my stuff, I started stalking you on the internet and then I saw just the coolest images and okay.
[00:02:22] To start off, tell us what first came in your career. Was it toys or photography
[00:02:26] Mitchel W: [00:02:26] first? Actually, it was neither. I, I have a degree in illustration and I spent 20 years in consumer products. And I was, and not too far from the toy industry, I was in the gift and collectibles industry. So, whereas, you know, right now my clients are creating amazing toys.
[00:02:43] The companies that I worked for, or my clients back then created really fun, giftware and collectibles. And when I say collectibles that they were either statues or sculptures made out of resin or ceramic, but it could, it could have been something as simple as mugs as well. So all, you know, the entire gift category and especially collectibles is something that I focused on for quite a while.
[00:03:03] But yes, photography after I left that industry photography definitely came first and that was with corporate photography, headshots wedding, photography lifestyle. And then after that is when toy photography came in,
[00:03:16] Azhelle W: [00:03:16] I've always thought about photography. And I apologize for saying this in advance. I've always thought about photography is probably one of the.
[00:03:22] Dying businesses, right? I'm like who, like, because of all the stock photos and stuff, like, were you nervous about that when you broke into it? No,
[00:03:31] Mitchel W: [00:03:31] because let's see. I was probably naive. So it didn't, it wasn't something that scared me. I just really wanted to do something else. And in 2006, That was at the end of my consumer products career.
[00:03:44] I had the highest paying job of my life, but it was also the worst job of my life. And around the same time I lost my older brother and those two things combined really, really made me take a close look at what I was doing with my life and why I was so unhappy. And. How I got so far off of my path, the path that I originally thought I would be on.
[00:04:05] When I got out of art school, you know, bright eyes then out of art school, I have all these, I had all these amazing dreams of what I'd be doing, and I don't have any regret regrets at all because everything I have today, including my family, my wife, my kid is because. That career choice that I've made.
[00:04:21] But at T in 2006, it really kind of all came to a head. And I knew I had to, I had to figure something else out. So photography was something that I'd always been interested in, and it was something that I had very little experience with. So there was a huge learning curve, but it was something that I was really intent on doing and something that I had to focus on.
[00:04:39] And it was, it was a slow start and it's, there's been peaks, huge peaks and valleys along my whole photography career. I would say. You know, after a while when I was a wedding photographer, I definitely survived, but I wouldn't say I thrived it wasn't until in 2015, late 2015, when I discovered toy photography that I know that I found something that I really, really wanted to do with the photography.
[00:05:03] You know, I, I was fine with wedding photography. I enjoyed it. I feel like I was a really strong wedding photographer, but in 2015, my kid was going to high school and I was missing so much of her weekends because weddings only happen on the weekends for the most part. So that was like the deciding factor for me that I was going to try something else.
[00:05:21] And it was just serendipity basically that the toy photography came into my life and I never looked back. I never looked back.
[00:05:28] Azhelle W: [00:05:28] Hold on. I, first of all, I didn't know about your brother.
[00:05:30] Mitchel W: [00:05:30] I'm so sorry. It was, it was so unexpected. He was 49 and. You know, you have no expectation that somebody that age, some of that you're really close to is, is going to be here one day and gone the next.
[00:05:43] And it was a huge gut punch. I never knew that a person could feel so much like physical pain from sorrow. Yeah. Because as time goes on you, that thankfully that does, that does get better. And, you know, of course, if you felt that way all the time, it would be miserable, but just a natural healing process and you get over it and you're left with the great memories.
[00:06:06] And hopefully, yeah, go ahead.
[00:06:08] Azhelle W: [00:06:08] Curious, because you said the word memories, do you feel like that loss is and wanting to be holding onto memories is kind of what led you to photography?
[00:06:16] Mitchel W: [00:06:16] I don't think so. I mean, I think, well, no, in a sense, yes, because that was kind of. The thing that really made me realize that I was unhappy doing what I was doing and that I needed to try something should do something that I felt more passionate for.
[00:06:30] Something that I could like where I could find that creativity that I always thought that I would, my life would be focused around when I left art school. And from that standpoint, yeah. He was, my brother was pivotal in making me realize that for, for sure. Yes.
