toys

Benedek Lampert, a Hungary-based photographer who specializes in photographing toys and miniatures (especially Lego), has shared a behind-the-scenes look at one of his largest projects yet: the 801-piece Harry Potter Hogwarts Express train set.

Benedek Lampert is a Hungarian photographer who has attracted a following online for his imaginative small scale photos of toys. His work recently caught the attention of LEGO, which hired him for a special campaign.

The latest Tamagotchi model, Tamagotchi Pix, adds a touch of augmented reality with a built-in camera that allows players to take photos with their digital pet along with a few other additional gameplay features.

Isaac Alvarez and the UNPLUG Production crew are back with another low-budget, high-quality photography tutorial. This time, they're showing you how easy it is to capture some epic "action scenes" from the comfort of self-isolation by using some action figures, sugar, and creative lighting.

Kirk Schwarz over at Practical Photography recently put together a short tips video for anybody who wants to get into toy photography. If you've never taken these kinds of photos but have always wanted to try, you'll find Schwarz' tips for shooting an "explosive" toy photo on a budget in the video above.

Toy photographer Benedek Lampert recently teamed up with LEGO Hungary to recreate some of the most iconic photographs from the Apollo 11 mission in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The resulting images are truly impressive and are captured almost entirely in camera.

Australian photographer Brendan Fitzpatrick uses images to document the hidden side of things. More specifically, he documents the inside of things.

Having turned his sights on flora and fauna, Fitzpatrick decided to peek inside the world of cheap plastic children's toys for his series Invisible Light.

Parents Refe and Susan Tuma aren't big on Movember, at their house November is reserved for a different tradition: Dinovember. Documented in photos on the project's Facebook page, the Tumas spend November keeping their kids' imaginations alive by convincing them that every night, their dinosaur toys come to life and get into all sorts of trouble.

This portrait is of a little boy named Lucas who lives in Sydney, Australia. Like many children around the world, Lucas enjoys playing with toys, particularly his set of miniature trains and wooden railroad tracks.

Like many photographers around the world, Gabriele Galimberti enjoys traveling. During an 18 month span of travels, Galimberti visited and photographed children in a long list of countries around the world with each child posing with his or her favorite toys. Lucas was one of the kids Galimberti visited for his project, which is titled "Toy Stories."

For his project titled "Game Over," Brooklyn-based photographer Henry Hargreaves took a number of popular and instantly-recognizable children's games (and toys) and painted over all the colorful designs and branding with single pastel colors. He then photographed the games on backgrounds of the same color.

Ireland-based portrait photographer Mark Nixon has an interesting project titled "MuchLoved" that features 30 portraits of teddy bears that have been disfigured from years and years of love. The well-worn toys show battle scars of being the prized possessions of children -- cherished companions that have seen many a repair as different parts start wearing down. They may look hideous to our eyes, but each one is beloved by its owner.

We've heard of camera manufacturers dipping into unrelated fields before, and we've also seen some pretty interesting marketing stunts, but in the early 90's Kodak had already done both... in a colorful, cuddly sort of way. Back then, as an either desperate or creative ploy to get kids into photography, Kodak came out with the Kolorkins: a set of colorful, collectible stuffed animals.

Brian McCarty is a photographer who specializes in photographs of toys. He integrates concept and character and is a prominent photographer in the "Art-Toy" movement.

After finding toys from his childhood in his grandparents' attic, photographer Julien Mauve decided to create a series of photographs that imagines what those toys would look like in our serious adult world. The series is titled "Back to Childhood".

Zurich-based designers Atelier Volvox have a project titled "Outsiders" that consists of various stuffed animals turned inside-out. The toys were purchased from second-hand shops, cut open, turned inside out, re-stuffed, and sewed back up.

What does four hours of a toddler playing look like when compressed into 2.5 minutes? Photographer Francis Vachon found …

This Canon 7D and 70-200mm combo only costs $36 and helps you save money. How? Well it's actually a fancy piggy bank! Like the Canon 350D and 24-105mm L piggy bank we shared last year, you use this one by shoving coins into the lens.

twine sells these neat ceramic cameras that …

Made in the early 1960s, Fisher Price's Picture Story Camera was the first "camera" owned by many photo-enthusiasts. They're built out of paper-covered wood and plastic, and contained a tiny disc with eight different "photographs" that could be seen by looking through the viewfinder -- similar to the View-Master, except not in 3D. To change the photo, you simply hold down the shutter and turn the "flash", a yellow block with pictures representing the four seasons.

Using Lego pieces, Flickr user and Lego fan Larry Lars created an uber-accurate miniature version of his home photo studio. Maybe this could be a new method of creating lighting diagrams?

If you want your kids to grow up with the same love of photography you have, you can try …

Ordinary DSLR cameras too big and bulky for you? Check out the CHOBi CAM ONE, a DSLR-style toy camera the size of an eraser that actually has lenses you can swap in and out. It shoots 1600×1200 still photos and VGA video at 30 frames per second.