I started this project since May 2017, when I got my first Iron Man action figure. My main intention of doing this project is to do the same thing over and over again; then review the results and find things that can be improved; then think out of the box to make a breakthrough.
Photographing Iron Man figure is quite challenging in my opinion, at least at the beginning. The main reason is that these Iron Man action figures reflect every light and object around it. So one of the most important things to do to get a good picture is to creatively control how and what lights fall on them.
The image above was inspired by AC/DC's Iron Man soundtrack album cover. The 2 action figures I used are made by Hot Toys, Iron Man Mark VI on the right and Mark XLVI on the left.
The Iron Man Mark XLVI above is my first Hot Toys Iron Man figure. I had trouble getting the results at the beginning. This was one of my major breakthrough after gaining several weeks of experience.
This is Hot Toys Iron Man Mark VI Die Cast. The background image is taken by me in Kyoto, Japan.
In this composition, I first cut out the action figure from its original background, then added lights and effects. The colour match method I used was learned from Jesús Ramirez at Photoshop Training Channel on YouTube.
This is my third Iron Man figure. It was the most difficult to get image of it that resemble the Mark II which features in the first Iron Man movie in my opinion.
I photographed the Mark VI action figure in this image with putting it into a city night in mind, Replicate the look of the street lights in city fall on the Iron Man suit. The background image is taken in Shibuya, Tokyo on a Saturday night.
This is the 3rd attempt I made to recreate the iconic pose that we saw in the Marvel's Iron Man Movie in 2008, using a Hot Toys Iron Man Mark II Die Cast. I have tried several different ways to improve the lighting in order to make the Iron Man figure looks more metallic and movie accurate. This attempt is so far the best in my opinion.
I used Photoshop to close some gaps (mainly in the thigh section) to enhance the likeness of the action figure; add light effects; edit colours and improve the overall picture.
Another photograph of Mark XLVI, this was taken with a very simple soft lighting set-up.
Mark II appears in Tokyo city.
One of the thing I want to challenge myself in this ongoing project is to recreate scenes from the movies. The above composite image was my attempt to replicate a scene from the first Avengers movie.
A composite image of Mark II next to a train track.
Mark VI features in both Iron Man 2 and Avengers.
Flying pose is one of the most iconic poses of Iron Man.
Mark VI
Iron Man Mark L iconic ground-pound pose.
Mark VII first appears in MCU's Avenger.
Mark VII and his predecessor Mark VI behind him.
Mark L is made of nano-tech.