[00:06:46] Azhelle W: [00:06:46] Interesting. Okay. All right. So you just had a whole new lease on life, which, you know, unfortunately happened, but at the same time, like when I say similar for me, when I had like that near death life changing moment, that's when I realized, like I need to do something with my life and it, it just.
[00:07:01] It gives new value to what is left of life or what you have to come and all of that. Like, so starting with your career in toy photography, how did you, how did you discover
[00:07:12] Mitchel W: [00:07:12] it? So my nephew, I was on Facebook and my nephew. He was on Facebook and I started seeing these really crazy photos that he was creating with toys.
[00:07:21] And I was like, one that really stands out in my memory is one where he had a ninja turtle. Riding a little BMX bike, these boys, and it was sorry across the sky, like maybe between two rocks or something. And I thought, wow, that is really cheesy. That was my first thought. The second thought was like, how the heck did he do that?
[00:07:39] Did he like, was he sitting there and throwing these toys across like this little, this little canyon here and just trying to take the shot until he finally got lucky and got it. So that was my first thought. And then my nephew he's his name is Johnny. He started saying, Hey, I'm Phil Mitch. Next time you're up in San Francisco.
[00:07:55] Bring your camera and I'll take you out. We'll go shoot some toys. And I thought, okay, that sounds fine. So she
[00:08:00] Azhelle W: [00:08:00] to meet for a living or he was doing
[00:08:02] Mitchel W: [00:08:02] it as a hobby hobby, total hobby. I don't know that anybody was doing it as a living back then.
[00:08:07] Azhelle W: [00:08:07] I was going to ask you, I don't know why, but I get the sense that you created something like you created a space that didn't exist.
[00:08:13] Mitchel W: [00:08:13] I think, I think that might be possible, but, but anyway, so I went up to finally made it to San Fran a few months later, which is where he was. He took me to a park. I didn't have any toys. I had the camera gear. Obviously I had the camera gear, which was great, but I had no toys. And so he'd lend me a couple of stormtroopers.
[00:08:29] We went to a park and I set them up. I sent these two stormtroopers up in between like the crook of a tree. And it looks really cool and I shot it and like almost immediately I realized like what the there's, there's definitely something here with toy photography. Like, I feel like there's a career to be made of it.
[00:08:44] That's what I was thinking. And, and basically that was the starting point. That was the starting point. Yeah. I got, I started, I found out that toy photography basically lived on Instagram. I was on Instagram since 2012, but it was only the spying on my daughter. Yeah.
[00:08:59] Azhelle W: [00:08:59] Great parenting. That's what you
[00:09:00] Mitchel W: [00:09:00] guys see what they're doing.
[00:09:01] Yeah. Yeah. I was going to keep tabs on those kids. Yes. But so once I found out that that toy protected lives on there, I started being more active. So that's where all, like I posted literally all my photos there and, and most of my client photos will make it there too. If I'm able to post them. When you
[00:09:17] Azhelle W: [00:09:17] started this, did you immediately.
[00:09:20] No, how to get jobs or were you just building a portfolio essentially?
[00:09:23] Mitchel W: [00:09:23] So the first year that I was, I was, I spent the first year, like, like figuring out the techniques and really like the effects that I wanted to use. Like, I create all my thoughts practically, which means they're for the most part real effects.
[00:09:36] So if you see like liquid splashing, I'm splashing the liquid. If there's explosion, I'm blowing off fireworks. So if there's a fire, I'm lightened something on fire. So I was thinking, yeah, I was figuring all that stuff out in the first year and putting together. You know what you saw on Instagram in that first year and in 2000, like the beginning of actually it was late 2016 is when I hit the ground running.
[00:09:58] I mean, my first client, my very first client was a company called am elemental toys. Are you familiar with them
[00:10:05] Azhelle W: [00:10:05] because of
[00:10:05] Mitchel W: [00:10:05] your website? Yes, Julie Kerwin. And I remember I really liked. I love that her action figures and what they represent, you know? And so I was reaching out to her for probably a half a year saying, Hey, I would love to create, you know, oh, you know, and she would reply, oh, I love your work.
[00:10:21] I'm not ready. And so I was persistent and within probably a half year later is when she finally said, yeah, let's do it. So that was my first client. And then I was on Instagram. And I noticed that a certain division from it was, it was a brand called ever after high and yeah, the dolls. And I noticed that they started following me.
