Firstly, Happy New Year Everyone… My year 2025 was relatively decent and I could pick so many of my bucket list items… One of them is the Igor Armour from the movie Iron Man 3. I been looking to add this Igor Armour since long time and missed the ComicCave Igor when it was released so last year I managed to pick a ZD Toys release from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! So for my Top 10 2025, I added this Igor and did a very special toy photoshoot, using some of my custom made diorama props and TV screen for background.
Started with this trial shot using just the roof mounted room light and TV screen as background! This is to finalise the pose that am looking for. Though this came out well, the profile shot of Igor is not that great. And this shot also thought me how not get some dynamism… So I switched from single light source to multiple light source. And also added some color to my light sources.
Then I added one fill light to the front and one accent light to the left, this elevated the shot a lot but something is still missing so though started exploring few more option with lights. I also felt, turning the figure a bit would help, along with the moving the props towards the front for more drama in the shot.
I tried few options and finalised this four light setup. The main daylight light source was placed as fill light and three lights placed in different distances to create some dynamic tint on the shiny body of the Igor. The idea is that this Igor is running into a explosive situation to help Tony, which is very close to the movie scene.
With the scene setup finalised, I switched my attention to the camera setup… I usually under-exposed so that I get a bit of dark shot, which I will process and get a really dark output. But this time I over-exposed to get the shot brighter and pick all the shinny details from the Igor’s metal body.
This shot is almost perfect and I liked the lighting, pose that Igor is doing and even the color tint casted on his body but the framing dint clicked and wanted to try one more before wrap the shoot. The problem I see with this framing is that Igor is still looking away and I wanted to fix it a bit to create a lasting impact.
The fix is is relatively simple, I rotated the base a little and the framing clicked! The face gets more light, shadow casting is better than last shot, the props looks a bit more prominent and finally the figure is facing the camera, which makes it a bit real like. I spend very less time in photoshop and this Igor Toy Photoshoot is done! I loved this shoot and had fun doing it. Happy New Year.