[00:10:39] So as soon as I saw that I sent a private message on Instagram, said, Hey, I would love to. You know, create some images for you and like write out like almost immediately I had a one-year contract with them, which was cool. Yeah. Which was cool. And then it just built, it just builds from there. So it started off again that first year was just focused on the craft and putting together the work.
[00:11:00] And then after that, it just, it just snowballed. Wow.
[00:11:03] Azhelle W: [00:11:03] You're amazing. And you took a chance. And you didn't wait. Like they follow you, you didn't say, oh, let me formulate a plan and a strategy. And like you just like DM, you just DM them back.
[00:11:13] Mitchel W: [00:11:13] Yes. Immediately, almost immediately, like within 15 minutes. And then we took it from there to email and it was really fast.
[00:11:21] Yeah. At
[00:11:22] Azhelle W: [00:11:22] what point were you, did you even realize that you had created a job out of this
[00:11:27] Mitchel W: [00:11:27] right around them? When I got that contract. Yeah, but I mean that, but that was the goal. That was, that was absolutely the goal from the very first second that I took that first toy photo with my nephew,
[00:11:37] Azhelle W: [00:11:37] like, okay. I have several, several questions.
[00:11:39] Let me see. Focus on toy photography. First, first question is I am, I don't, you don't know this, but I'm very impressed with photographers and photography. Like I have a couple of friends that they don't like use Instagram often, but when they post, they post. They're posting photography. It's beautiful. And you can see how they see the world through there, through what they post.
[00:12:02] And it it's like, I literally, one of them is my best friend and I literally have been in a situation where I'm like, I'm going to try to copy this photo. You just took because. Understand how you see things and how you think. And like, I can't, I'm just not, I'm not a photographer. That was just not something that I do.
[00:12:21] I can do so many things. I literally will call my boyfriend in before I set up a shot. And I'm like, does this look like, can you just tell me, like, cause I can't see it. And I'm, I'm just curious, like, what do you have to do to get into your mindset, to shoot for toys? Like what does the toy photographer mind?
[00:12:38] Mitchel W: [00:12:38] I'm sure everybody's different, but for me, it's you definitely have to go into it with that sense of play. And for me, it's like, it's like, we all played with toys. That's the one thing that I think all of us probably have in common. There's a few things, but one I could safely say is that we all played with toys when we were kids.
[00:12:55] And so it's a matter of like getting to that space that you're talking about. It's like trying to find. I haven't talked about that 10 year old kid that lives inside of me. And, you know, maybe at first it was a little harder to find, but right. Like I've been doing this for since late 2015 and like that little, that little 10 year old boy basically lives pretty close underneath the surface of my skin now.
[00:13:16] So where I could get them out. Like, but I'll be honest. I've been, I've always been kind of immature. I have a very, I have a very quirky, strange sense of humor, which sometimes will come out in my toy photography, I, my personal stuff. And so it's always like, okay, do I want to post this? This is pretty weird, but I'll post it.
[00:13:33] Yeah, because I mean, it's, it's really it's me. And I think if there's one thing that, that like you myself and most people have learned, it's. You need to be authentic when you're like for yourself for your own self, you know, wellbeing, but it's, but it's like, that's what people react to. I mean, it's, it's ridiculous to try and be something that you're not.
[00:13:52] So I tried to let out that 10 year old boy as much as possible because first of all, it was great for my career. Second of all, it's just, it's just fun to have that, that kid around too, because it, it keeps me happy and it's like, you know, we've gone through some tough times the past. Well, I don't know. At least the past year, but more than that.
[00:14:10] So, you know, if you have that sense of humor and sense of play and it makes it a lot easier.
[00:14:15] Azhelle W: [00:14:15] So tell me, what's the weirdest photo that you posted that you were like, should I teach? I posted this.
[00:14:21] Mitchel W: [00:14:21] Okay. I have, I have a few. Like there's one that I recently had that that's really bizarre that I repost it, but it's not something that I feel would be weird for people to see.
[00:14:31] It's the one of Gollum and he's like, he's from Lord of the rings, right? It's like riding a horse and he's hurting a bunch of Rand core, which are these star wars monsters. You see it. Yeah, so that one's pretty bizarre. In fact, a lot of people that saw that basically commented in kind ways that it's really bizarre
[00:14:49] Azhelle W: [00:14:49] carrying like
[00:14:49] Mitchel W: [00:14:49] Woody's hat, like what is not what he's had.
[00:14:52] It's just, it's just a cowboy cowboy hat from my, from my childhood. They had that's that's one's toy that I still have is that cowboy, but another one that was really that I actually thought, well, this is a little weird. Someone said, hahaha. So Mitch did somebody that's so that person does me.
[00:15:10] Azhelle W: [00:15:10] T rain says ha ha.
[00:15:12] Okay. So cool. Yeah, that's
[00:15:15] Mitchel W: [00:15:15] great. So the other strange, like one that comes, comes to mind is, you know, how the movie alien, have you seen the movie alien? Yeah, but so long
[00:15:22] Azhelle W: [00:15:22] ago.
[00:15:23] Mitchel W: [00:15:23] Yeah. So there's a very iconic scene where one of the characters yeah. The character has has the, the, the juvenile or baby alien pop out of his stomach at the dinner table.
[00:15:33] And so I recreated that, but I'm not sure if you'll find it, cause it's kind of far down in the feed, but so. The premise of the story was that sometimes those little baby aliens get turned around inside and they come out the wrong spot of the human body. And so this one was like popping out of the stormtroopers reader, basically.
[00:15:52] Azhelle W: [00:15:52] I'm scrolling.
[00:15:54] Mitchel W: [00:15:54] Can you, can you swipe that? Cause I think I put a close-up on it if you swipe it to yeah. Yeah. And then, and that I love like the other stormtroopers kind of like they're in shock seeing what's happening to their buddy.
[00:16:06] Azhelle W: [00:16:06] Let's see the comments. What did the Xeno do inside? I guess Pepto Bismal didn't work.
[00:16:12] Hi. Yes. Ma'am. Oh my gosh. This is great. Oh, it's so fun. So I'm curious how much of the stuff that you do is more fun. The fun stuff that you do for you than it is for your client
[00:16:23] Mitchel W: [00:16:23] work? It's I would say it's probably 90% my stuff.
[00:16:26] Azhelle W: [00:16:26] Oh, that's so great. Wouldn't you really love it.
[00:16:30] Mitchel W: [00:16:30] Yeah. I mean, when I'm not doing client work, I'm in, if I'm not busy with like marketing or some of the other business stuff.
[00:16:36] Yeah. I like to shoot my own stuff and that, for me, it's, that's a way of like, kind of just continually working on my storytelling. Maybe trying out some new techniques that I, that I want to try out and just to keep the, you know, just to stay busy on social media. What,
[00:16:51] Azhelle W: [00:16:51] tell me the coolest shot set up, like shot that you've made.
[00:16:55] Like not the weirdest now, like, like the, like the most interest. I see. And for someone who doesn't know anything about photography, it looks like, oh, did they Photoshop this? But then I've seen some behind the scenes things where you can see like fishing line, right?
[00:17:09] Mitchel W: [00:17:09] Yeah. I usually use like wire. I usually like wire, like metal wire to support stuff.
[00:17:13] But once in a while, if it's a really heavy toy, then I have to suspend it with fishing line. Like you say, cause it's easier to do, but the most intricate prob well. I did a really like intricate lighting one with a creature from the black lagoon. And he's probably more recent than the one that we just looked at.
[00:17:30] But I used, like, I use these lights called lights and they're little LEDs. That one you can see, there's like water and there's a glow coming up. So I put all these lights underneath the water. Cause they're waterproof. First of all, the lights are waterproof and I put these colored gels on them and I colored gels in the back.
[00:17:47] So that's why you have the red in the background. And then. I and the bubbles that you see and the smoke coming up from the bubbles, it kind of looks like dry ice, but really all I did was shoot some compressed air underneath the water. And that's basically what happens. That's basically what happens. So
[00:18:03] Azhelle W: [00:18:03] I have to ask, are you happy with your job now that you've made this, this crazy career shift?
[00:18:08] Mitchel W: [00:18:08] Yeah. I can't imagine doing like throughout my career, I would consider, I consider myself a restless creative and my poor wife. She had to get used to that because like I had the best job ever at Disney. And when I was in consumer products and after six years, I just got kind of tired of working with the same, you know, IP and.
[00:18:29] And so, but other than that, like the people were amazing. I had passes to the, all the parks in the world we can go to. And, but ultimately I got a little bored creatively and I wanted to try something else. So I left that job. So I don't see myself making that switch now. I mean, I've done so many different things and I think this is the one that that's finally going to stick, just because it allows me to be.
[00:18:53] As creative as I can. So any limitation on my creativity for this, for this particular career is self-imposed. So if I can't get out of that, then I only have myself to blame and toys are the perfect for me, the perfect vehicle for telling stories, because they can do almost anything that you want them to do.
[00:19:11] They can fly, they can be blown to bits. They can, you know, stuff that you can't do. People essentially, you know, shooting weddings was, you know, going from photographing weddings to photographing toys was like, was like amazing. Like,
[00:19:26] Azhelle W: [00:19:26] you didn't feel isolated.
[00:19:28] Mitchel W: [00:19:28] No, no, no. Like the little joke that I like to tell is I went from shooting bridezilla to shooting Godzilla.
[00:19:33] Yeah. Yeah. But having said that I've never photographed at bride Zilla. All my brides that I shot were cool, but, but I, I coined a term called mom's Ella. Those things do exist. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. The mothers of the brides can be the ones that can give you a big headache, but yeah. Yeah, totally.
[00:19:51] Azhelle W: [00:19:51] Do you have any toys that are like your favorite to pose and
[00:19:54] Mitchel W: [00:19:54] shoot?
[00:19:55] Probably the toys that I really enjoy working with are like, I obviously love the toy story toys and I think more, more than the quality or the articulation, or I think as, as my connection to the, to the toys or the more, more, so the connections to the. The properties and the stories. Like I shoot a lot of toy story because my kid and I, we watched when she was growing up, I watched those movies with her dozens of times.
[00:20:20] And so for me, it's driven by nostalgia. And I feel like if I have an emotional connection to a property or a toy, then that's going to come through in the, in the final image, like where the wild things are. I've done several images of those. And that's because once a week, My daughter and I would sit at the floor on the, like, by her bed.
[00:20:38] And I'd read her that story once a week. We'd read that at least once a week. We'd read that story. That was probably your favorite story. So when I saw that McFarland had done those toys a while ago, I found them on the second, like on eBay and I bought them because I had to create some images with them.
[00:20:52] So definitely it's.
[00:20:55] Azhelle W: [00:20:55] What kind of clients do you do work for? Do you do product photography or is it more like when they have a special event and they want to do a big banner or poster or magazine cover? Like, what are your clients like?
[00:21:06] Mitchel W: [00:21:06] Right. It's, it's both those things and more so for, I would say most of the clients that I have, they want their, maybe they're coming out with a new toy line and they want to create a social media campaign around it.
[00:21:19] And so. I would say that the majority of my work is for social media, like for clients to put on social media. And then on the other hand, I've had like a Disney, one of the jobs I did for Disney, it was, it was to promote the release of toy story four. So that was more of a promotional thing. It w it went out to all the press and it was like in newspapers and things like that.
[00:21:40] Yeah. So. The other kind of the other aspect of it. And then I did one job for Warner brothers, which no one will ever see because it was used as a pitch to a large IP holder. So, so I did these images was actually for Harry Potter and it was Harry Potter toy. And they brought it to somebody to say, this is what we have, we want to do for it for a TV show or whatever it was going to be for.
[00:22:03] So that's also another part of it. So I, it's hard to say what's going to come up next, but probably like the first one that I said, well, it's going to be for social media, but it could be almost anything else as well. So for Marvel, 606, that's a documentary currently streaming on Disney. Plus I was featured in episode six, which is like the toy episode.
[00:22:23] Which was cool. And so, but out of that, they had me, they commissioned me to do the key art, which was used to promote the episode. So that was fun. That was a lot of fun. So I, I always like to say that, you know, as creators, we need to take risks, but I think for your audience, I think most of them already are, you know, because they're because, I mean, I have so much appreciation and respect for like for sure toy inventors, and that's something that I even dabbled with.
[00:22:49] Oh previous career, but, but having said that, I never came out with a toy design on my own, but I have designed and licensed my own like collectible lines. Oh, cool. And, and having said that, like licensing is such an amazing thing to be involved with, as you know, it's almost like acting, you do a job. For months or years later, you still get those checks right now, which is cool.
[00:23:11] Yeah. So although I love what I'm doing now, I would love to, you know, I would love to, to design my own Toby line.
[00:23:18] Azhelle W: [00:23:18] Oh, okay. That's interesting.
[00:23:20] Mitchel W: [00:23:20] Yeah. It's just like, I think that's the, I think that would be the ultimate. Of course I'd photograph it myself. Yeah.
[00:23:27] Azhelle W: [00:23:27] Best photos.
[00:23:28] Mitchel W: [00:23:28] Yeah. So that'd be fun, but yeah,
[00:23:31] Azhelle W: [00:23:31] thinking on that vein, I'm wondering, because some of my listeners, like, you know, they start up their own companies.
[00:23:36] They're really small and they might say, I'm not ready to hire a toy photographer yet, but do you have any tips for somebody that's just using their cell phone and just trying to take interesting photos of their own stuff? Like, and honestly, this advice can even apply to me because I don't even know.
[00:23:52] Like, I don't know, like when I take a photo, I just sometimes get lucky and it's a great composition. This is literally it's when you see good photos of me on online, my boyfriend took them. I did not take them. So like, I don't know any advice that you could give somebody that's created a product and they're like, I just want to be able to point and shoot, what should they be paying attention to?
[00:24:12] Is it lighting? Is it positioning?
[00:24:13] Mitchel W: [00:24:13] Is it, what is it? Yeah, I would say first and foremost, it's probably lights because. Make or break a photo, no matter how good, you know, everything else is. If you don't have good light, it's just going to look all muddy. There's not going to be any contrast. Yeah, I would say, and as an easy start, like window light is really beautiful.
[00:24:30] Not necessarily sunlight coming directly onto your toy, but like more of a diffused light, beautiful light. And then sometimes if you do that, the shadow can be so strong on the opposite side of the light. That if you just place, it could be even a desk lamp, just play around with it. Angles and you can kind of soften that shadow, but I think that's the main key is, is light.
[00:24:52] Is there like
[00:24:52] Azhelle W: [00:24:52] a thing you go through in your head when you're planning a story for your shot?
[00:24:56] Mitchel W: [00:24:56] No, there's no thing. There's no, I mean, each thing is different. So it's really about the toy and what comes into my head as far as, how do I want to portray that toy in the world that I'm creating? So. Like, for example, for a client photo, if I'm working with a toy company, like my goal.
[00:25:14] Okay. So first of all, in general, or even my own work, not necessarily client, I want like everybody is so used to thumbing through photos on Instagram, like really quick. Right. So I want my photo to be dynamic, first of all. So get that person to stop falling for a second. And then second, I really want there to be some kind of intriguing story or something.
[00:25:34] The motion or something happening that really grabs that person by the collar and kind of pulls them into that world that I've created for just a few seconds, just so that they can kind of live in there because when that happens, I mean, I think they really start to see the toy that's in there and how it's reacting with the, with the world that I created.
[00:25:52] And it makes an impact it's more engaging and for a client, I think that's exactly what they want. They want people to really engage with the, with that toy and the story that's being told in that image. Because that's, what's going to make that person remember that toy and you know, that engagement and getting that impact.
[00:26:09] I think those are the things that a client would be after as far as if I'm creating a photo for them. So I think it's the same for you or for anybody else that wants to put their toys, especially for social media, not just show that toy and like here's my toy. You know, it's, here's a toy and there's something really cool or interesting is tugging on some kind of emotion or it's making you laugh or whatever it is.
[00:26:30] I mean, it's a photo. So you have to tell, obviously when I say tell a story, it could be like just an emotional bam that like immediate impact, or it could be something that you infer something and you make that person kind of complete that story. And there. What I love to think about is what are these characters like when we're not watching them?
[00:26:48] When you know, when they're relaxing and not on stage, what do they do? So I can get so many really fun ideas from that. Like Darth Vader, for example, is he always 24 7? Is he a villain or does he relax in his off time? You know,
[00:27:00] Azhelle W: [00:27:00] so why that stops the scroll? Cause people you're showing people like another side that they're not expecting.
[00:27:07] Exactly. And that's a really great tip for somebody that wants to do it with their own product. Like maybe they're always showing their doll or something in one light. It'd be fun to take a turn one day and show like, this is what she does and I'm not looking that's so that's
[00:27:20] Mitchel W: [00:27:20] absolutely absolutely. It's looking at, it's looking at life a little differently through a different lens almost to see the unexpect.
[00:27:28] Azhelle W: [00:27:28] Okay. How do you see photography evolving and changing with the growing popularity of advertising and shopping
[00:27:34] Mitchel W: [00:27:34] online? For one thing? For sure. It's very, it's always getting more competitive, you know, that's, I mean, I will say that with the advent of digital photography, it's, it's enabled everybody to really.
[00:27:48] Purchase an affordable camera and hang that professional photographer, shingle on the door, whatever they do. And so obviously it's buyer beware, you know, but, but everybody's got to chase their dreams and do what they want to do for me. I feel like social media is probably the big change of the most recent years because whereas companies maybe used to have huge advertising budgets maybe now it's yeah.
[00:28:13] They're giving some of that advertising budget to social media, because social media is almost like the new advertising. And so for, you know, like I said, like a lot of my work is for social media and I would just say to photographers out there, like if a company comes to you and says, you know, you know, we don't have a whole, you don't have a huge budget for this.
[00:28:32] It's better. Anyway, it's just for social media. Well, social media is the new advertising. So, so I would say I would push back on that and say, You know, what, how else are you going to do your advertising? If not through social media, because this is where, where people are discovering and trusting and being told stories about your product.
[00:28:50] So, you know, I think photographers and creators in general have to kind of relook at how they consider social media in their pricing
[00:28:59] Azhelle W: [00:28:59] schemes. I also feel like your images could be really good live photos since video does so well on social. Like if, even if it's like two seconds of your shoes, Would be a really cool way to promote, to get even more reach with
[00:29:15] Mitchel W: [00:29:15] your ocean motion is definitely, definitely important.
[00:29:19] And yeah. And I've always thought about getting into motion, but one thing at a time, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, where do you want to devote your focus and attention? Because there's a learning, learning process and right now I've carved out a pretty nice niche. So yeah. I think I'm going to keep focusing on that, but definitely I've played with motion in the past and I'll probably get there again at some point,
[00:29:44] Azhelle W: [00:29:44] if people are thinking like, ah, I really love Mitchell's work.
[00:29:47] I want to work with him, but I just don't know how I could use this kind of like imagery to really propel my business.
[00:29:55] Mitchel W: [00:29:55] Yeah. I mean, that's a really good question. I will say that in my experience, the engagement levels are incredibly high with toy photography. So I could be, I think I could be safe in saying that no matter how toy photography is used, if there's, if the goal is to create engagement and impact, I think that it can be the main part of a campaign.
[00:30:16] Azhelle W: [00:30:16] Have you ever had somebody come to you and say, Mitchell, I want to drive engagement and this is my toy. What kind of shot do you think
[00:30:22] we
[00:30:23] Mitchel W: [00:30:23] should. Yes. I mean, I do have that. I mean, it kind of goes along with them giving me creative direction when they do hire me, because for me, it's really about, again, it's really about storytelling, so I will never create an image.
[00:30:36] I will strongly suggest that a class. It doesn't just have me create a static image of a toy that doesn't say much at all. You know, I always kind of liken it to like the summer blockbuster. Like I've been to movies, you know, I paid my $10 for a ticket and I sit there and I watch all these explosions and action.
[00:30:54] And then a week later I'm going, what did I even see? I can't even remember anything about it. So yeah, I have nothing against all of those effects because. In the right story. It's amazing. But the, but the keyword is the story. So I will always highly recommend that stories are the, like, no matter what a company decides to do with their advertising or campaign storytelling should be at the very base of it.
[00:31:18] And for toy photography, again, I couldn't find. A stronger media to tell stories with. And I mean, it's not just toys. The first game that I used was Woody and Jessie on a monopoly game. And they were, and there's like, there's the monopoly money flying around. And, and I think it was used as a cover for the toy book a couple of years ago.
[00:31:38] And, but that was another instance of like my starting to use games. And it's something that I don't do a lot of, but that I've had a couple of game companies reach out. It's gotten nowhere, but just if any game companies are listening, I want to do more game photography. So hit me up because I think it's a whole new area for storytelling and just creating some cool, very cool images with
[00:32:01] Azhelle W: [00:32:01] pieces.
[00:32:01] I hope some reach out to you because games are doing so well right now. I bet. To invest in some new marketing. They want to keep it going advice. You have somebody that might want to be starting in toy photography, or they're struggling with it. What do you have?
[00:32:15] Mitchel W: [00:32:15] Yeah, I think the, the main point, and it would be for any creator, basically not just toy photography is really trying to find your own voice and try to have your own like, develop a really strong style for yourself because it's not, there's not going to be any use or it's not going to benefit anybody to come out with a, like another Mitchell toy photography just as, I wouldn't want to go and look like somebody else, but I'm sure that.
[00:32:37] There are so many people out there that have, like, there are mind blowing, toy, photographers doing incredible work right now. It just blows my mind. And it's all happened within five years. Like every time I go on to Instagram, like my jaw drops, it's like, I cannot believe like there's so much talent. So I would take, you know, if you're doing that or if you're just getting started.
[00:32:57] No, that it's just a learning curve and you just got to shoot and shoot and shoot. Yeah. Just, I mean, if you're interested in toy, Even, you know, you're not because there should be no expectations. There should be no expectations on what you should create. Just get your toys and try and tell a story. Yeah.
[00:33:17] Yeah. And remember, I would much, unless you're doing it professionally, I say technique is like secondary to story. But obviously if you're doing it professionally, then the two have to be the two need to be good. They need to be solid, but as you're just starting out, it's like, I would say focus on the storytelling because everybody just resonates to stories, not the actual photography.
[00:33:38] Azhelle W: [00:33:38] Yeah. I love it. Thank you so much for that. All these, I love the end, the end. You just blew it up with all these tips. Thank you, Rachel. Thanks for being here.
[00:33:46] Mitchel W: [00:33:46] Welcome. Cool. My website is www dot Mitchell, blue toy photography.com. If nobody, if anybody's wondering what I do, I think
[00:33:55] Azhelle W: [00:33:55] that that's your Mitchell Lou photography.
[00:33:58] Mitchel W: [00:33:58] Yeah. And then it's one L in Mitchell and on Facebook. I'm Mitchell Lou photography, Twitter. I'm at Mitchell Lu photo
[00:34:05] Azhelle W: [00:34:05] make should have put it all in the show notes. Thanks so much for being here today. It was a pleasure getting to know you.
[00:34:10] Mitchel W: [00:34:10] We finally did it. We did it. Yeah, you're awesome. Keep being awesome.
[00:34:14] Azhelle W: [00:34:14] There you have a toy people. My interview with Mitchell woo. The Instagram verified toy photographer that you need to be following Mitchell's conversation today really changed my perspective about toy photography and honestly photography. If you want to see the full video of our interview, head over to club dot the toy coach.com because it's not too late to grab your 30 day free trial of the podcast insiders club.
[00:34:43] As a member, you'll get access to the extended audio and video of today's episode. And trust me. It's really great stuff. Plus you'll get that for every episode, moving forward, toy people. I hope that today you learn the value of telling a story through your toy photography, and I would love it. If you would put that lesson into action to day, I want you to come up with a story for your toy.
[00:35:12] Do a little photo shoot on your own, on your phone, posted to Instagram and tag me in it at the toy coach. I want to see what you create for links to Mitchell's website, Instagram and Twitter. Head over to the toy coach.com forward slash 71, or check the show notes as always. Thank you so much for spending your valuable time with me today.
[00:35:36] I know there are a ton of podcasts out there, so it means the world to me that you tune into this. Until next week, I'll see you later toy people.
[00:35:47] Jingle Intro : [00:35:47] Thanks for listening to making it in the toy industry podcast with Azhelle Wade, head over to thetoycoach.com for more information, tips and advice.
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